Leaders Who Push for Change And Reach Out Are Applauded

Over the past three years, Brown said, all of the boys graduated from high school and most have gone on to college, some with prestigious scholarships.

"Isn't that pretty amazing?" Brown asked. "These are boys that society might ordinarily just write off."

Julie Chapman

President , NPower Greater DC

O n her application to Columbia Business School, Chapman, 54, wrote that she wanted to bring her corporate skills to the nonprofit world. But upon graduation, Chapman set off for a string of lucrative jobs on staff or as a consultant at such blue-chip technology companies as MCI, AOL and Verizon.

Then, after the dot-com bubble burst, she had a mid-career change of heart. "I was interested in trying to see how technology could do something that would make the world a better place," Chapman said.

So she became executive director of NPower Greater DC, which distributes software and computer equipment and provides technology support at a discounted cost to local charities. Many nonprofit organizations run on shoestring budgets, so high-quality, low-cost technology support is crucial to their operations, Chapman said.

"We really make it possible for nonprofits to work smarter, serve more people and have greater impact," Chapman said. "We take care of the technologies so they can feed homeless people, provide health care to people without insurance, teach kids to read or even keep the Potomac River clean."

Anne Corbett

Executive director, Cultural Development Corp.

C orbett, 38, cuts an unusual figure in the local arts scene.

"I have no artistic training whatsoever," she said. "Put me in a room with a bunch of curators and I really don't know what I'm talking about."