Message from the President

Currently in the U.S., 12 million households pay more than 50% of their income for housing, 1 in 7 homeowners are behind on their mortgage, nearly half of high school students in our 50 largest cities do not graduate from high school, we have the highest per capita rate of incarceration of any country in the world (2.3 million people), and 34% of African American children and 29% of Hispanic American children live in low income families.  Unemployment has doubled and is now 10.2%, with over 15.1 million persons out of work and an additional 9.2 million persons involuntarily working part time.  Communities will likely suffer the loss of 100,000 nonprofit organizations that will permanently close their doors and cease to provide much needed services. 

Given the fear that people naturally feel in these times, many wish we could just put things back the way they were before the economic crisis. Others recognize that we can no longer do things the same way and that this is the day to create and apply innovative solutions to our most crucial problems.

We believe it is these spirited women and men that can inspire us to move in a new direction and lead us toward a better future.  We believe that a critical mass of diverse, courageous and persevering leaders can dare to do mighty things. 

Their success is our passion. We invite you to join us.

Jeff Nugent, President/CEO