American Express Kicks Off 2009 American Express Nonprofit Leadership Academy

The Leadership Academy is part of a broader commitment from American Express to develop a cadre of world-class leaders committed to working in the nonprofit sector. As part of this commitment, the Company commissioned The Bridgespan Group to conduct a new survey to determine the nature and dimensions of the evolving nonprofit leadership deficit, the training and development needs within the sector, and to look at how managerial skills from the business sector can boost leadership capacity among nonprofits. The survey, released just last week, confirmed a tremendous need for senior nonprofit leaders. In 2009, despite the downturn in the economy, respondents indicated the sector would need at least 24,000 new leaders. More results from this important research can be found on the Bridgespan web site at http://www.bridgespan.org/finding-leaders-for-americas-nonprofits.aspx