Leading up to the Center for Nonprofit Advancement’s Annual Celebration on October 18, we are delighted to share with you insights from the finalists for the Gelman, Rosenberg & Freedman 2011 EXCEL Award. This award recognizes and spotlights outstanding leadership among Washington-area nonprofit chief executives.

Living Classrooms Foundation strengthens communities and inspires young people to achieve their potential through hands-on education and job training, using urban, natural, and maritime resources as “living classrooms.” Living Classrooms has a distinctive competency in experiential learning -- literally learning by direct experience, or what we call “learning by doing.”

Meet finalist John Dillow, executive director of Living Classrooms of the National Capital Region.

Tell us about your leadership style and how this contributes to your organization’s success.

As an 18-year veteran of our organization, who began working in direct service on one of our educational vessels, I want to stay connected to the overall mission and population we serve. It is this passion and personal connectedness that runs through our organization (like most nonprofits). It’s also important to often lead alongside your staff to build their confidence and give them the tools to develop as leaders themselves.

What advice would you offer for other nonprofit leaders?

As an executive director of a growing regional nonprofit, I believe it’s important to stay flexible. Flexibility in fundraising, flexibility in partnership building and flexibility in programmatic opportunities all while staying true to your mission, allows for long-term sustainability and areas of future growth in a geographic region rich with other nonprofits.

What does this award mean for you and your organization?

This award would be a great honor for the staff that I support and youth and young adults we work with daily. Being able to connect with other leaders in the nonprofit sector would allow greater synergies in services for the population we serve, in addition to opportunities for professional development for our rising young leaders/staff.