Our History

Inception - early 1990s

Under the vision of the corporate leaders from Jones Day, TRW, BP, KeyBank and Eaton, the BVU model was established. "What was needed was an organization which could serve as the bridge between the business and nonprofit communities, and act as a conduit to match interested corporate volunteers with those nonprofits looking for volunteers." -Bruce Akers, founding board member, and Mayor, Pepper Pike.

Vision and Planning

The Board of Directors, comprised of Cleveland's business leaders, hired Alice Korngold as the Executive Director. The founding staff conducted national research and interviewed 128 local business and community leaders to determine how BVU could have the greatest impact. Feedback indicated that BVU (originally BVC) could make a difference by training and matching qualified board members. In addition, United Way of Greater Cleveland and the BVU Board had agreed that BVU would host The Volunteer Center. With this input, and a mandate to create an organization to engage businesses in the community, BVU conceived the organizational model and its programs and services, developed a strategic plan and raised funds to launch BVU in 1993. Early founding staff include Denise O'Brien, Elizabeth Voudouris and Ann Kent.

Sustainability

One of the keys to BVU's long term success is the revenue model. This includes an annual business membership through which businesses join in order to nominate their highly qualified professionals to participate in BVU's board matching program. United Way of Greater Cleveland established an evergreen funding agreement in 1995 to support The Volunteer Center at BVU. BVU also established relationships with significant foundations, including The Cleveland Foundation, the George Gund Foundation, Deaconess Community Foundation and the Saint Luke's Foundation who view their annual support of BVU as an investment in strengthening the nonprofits in Northeast Ohio.

Consulting and training - 1996

The board matching and training program grew rapidly to over 80 board elections a year by 1996. Candidates who attended BVU's Role of the Board training and had been elected were contacting BVU staff to seek training or consulting to strengthen the boards on which they were now serving. In response to this demand from business members, BVU developed highly innovative board development, consulting and training services in 1997.

Regional and National replication - 2000

In 1999, BVU presented a national conference in Cleveland to help other cities replicate the BVU model. At the same time, BVU's unique board matching program was featured on the front page of the Wall Street Journal. This national coverage prompted over 200 inquires from cities that wanted to replicate the board matching model. In 2000, BVU established and developed BVU Lorain County after receiving a $250,000 grant from The Stocker Foundation to provide core program funding. In 2002, with funding from the Charles Mott Foundation, BVU facilitated the establishment of BVU Maryland.

Transitions in leadership and strategy -- 2005

Following the depature of founding President & CEO, Alice Korngold, the BVU Board named Brian Broadbent as the new CEO in July 2005. Under Brian's leadership, BVU conducted a strategic planning process that led to the formation of key strategic initiatives including the growth of the board matching program, the expansion of business members, the establishment of the retiree consulting program, the minority board member pipeline and the retooling of The Volunteer Center.

Key milestones achieved since 1993:
  • 320 businesses linked to 1,900 nonprofits
  • 1,700 board elections
  • 90,000 volunteer referrals
  • 240 educational seminars
  • 10,000 seminar attendees
  • 1,400 business volunteer projects