Reach for the Stars: The 2014 Fundraising Professionals of the Year Awards Winners

According to founder and CEO Brandon Chrostowski, it was Matt Fieldman's daring and unconventional leadership that took the dream of a nonprofit restaurant dedicated to helping formerly incarcerated men and women learn skills in fine dining and made it a reality.

The story of EDWINS — short for "Education Wins" — began when Fieldman partnered with Chrostowski in 2010. Chrostowski, who ran a trendy Cleveland restaurant, wanted to give back by launching his own culinary school dedicated to helping ex-offenders get their lives back on track. Fieldman, after 13 years of fundraising in the nonprofit world, wanted to launch a social enterprise that wouldn't have to rely on fundraising to make ends meet. The two assembled a board of committed volunteers who got to work talking up the organization, making connections, and raising the money necessary to launch a full-scale restaurant and culinary school.