2004 Nonprofit Executive Roundtable

The fourth annual Nonprofit Executive Roundtable was held Wednesday, May 5, 2004 at the Court Salon of the Student Center on the Georgia State University campus. Nonprofit leaders and scholars in the region, many of whom were in attendance for their third or fourth year, met for a morning of presentations and discussion on two topics of particular import to today’s nonprofit sector: accountability relationships between nonprofits, the public, and donors, and government contracting with faith-based organizations.

Professor Michael Rushton of the AYSPS Nonprofit Studies Program served as Master of Ceremonies for the Roundtable, and a special welcome was given by Dean Roy Bahl. This year’s event was underwritten by the Northern Trust Company.

Keynote Speaker on Issues of Accountability and the Law

The keynote speaker for this year’s roundtable was Professor Evelyn Brody, J.D., of the Chicago-Kent College of Law, Illinois Institute of Technology. Professor Brody is a nationally prominent expert on the legal, economic, and social issues affecting nonprofit organizations. She is currently involved with the American Law Institute’s project to draft “Principles of the Law of Nonprofit Organizations”, and her keynote address was inspired by this work. Professor Brody noted that in the push for nonprofit accountability, many forces operate simultaneously on the governance and operation of a nonprofit organization. She focused in her presentation on the role and the limitations of current law in providing for accountability.

Panel Discussion on Faith-Based Organizations

Professor Brody was joined during the second half of the morning by Robert Franklin, Presidential Distinguished Professor of Social Ethics at Emory’s Candler School of Theology, and Professors Michael Rushton and David Van Slyke of the AYSPS Nonprofit Studies Program, for a panel discussion of the present and future role of government funding for faith-based organizations. Professor Franklin set the stage with opening remarks on the issue, and moderated the subsequent panel discussion. Professor Brody provided some legal context to the “Blaine amendments” adopted by many states, and the constitutional amendment that has been proposed in Georgia. Professor Rushton analyzed the pros and cons of the government funding of faith-based organizations from an economic and organizational theory standpoint. Professor Van Slyke talked of public attitudes towards government funding of faith-based organizations and the implications for “crowding out” of private philanthropy, referencing recent Nonprofit Studies Program survey research.

Participants

Jim Alm
Andrew Young School of
Policy Studies

Bernard Anderson
Anderson Financial Solutions

Shena Ashley
Andrew Young School of
Policy Studies

Roy Bahl
Andrew Young School of
Policy Studies

Bill Bolling
Atlanta Community Food Bank

Steven Brazen
Senior Connections

Evelyn Brody
Chicago-Kent College of Law

Jackie Brown
Atlanta Children’s Center

Bobbi Cleveland
Tull Foundation

Ann Cramer
IBM Foundation

Lisa Cremin
Metropolitan Atlanta Arts Fund

Bradley Currey
Rock-Tenn Company

Diane Davis
100 Black Men of Atlanta, Inc.

Margaret Dickson
Boardwalk Consulting, LLC
Atlanta Urban League

Clint Dye
Atlanta Urban League

Robert Franklin
Emory University

Elsa Gebremedhin
Andrew Young School of
Policy Studies

Len Al Haas
Haas LLC

Russ Hardin
Robert W. Woodruff Foundation, Inc.

Joe Iarocci
CARE

Janet Johnson
Andrew Young School of
Policy Studies

Patti Johnson
Foundation Center Library

Heather Kelly
TechBridge

Sid Kirschner
Northside Hospital

Deborah Lauter
Anti-Defamation League

Larrie Del Martin
Atlanta Habitat for Humanity

Ellen McCarty
Jerusalem House

Janice McKenzie-Crayton
Big Brothers and Big Sisters
of Metro Atlanta

Jack McMillan
TechBridge

Robert Meier
Northern Trust

Steve Merz
Woodruff Arts Center

Mike Mescon
The Mescon Group

Gary Nelson
Healthcare Georgia Foundation

Harvey Newman
Andrew Young School of
Policy Studies

Lloyd Nigro
Andrew Young School of
Policy Studies

Mark O’Connel
United Way

John O’Kane
Coxe Curry & Associates

Linda Parrish
King & Spaulding

Nancy Peterman
Georgia State University

Alicia Philipp
Community Foundation for
Greater Atlanta

Michael Rushton
Andrew Young School of
Policy Studies

Bruce Seaman
Andrew Young School of
Policy Studies

Pat Showell
Families First, Inc.

Charles Stephens
Skystone Ryan, Inc.

David Van Slyke
Andrew Young School of
Policy Studies

Mary Yoder
Atlanta Alliance on
Developmental Disabilities

Previous Roundtables:

2003 Nonprofit Roundtable
2002 Nonprofit Roundtable
2001 Nonprofit Roundtable