Nominate An Outstanding Organization for the
American Express Building Leadership Award

(Washington, D.C., December 19, 2007) -- Independent Sector is now accepting nominations for the 2008 American Express Building Leadership Award, which will recognize an outstanding organization for its leadership in investing in the people of the nonprofit community. The deadline for nominations is February 18, 2008.

The American Express Building Leadership Award, formerly known as the Leadership IS Award, was established in 1999 to honor an organization whose programs and policies develop future leaders, both within the organization and among the people it serves. Criteria for the award include implementation of innovative strategies for developing leaders at all levels; promotion of an inclusive and diverse workforce; and measurement of the organization’s impact on its community.

The award is sponsored by the American Express Foundation.

The recipient will be presented with the award at the 2008 Independent Sector Annual Conference in Philadelphia from November 9-11.

Anyone can nominate an organization by filling out a nomination form.

Independent Sector honored WITNESS, an international human rights organization, with the 2007 American Express Building Leadership Award. Founded in 1992 by musician and activist Peter Gabriel, the Reebok Human Rights Foundation and Human Rights First (formerly the Lawyer’s Committee for Human Rights), WITNESS trains organizations to use video and online technologies to increase awareness of human rights violations. In doing so, the organization empowers groups within the global human rights community to transform personal stories of abuse into powerful tools for justice and policy change.

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Independent Sector is a nonprofit, nonpartisan coalition of charities, foundations, and corporate philanthropy programs, collectively representing tens of thousands of charitable groups in every state across the nation. Its mission is to advance the common good by leading, strengthening, and mobilizing the nonprofit community.