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Weekly UpdatesService is the new black. It's so fashionable that those leading the national service movement have packed the catwalk of The 2009 NPT Power & Influence Top 50. Whether it's military conscription, stipended service or traditional volunteering, community building is the core of the sector these days.
Of course, a trashed stock market and worldwide recession have much to do with how the charitable sector operates, making those volunteers all the more valuable.
Executives who mobilize the masses for good and who manage their resources while blazing a path for others to follow make up the Power & Influence honorees this year. Executive turnover in the sector is evident in the list. There are 18 executives making their P&I debut this year and one executive returning after a few years, the largest turnover during the 12-year history of The NPT Power & Influence Top 50.
Making selections to The NPT Power & Influence Top 50 is not scientific. It's based on nominations from editorial staff of The NonProfit Times, its contributing editors, suggestions from former nominees and a few selected, plugged-in people. It's also intended to ensure that most disciplines within the sector have a representative. For example, this year the selections were weighted toward public service but the vital technology segment of the sector is also represented. There were more than 250 nominees this year, which is routinely the case.
In this 12th annual NPT Power & Influence Top 50, we celebrate some of the sector's top executives and thinkers. These executives were selected for the impact they have now and for the innovative plans they are putting in place to evolve the charitable sector. We also offer a roll call of the executives who have shaped this listing and the sector in the Hall of Fame section.
The P&I honorees will be feted for their work at The NPT Power & Influence Top 50 Gala next month at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. It will be a night of high-level exchange between executives who can move a nation.
Behold, for here is The NPT Power & Influence Top 50, Class of 2009.
Fred J. Ali
President & CEO
Weingart Foundation
Los Angeles, Calif.
Ali transformed the foundation's funding to be more responsive to economic needs. He boosted and promoted grants for operating expenses even in the face of his own organization's endowment dropping. That's leadership.
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Diana Aviv
President & CEO
Independent Sector
Washington, D.C.
There is no longer any doubt that Independent Sector is back as the key go-to policy shop on charitable issues in Washington, D.C., and it's because of Aviv.
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Elizabeth Boris
Director
Center on Nonprofits and Philanthropy, Urban Institute
Washington, D.C.
The work of Boris and her team during the past decade has led the way in making the nuts and bolts of nonprofits more transparent to civilians. The data has highlighted patterns of operation and governance, pushing managers to be more efficient and transparent. It's hard to deny the numbers.
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Paul Brest
President
William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
Menlo Park, Calif.
He's become a leading outcomes thinker--both for the charity and the donor. He wrote in his blog: "A philanthropist has every reason to ask whether it (a charity) has a sound strategy and a good track record as well as good leadership. The alternative is to sow hundreds of seeds without ever finding out which take root and flourish."
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John M. Bridgeland
President & CEO
Civic Enterprises
Washington, D.C.
Bridgeland lives and breathes public service. He was at the center of the national service movement before it was cool. He's smart, strategic, has worked at the highest levels of government and the charitable sector and has the ears of those who can help him make the most difference.
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Michael Brown
CEO & Co-Founder
City Year, Inc.
Boston, Mass.
City Year was the blueprint for the federal AmeriCorps program. It has put more than 10,000 members into communities and the Boston concept has been replicated in 18 cities across the nation. Brown was a key leader in the ServiceNation event that pushed both major presidential candidates to add national service as a priority.
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Kelly Browning
Executive Vice President
American Institute For Cancer Research
Washington, D.C.
As chairman of the Direct Marketing Association, and having gone up the ranks through the nonprofit side of the organization, he is a key policy influencer when it comes to fundraising and regulation of it.
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Sharon Burns
Chief Information Officer
John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
Chicago, Ill.
Information technology is now driving charities and funders and Burns is one of the leaders when it comes to integration. She maintains and develops business information technology strategies that align with program and foundation goals on the efficiency and effectiveness of internal business process.
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Geoffrey Canada
President & CEO
Harlem Children's Zone
New York, N.Y.
In a 97-square-block area of what was once the toughest neighborhood of New York City, Canada has created a national model of catching kids at birth and nurturing them through obtaining a college degree. He understands rate of return on investment on social outreach and devised a pipeline of services that are envied.
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Emmett Carson
President & CEO
Silicon Valley Community Foundation
Mountain View, Calif.
He could sit on his more than $1 billion in assets but he chooses to challenge conventional thinking. Carson sees this economy as an opportunity to redefine the social contract between philanthropy and the communities they serve. "This is our moment," he said in a recent interview. He's right.
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Jean Case
Chief Executive Officer
The Case Foundation
Washington, D.C.
Case realizes that measurement tools change as you move across the sector and the foundation's funding shows that she means it. One of a growing number of CEOs who regularly Tweet on Twitter, she uses instant technology to point to ideas for lasting solutions that are too often overlooked when having to deal with the here and now.
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Kathy Cloninger
Chief Executive Officer
Girl Scouts of the USA
New York, N.Y.
Being open to ideas isn't a cliche with Cloninger's Girl Scouts, who not only asked members, but also boys and men, about how the organization could be better. Cloninger is leading both an organizational rebranding and in an era of online social networking, a tech revolution for girls, while not forgetting that leadership is also face to face.
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Robert Egger
Founder
D.C. Central Kitchen
Washington, D.C.
He's looking for ways to re-engage the vital and often forgotten middle mangers who are stuck between an organization's need for process/outcome measurements and the energy, idealism and impatience of the newest team members. And, he's involved in just about every civic engagement movement.
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Israel L. Gaither
National Commander
Salvation Army
Alexandria, Va.
Gaither defines leadership as "serving others with integrity." He believes that 21st century leadership is not telling people what to do, but working in partnership with them. The SA under his leadership has done more outreach to secular organizations to get the job done.
Brian Gallagher
President & CEO
United Way of America
Alexandria, Va.
It is not possible to transform an organization more than Gallagher has done at the United Way of America. It is once again a force for change on a national and local level. The fundraising behemoth has an agenda for change that is flexible by community and the national office has proved to be nimble at getting it done.
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Bill Gates
Co-Founder
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Seattle, Wash.
The kid who has the ball generally gets to pitch and set the pace of the game. Gates is the philanthropic community's leading funder whose organization makes grants to what is immediately needed but has always thought about the future and building the charitable infrastructure. And, he's not afraid to play Big Foot.
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Peter Goldberg
President & CEO
Families International
Milwaukee, Wisc.
A collaborative dealmaker, Goldberg oversees six different entities, four of which are under a unique corporate structure that allows for one parent company, allowing financial independence of each organization while creating an environment that encourages collaboration. The groups involve more than 360 child- and family-serving organizations.
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Charles Gould
President
Volunteers of America
Alexandria, Va.
Gould is a partner that other nonprofit CEOs trust. It's a prime reason affordable housing is getting built in the Gulf region. VoA's "Coming Back Home" is creating more than 1,000 units of affordable rental housing and has partnered with other nonprofits through Katrina Aid Today to touch the lives of nearly 200,000 people.
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