Tom Bassford, Founder and Executive Director of Significant Matters        

Tom Bassford is the founder and Executive Director of Significant Matters, a501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that works with faith-based groups, othercommunity stakeholders and philanthropic organizations to tackle complexsocietal issues in sustainable ways.

Tom pastored for 30-plus years and brings a unique combination of church, not-for-profit, and executive insight in his current work with Significant Matters.  Heearned his Bachelor’s degree from Friends University in Wichita, KS and aMaster’s degree from Wheaton College in Wheaton, IL. He has been deeplyinvolved in community development efforts both domestically and internationallyfor over 20 years and has helped churches, various organizations and localcollaboratives move their charitable work and missional efforts toward moresustainable solutions.

He is one of the co-founders of the Co-Op; a collaborative of churches and otherfaith-based groups in Kansas City working together to transform neighborhoodsinto places you would want to live and not leave.  In 2014 he launched SATtalks; a TED talk type of gathering for faith-based groups wanting to explore howthey can do good in ways that lead to sustainable change and transformation. Additionally, they created the Missions 3.0 Network to help churches move theirmission efforts beyond helping that hurts throughworkshops and peer learning communities.