Recognizing outstanding nonprofit leaders
Learn from the experience of our winners!
The annual EXCEL Award not only recognizes outstanding nonprofit leadership in our region, but also provides an opportunity for all of us to learn from authentic paths toward excellence. The Center has produced a series of video shorts touching on three key issues identified in this year’s competition. Each video stars one of this year's finalists, with each leader sharing their successful experience in a relevant area of achievement.
Hosted by Sean Sweeney, the Center’s Director of Education and Special Programs, the videos also include guest appearances from Ian Shuman, representing GRF CPAs & Advisors, our EXCEL Award Sponsor.
First release: Staying Focused on Mission
Cast: Emily Gage, Phoenix Bikes
Guest appearance: Ian Shuman, Selection Committee Member participating from our Award Sponsor, GRF CPAs & Advisors.
Learn how Phoenix Bikes avoids mission creep as a smaller organization, and how they handle the hard decisions that make it possible. Listen in on the ways this organization ensures all their programming serves their larger goal, and how they keep stakeholders engaged in the process along the way.
Second release: Putting DEI First
Cast: Brigitte Winter, Young Playwrights' Theater
Guest appearance: Ian Shuman, Selection Committee Member participating from our Award Sponsor, GRF CPAs & Advisors.
Discover how Young Playwrights' Theater is able to center DEI efforts at the forefront of organizational management. Listen to Brigitte Winter as she details the ways they work with staff and board to formalize policies and make sure DEI permeates all of their programming.
Third release: Keeping Programming Fresh
Cast: Janine Tursini, Arts for the Aging
Guest appearance: Ian Shuman, Selection Committee Member participating from our Award Sponsor, GRF CPAs & Advisors.
Arts for the Aging works hard to keep programming relevant and creative. In this video short, Janine Tursini shares the ways they use evaluations, and how they involve both staff and “clients” feedback in the process.
Congratulations to the 2022 award winner:
Brigitte Winter, Executive Director, Young Playwrights’ Theater
Brigitte Winter has more than fifteen years of experience in nonprofit leadership, arts administration, financial management, fundraising, and strategic communications in the DC region. She is also a writer, a metalsmith, a photographer, and the Co-President of the Board of Directors for the Baltimore Abortion Fund.
And we'd like to congratulate our honorable mentions:
Emily Gage, Executive Director, Phoenix Bikes
Janine Tursini, Director & CEO, Arts for the Aging
Click on their names to learn more about these individuals! Thank you to our sponsor and selection committee for their continued time and efforts.
Awarded by the Center since 2005 and sponsored by GRF CPAs & Advisors since 2007, the EXCEL Award honors exceptional nonprofit chief executives in our region. The competition recognizes achievement in the areas of innovation, motivation, community building, ethical integrity and strategic leadership.
Nominations can be made by board members, staff members, volunteers, clients or community members, and can be made with or without the candidate’s knowledge.
One nominee is selected as the EXCEL winner and is given access to a $10,000 professional development account. The winner’s organization receives a $2,000 cash award to support professional development programs for its staff. Up to two nominees may be selected as honorable mention recipients. Each of their organizations receives a $3,000 award to support professional development programs for the candidate and/or staff.
The call for nominations opens in July, and after an in depth review and selection process, winners are introduced at the Center's Annual Celebration in the fall.
If you have any questions about the process, please email seans@nonprofitadvancement.org.
At the Center, we believe the benefits of the EXCEL Award are well worth the time and effort of nomination, but don’t take our word for it. Hear what past participants have to say.
"Personally, and for DASH, this award is recognition of all that it took to get here. The very nature and pace of direct service non-profits mean that we rarely get a chance to celebrate the wins and the journey truly. This award allows me to do just that, and as such, is a gift I’ll forever cherish."—Koube Ngaaje, President & CEO, DASH (2021)
"The differentiator for the EXCEL Award is that you are not just getting a plaque or award crystal, you receive the gift of professional development for your staff. Anything that I can do to benefit my staff is highly important to me, because their success, development, and satisfaction is the ultimate achievement."—Tara Fitzpatrick-Navarro, CEO, USTA MAS (2020)
"Being highlighted by the Center for Nonprofit Advancement is a tremendous honor for us. The metro area is filled with amazing organizations doing unbelievably important work, and for us being on this platform is a great achievement."—Hugo Mogollon, Executive Director, Community Foodworks (2019)
"The EXCEL Award is a mark of distinction. Such public recognition acknowledges our efforts as an institution and assures us – as well as our donors and partners — that we are on the right path, doing good work."—Sarah Degnan Kambou, President,International Center for Research on Women (2018)
"This award significantly contributes to our efforts to keep our team members informed of advancements taking place in the college access and success space by attending conferences and participating in programs that inform our work of providing support to low income, first generation college students."—Herb Tillery, College Success Foundation (2017)
The competition is open to any chief executive of a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in the Greater Washington area with an annual budget under $10 million.
The Washington metropolitan area is defined as:
- District of Columbia
- Maryland: Anne Arundel, Calvert, Charles, Frederick, Howard, Montgomery, St. Mary's and Prince George's counties.
- Virginia
Board members, staff members, volunteers, clients and community members may nominate chief executives.
One nominee is selected as the EXCEL winner and is given access to a $10,000 professional development account. The winner’s organization receives a $2,000 cash award to support professional development programs for its staff.
Up to two nominees may be selected as honorable mention recipients. Each of their organizations receives a $3,000 award to support professional development programs for the candidate and/or staff.
There is no fee to submit a nomination for the EXCEL Award.
The competition incorporates a three-part judging process that includes a written nomination and fact sheet, an invitation-only interview, and site visits for finalists.
To learn more about the nomination process download the Nomination Packet.
Meet the winners of the past few years:
2021:
Winner: Koube Ngaaje, President and CEO, District Alliance for Safe Housing (DASH)
Honorable Mention: Mark Chalfant, Artistic and Executive Director, Washington Improv Theater
Honorable Mention: Lisa Whetzel, Executive Director, Britepaths
2020:
Tara Fitzpatrick-Navarro, CEO, USTA Mid-Atlantic
Maya Martin Cadogan, Founder and Executive Director, Parents Amplifying Voices in Education (PAVE)
Elizabeth Jones Valderrama, Executive Director, Offender Aid and Restoration (OAR)
2019:
Stephen Glaude, President and CEO, CNHED
Hugo Mogollon, Executive Director, Community Foodworks
Bridgette Stumpf, Executive Director, NVRDC
2018:
Bethany Rubin Henderson, Executive Director, DC SCORES
Sarah Degnan Kambou, President, International Center for Research on Women
Jo-Ann Wallace, President & CEO, National Legal Aid & Defender Association
2017:
Erin Carlson Mast, President Lincoln's Cottage
Natalia Marlow-Otero, DC SAFE
Herb Tillery, College Success Foundation
The selection committee is a group of local leaders in the nonprofit, foundation, corporate and government sectors. The committee’s purpose is to read, review and evaluate all applications for the award. Commitment includes in-person attendance at a minimum of three committee meetings, two site visits and the award ceremony.
Participation on the selection committee provides an excellent opportunity to make new connections and see first hand exceptional practices in action. To learn more or express interest in joining the selection committee, contact Sean Sweeney, Director of Education and Special Programs.