Paul Shoemaker, Founding President of SVPI, and Executive Connector SVP Seattle, was named to NonProfit Times’ Top 50 Power and Influence List for the blending of philanthropy development and capacity building. The annual listing names the 50 most influential executives in the charitable sector for the previous 12 months. Paul is joined this year by notables such as Bill Gates (Co-Founder, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation), Diana Aviv (President and CEO, Independent Sector), Geoffrey Canada (Founder and CEO, Harlem Children’s Zone), and Emmett Carson (President and CEO Silicon Valley Community Foundation).

The profile reads:   “The founding president of Social Venture Partners International, Paul is an outspoken, unabashed trumpeter for the blending of philanthropy development and capacity building. SVP Seattle is the incubator from which state-of-the-art technology met inspired philanthropists.”

“This is really a humbling, gratifying honor,” says Paul. “It feels great to work with such a committed network of philanthropists across the SVP International network and have something like this to recognize the collective effort and impact in 25 cities. This was possible only because of everyone across the SVP network. It all started with Paul Brainerd's vision for Seattle and has taken off from there. And our potential is really just getting started. I’m even more excited about the future and this recognition is some great wind in my and SVP’s sails.”

Check out The Seattle Times, Jerry Large's column on August 15. Jerry provides a nice overview of the SVP story.