SEATTLE – July 16, 2007 - The national board of the NPower Network, a 501(c)(3) established in 2000 to help other nonprofits leverage technology to further their missions, announced today that its national headquarters will move from Seattle to New York City effective August 1, 2007. The move connects national leadership with the daily work of the organization so that services to the nonprofit community can be delivered more efficiently and effectively on a national scale.

With the NPower Network based in New York City, all affiliates will benefit as well as the entire nonprofit sector. Barbara Chang, who has led the NPower NY affiliate from its inception in 2001, will take on the role of CEO of the national NPower Network. She will retain her duties as Executive Director of NPower NY.

With the closure of the Seattle office, the affiliate board of NPower NY will reorganize and also serve as the national NPower Network board. Christopher Wearing, a senior executive at Accenture, will continue to serve as Chairman of the NPower NY board and will assume chairmanship of the national NPower Network board. The previous national NPower board will disband.

“This strategy builds upon NPower’s past leadership in the area of nonprofits and technology and brings it to a new and exciting level of impact,” said Jane Meseck, current board chair and Senior Manager, Community Affairs, at Microsoft. “The move concludes the first phase of NPower’s evolution. We created the concept, established the 501(c)(3) and now are proud to have 12 affiliates across the nation that carry out the NPower mission.”

Additionally, the headquarters relocation to New York positions NPower in a region with a high concentration of important partners and funders. The national NPower Network was initially funded seven years ago by a generous grant from Microsoft. With this announcement, two companies that helped to launch NPower NY– Accenture and JPMorgan Chase – have joined Microsoft in their support of the national Network.

“We look forward to continuing our work with other corporations to support the nonprofit sector with technology that better enables these organizations to focus on their core missions,” noted Wearing.

The relocation to New York aligns the NPower Network offices and leadership with the national organization’s largest affiliate. With a $5.5 million annual budget and 30 employees, NPower NY is a flagship affiliate.

“Technology innovation for the purpose of mission impact has been a cornerstone of
NPower’s mission,” Meseck said. “While innovative projects exist throughout the Network, NPower NY has been on the forefront of advancing this goal.”

NPower NY, for example, launched IT Basic two-and-a-half years ago. Currently, 35 organizations trust NPower NY to manage their IT infrastructure. NPower NY has raised nearly $2 million for IT Basic over the past 2.5 years.

Under Chang’s and Wearing’s leadership, NPower will develop a core set of common services to be delivered Network-wide, ensuring consistency while embracing regional diversity. During the next year, the NPower Network will also explore and develop innovative solutions that will help transform the nonprofit sector.

“This is a very exciting time for NPower,” Barbara Chang said. “Stay tuned. You’ll be hearing a lot of positive news coming from NPower in the months and years ahead.”

For more information on NPower, visit www.npower.org.

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Note: Going forward, the name NPower Network – instead of NPower National – will be used to refer to the organization. This name communicates the strong focus on the association of affiliates that represent NPower across the nation.

Contact: Stephanie Hyacinth
212-564-7010 ext. 204
Stephanie.Hyacinth@npowerny.org