As a major metropolitan area situated in the heartland of the nation, it is appropriate that the Kansas City metroplex is poised to take a position on the forefront of training leaders for the burgeoning world of nonprofits.

Kansas City serves as the national headquarters for American Humanics, a national alliance of colleges, universities and nonprofits whose mission is to educate, prepare and certify professionals to strengthen and lead nonprofit organizations. Along with Rockhurst University and the University of Missouri-Kansas City, William Jewell College maintains strong ties to the American Humanics organization through a very active student chapter and academic program.

With the introduction of a new major in nonprofit leadership in the fall of 2007, we join the ranks of about 20 colleges and universities nationwide offering formal undergraduate programs focusing on nonprofit management. Programs such as ours address a very real need for leadership development in the nonprofit sector.

According to a 2004 study by the Independent Sector, a coalition of nonprofit organizations and foundations, nonprofit employment has doubled in the last 25 years. The study found that employment at nonprofit organizations encompasses about 12.5 million workers–nearly 10 percent of total employment in the United States.

The demand for leaders in nonprofit organizations is expected to increase in the coming years, creating a predicted “leadership deficit” if the need is not addressed. “If half of all MBA graduates from across the nation took positions in the nonprofit sector every year for the next 10 years, they would not fill the current employment gap within the sector,” according to Ralph Smith, Senior Vice President of the Annie E. Casey Foundation, an organization which addresses the needs of children and families.

During the next 30 to 40 years, $6 trillion in charitable bequests will flow to the nonprofit sector as wealth is transferred from the baby boom generation to its heirs, according to Paul G. Schervish, a professor of sociology at Boston College and director of the school’s Center on Wealth and Philanthropy. “Should the nonprofit sector be unable to fill its looming leadership deficit, much of that money will not be put to its best use,” a summer 2006 article in the Stanford Social Innovation Review predicts.

The new nonprofit leadership major is a natural fit for Jewell, underscoring our mission of cultivating leadership, service and spiritual growth. During the 2006-07 academic year, Jewell students logged an amazing 25,000 hours of public service activities.

We are excited about what the major in nonprofit leadership will offer our students. But it is even more exciting to consider those who will be served by our students completing the major. Kansas City is already recognized as a national center for philanthropy. We believe that Jewell, working in partnership with other local institutions in nonprofit leadership development, is poised to bring important support and resources to a thriving and growing nonprofit sector.