The C(3)EO Forum
Years ago, I was having lunch with four other nonprofit CEOs. We were discussing how we cope with one of the most challenging aspects of the position — loneliness. There are topics you can’t discuss with your board, your staff and certainly not your donors. One of the group described how his former boss handed him a toy mouse when he became CEO and instructed him to talk to the mouse.
In 2004, we determined there was no vehicle for nonprofit CEOs to discuss the thrills and chills of running a nonprofit organization. Taking advantage of listserv technology (which was new and neat at the time), we formed the C(3)EO Forum and adopted NiPy as its mascot.
Fifteen years later, the Forum is an online Yahoo group comprised of more than 340 chief executives of nonprofit organizations. Its purpose is to further strengthen the core competencies of nonprofit chief executive officers and their organizations; and to develop a better understanding of critical issues and opportunities confronting non-profit agencies.