PHOENIX (December 16, 2008)-Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust today awarded Piper Fellowships to four exemplary nonprofit leaders who will participate in self-designed sabbaticals for professional development and renewal.

The 2008 Piper Fellows are Edmundo Hildalgo, Chicanos Por La Causa; Mark Nelson, Foundation for Blind Children; Daniel Scoggin, Great Hearts Academies; and John Swagert, M.D., Mountain Park Health Center.

"The pressures of high-impact jobs in the nonprofit world are not unlike the stresses and demands of other key leadership roles in the public and private sectors," said Judy Jolley Mohraz, president and CEO of the Piper Trust. "Piper Fellowships recognize the requirements of nonprofit leadership and provide access to new thinking, new models and the most current resources."

The Piper Fellowships, each providing up to $30,000, are intended to give professionals in the nonprofit field a minimum of one month to a maximum of two months work-release time plus expenses for study and travel. The sabbatical experiences have ranged from seminars at leading universities to visits to nationwide best-practice sites to leadership development programs and personal coaching.

Since 2001, the Piper Fellows program has funded 32 nonprofit executive sabbaticals.

In addition to providing a maximum of five fellowships annually, Piper Trust awards up to $10,000 for new or increased professional development for each awardee organization's staff. "Staff development has enabled staff, who have held down the fort while the executive is absent, to build skills, acquire knowledge and gain insights as a team," said Mohraz.

A committee of three community leaders, including one Piper Fellow from the previous year's class, made fellow recommendations from among 17 applications. Judges this year were Shirley Agnos, recently retired president of Arizona Town Hall; Gene D'Adamo, vice president, community relations, The Arizona Republic; and Theresa Leon, 2007 Piper Fellow and COO, Friendly House. Piper Trust names a new selection committee for each round of fellows.

Learn more about the Piper Fellows Program…

2008 Piper Fellows

Edmundo Hidalgo
President and CEO
Chicanos Por La Causa, Inc.
602.257.0700
edmundo.hidalgo@cplc.org
Edmundo Hidalgo first joined the statewide Latino community development corporation, Chicanos Por La Causa in 1986, where he worked for four years. Almost a decade later, while earning an M.B.A. from Arizona State University, Mr. Hidalgo returned to the 39-year-old organization as COO. More recently, as CEO, his focus on the bottom line has driven the organization to maintain financial stability through its entrepreneurial programs. Now, Mr. Hidalgo wants to extend the organization's entrepreneurial strengths to develop new programs for impoverished populations. With the Piper Fellowship, Mr. Hidalgo will attend the Executive Business Program in Social Entrepreneurship at Stanford Graduate School of Business and spend time with two exemplary nonprofits to watch and learn from their models in action. Upon his return and completion of the program, Mr. Hidalgo will invite thought leaders back to Phoenix to guide new initiatives for the organization. Read more…

Mark Nelson
COO
Foundation for Blind Children
602.331.1470
mnelson@seeitourway.org
Mark Nelson has worked in blind services for 19 years. He brings a dynamic background in assistive technology and management to his current position as COO of the Foundation for Blind Children, a 56-year-old organization that provides education and rehabilitation programs for the blind. Changes in executive leadership last year led to new organizational challenges, and Mr. Nelson plans to use the Piper Fellowship to strengthen his leadership skills during the organization's transition. He will attend a program on Performance Measurement for Effective Management of Nonprofit Organizations at the Kennedy School of Government at harvard University and an Executive Program in Strategic Perspectives in Nonprofit Management at Harvard Business School. In addition, he will attend the Stanford Graduate School of Business Executive Program in Leadership. To gain greater personal insight Mr. Nelson will work with an executive coach throughout the fellowship. Read more…

Daniel Scoggin
CEO
Great Hearts Academies
480-899-9181
dscoggin@greatheartsaz.org
In 2005, Daniel Scoggin was appointed the first CEO of Great Hearts Academies, a charter school management company with six schools in Greater Phoenix. The schools serve over 1,800 students in grades 6-12. Formerly, he served as headmaster of Tempe Preparatory Academy for six years. He holds a Ph.D. in English Literature from Claremont Graduate University and is the author of the Great Hearts Academies business plan. With the advent of a new school in South Central Phoenix, which will primarily serve minority, first-generation college bound students, Dr. Scoggin wants to develop his skills in delivering quality education to this underserved population. During his Piper Fellowship, Dr. Scoggin will visit eight top-performing urban schools across the nation to observe school culture and models and develop a list of best practices to bring back to Arizona. He will also attend the Stanford Graduate School of Business Executive Program for Growing Companies. Read more…

John Swagert, M.D.
CEO
Mountain Park Health Center
602-323-3242
John Swagert, M.D., joined Mountain Park Health Center in 1998 after working four years in a private practice as an obstetrician. Trading in his scalpel for a BlackBerry, Dr. Swagert left clinical medicine to become CEO in 2006, and led the organization in its pursuit of providing affordable healthcare. Now, he plans to develop an infrastructure capable of adapting to a changing healthcare and economic environment, as well as seek opportunities for collaboration. To strengthen his leadership skills, Dr. Swagert will attend the Stanford Business School Executive Program for Nonprofit Leaders. He will also spend time at an ad agency in Minneapolis to lean about marketing development and branding opportunities for the organization. In addition, he will explore an activity for personal reflection and development to refresh and reenergize. Read more…

About Piper Trust:
A private independent foundation, Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust is dedicated to honoring Virginia Galvin Piper's philanthropic commitment to changing lives and strengthening community in Maricopa County (Arizona). By investing in nonprofits and encouraging strategic planning for the future, Piper Trust strives to make Maricopa County a stronger, more nurturing and vibrant community. Since it began awarding grants in 2000, Piper Trust has invested $238 million in local nonprofits and programs. The Trust reported total grants paid of $25.7 million in fiscal year 2008 (ending March 31). Piper Trust focuses on healthcare and medical research, children, older adults, arts and culture, education and religious organizations.