Making Waves: The 2016 Nonprofit Professionals of the Year

Between the magazine and the website, we’ve covered a lot in the past year. We’ve written long features on weighty topics like the charity watchdogs and crisis management. We’ve reported on everything from Wounded Warrior Project to state budget issues affecting nonprofits. We’ve gone in-depth on major gifts, impact reporting, peer-to-peer fundraising, donor retention and everything in between.

And yet, this is the most challenging story we’ve done.

See, all that stuff is straightforward—there are facts, and we report them. That all goes out the window for the Nonprofit Professionals of the Year Awards. We received hundreds of entries, each as impressive as the last, each one worthy of praise. There were so many 
jaw-dropping statistics, inspiring stories and seemingly impossible accomplishments that it was near impossible to choose a single winner in each category. (There were more entries for “lifetime achievement” than any other category—how do you pick just one?) But that was our unenviable task.

It wasn’t easy, but after careful consideration, we narrowed it down. We present to you the people making waves in the nonprofit sector—the 2016 Nonprofit Professionals of the Year. Select a category below to view each profile.

• Nonprofit Professional of the Year - Alison Silberman
• Lifetime Achievement - Jo Ann Remender
• Executive of the Year - Rebecca Bond
• Board Member of the Year - Alex Goldsmith
• Fundraiser of the Year - Tyler Cashman
• Marketer of the Year - Marc Lapides
• Unsung Hero - Julia Liou
• Rising Stars - Ankur Chatterjee, Lauren Meling, Angel Nuce