Wednesday, May 14, 2008
LEADERSHIP INITIATIVE
Program Aims at Nonprofits' Needs
A business and technology consulting firm is launching a leadership initiative to train some of its managers to join the boards of Washington area nonprofit organizations, an effort to address what experts say is a crisis in leadership across the nonprofit sector.
Acumen Solutions said yesterday that it will place 20 of its senior employees on boards of nonprofit groups by the end of the year. The organizations include Child and Family Network Centers, Heads Up, Hope Rising, the Greater Washington Sports Alliance and the Make-A-Wish Foundation of the Mid-Atlantic.
The initiative is supported by Venture Philanthropy Partners, a District-based charitable investment organization that helps nonprofit leaders build their organizations.
Carol Thompson Cole, president and chief executive of Venture Philanthropy Partners, said the program will help build a cadre of business leaders who understand local nonprofit organizations.
"Far too many executive directors are burning out and heading for personal greener pastures in the private sector and government, where they can find higher pay and more benefits," she said.
-- Philip Rucker
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