Entrepreneur's Spotlight August 15, 2008

Last week I had the opportunity to speak with Wendy Brown, co-founder and President of The Center for Nonprofit Excellence (The CNE). Wendy's idea for a center specifically aimed at nonprofits was a long time dream that made it into her Darden application back in 1989.

I first met Wendy as she was in the early stages of launching the Center for Nonprofit Excellence in October 2006. At that point she had a clear vision of what the center would be before it even had a home, or a name. I congratulate Wendy for her belief in her idea and the patience to see it become a reality.

As our conversation progressed, I was struck by the fact nonprofit organizations struggle with many of the same issues as for-profit organizations. The CNE educational programing is relevant to both the nonprofit and for-profit organization. Wendy explained that, " Nonprofits are entrepreneurial by nature due to the need to be highly responsive to their customer needs. Nonprofits are more like for-profits than different." She has built an environment that supports the attitude of "share what you know, find what you need."

The Center for Nonprofit Excellence is a member based organization dedicated to strengthening the capacity of the nonprofit community through training and technical assistance, information sharing, education, and collaboration. The organization promotes transparancy, accountability, and excellence.

The extensive CNE membership includes regional cultural organizations such as the American Shakespeare Center (Staunton), the Artisans Center of Virginia (Waynesboro), the Ashlawn Opera Festival (Ashlawn), the statewide Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, as well as service organizations like the Piedmont Housing Alliance (Charlottesville), Aging Together (Culpeper), the Rockfish Valley Community Center (Nelson County), the Central Blue Ridge Big Brothers, Big Sisters (Staunton), Recordings for the Blind and Dyslexic and the Arc of the Piedmont (Charlottesville).

The Center for Nonprofit Excellence is a Charlottesville resource center designed to bring local, regional, and national resources to a single place. By making these resources more readily available, area non-profits save time and money and are able to focus on maximizing their potential. Wendy is particularly proud of the extensive resource library which is readily available to all.

If you have a question regarding the nonprofit sector then CNE is the place to go for finding high quality resources and people who can assist you.

UPDATE January 2009: The CNE has relocated to new offices, right behind Cville Coffee. Their mailing address and phone number remain the same:
PO Box 5652, Charlottesville VA 22905 434-244-3330