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The 2011 NPT Power and Influence Top 50

When the economy tanks it gives entrepreneurs a reason to try a new path. That’s what nonprofit managers are doing, increasingly with technology as a centerpiece. Whether it’s down the block or around the world, smart nonprofit managers are leading the sector to plow untilled soil. Innovation is springing from that dirt. The economy has slowed while the pace of change is accelerating. Managers at nonprofits with resources and those just launching causes seem to be handling the recession better than most organizations.

Technology is allowing change to occur on so many levels of the sector that there is little doubt that how organizations operate now will not be recognizable in 10 years. The challenge is not allowing technology to get in the way of the human touch that no cloud computing can provide. That’s why leaders in technology and social entrepreneurs again heavily weigh the year’s NPT Power & Influence Top 50. The P&I Top 50 is the annual listing of the 50 most influential executives in the sector for the previous 12 months.

Selecting the honored for the NPT Power & Influence Top 50 is not scientific, but way better than a dart board. It’s based on nominations from editorial staff of The NonProfit Times, its contributing editors, suggestions from former nominees and a few selected, inner circle people. It’s also intended to ensure that most disciplines within the sector have a representative. For example, this year the selections were weighted toward technology, social entrepreneurs and public service. There were more than 200 nominees this year, which is routinely the case. Washington, D.C. and the surrounding Virginia and Maryland suburbs dominate the list, as usual. This year Washington State and Chicago also have strong showings.

In this 14th annual NPT Power & Influence Top 50, we celebrate some of the sector’s top executives and thinkers. These executives were selected for the impact they have now and for the innovative plans they are putting in place to evolve the charitable sector. We also offer a roll call of the executives who have shaped this listing and the sector in the Hall of Fame section. The P&I honorees will be feted for their work at The NPT Power & Influence Top 50 Gala next month at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. It will be a night of high-level exchange between executives who can and have moved a nation.

Here is The NPT Power & Influence Top 50, Class of 2011. NPT