Awards

From improving healthcare to ending world hunger to eliminating LGBTQ youth suicide, our 2021 Nonprofit Professionals of the Year honorees have had such a profound impact on making the world a better place.

As of 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found suicide to be the second leading cause among young people. On top of that, LGBTQ youth are four times more susceptible to attempt suicide than their peers. Amit Paley is on a mission though to end LGBTQ youth suicide, and that work has earned him selection as NonProfit PRO’s 2021 Nonprofit Professional of the Year.

Atul Tandon may have started his career in the for-profit world, but his decision to serve the world’s extreme poor has led to NonProfit PRO recognizing him with 2021’s Lifetime Achievement award.

Bri Seoane, Ronald McDonald House Charities Bay Area’s vice president of development and strategic partnerships, faced a $1.4 million expected shortfall, but knew the sick children her organization supported still needed help. Her impressive fundraising results landed her as NonProfit PRO’s Fundraiser of the Year.

Thanks to TJ Lynch’s guidance as treasurer and board member, he has helped the nonprofit — which pairs youths with real-world, on-the-job experience — grow substantially. His thoughtful dedication to Hopeworks is what helped him become NonProfit PRO’s 2021 Board Member of the Year.

Heather Walker became the first female chief information officer for Atrium Health Navicent in July 2020 in the middle of a pandemic that required her to help medical workers handle the technological challenges of COVID-19. Her hard work has resulted in her being named NonProfit PRO’s Technology Professional of the Year.

Instead of marketing resources being devoted to an annual golf tournament, Nicole Williams, associate director of foundation relations and communications, pivoted the organization’s strategy and resources. That campaign earned her NonProfit PRO’s Marketer of the Year.

Some people have a job in the nonprofit sector and others devote themselves to the social causes that they are passionate about. For Kim Matthews, that 17-year devotion makes her NonProfit PRO’s Unsung Hero.

While most high-schoolers are busy worrying about passing their driver’s test or making the varsity team, Arnav Bhakta, CEO and president of Stem4Free, decided that he was going to take on food waste.

The American Battlefield Trust was $27,000 short of projected revenue for its effort to save 128 acres of Civil War Battlefield in Perryville, Kentucky, in the fall of 2019. As this particular track of land would essentially complete the preservation of the Perryville site – the last piece of the puzzle – they had to figure out a way...