Awards and Honors To Free To Be, Inc.

Free to Be was recently honored at the Annual Conference of Minnesota Council for Nonprofits (MCN) in Duluth on October 5, 2007 by receiving the Honorable Mention for Excellence Award as a small Nonprofit. The Excellence Award went to the Junior League of St. Paul. A total of eight awards were given from a total membership of 1,843 members.

The Free2B! Board of Directors spent nine months completing a self assessment for the ten Principles of Nonprofit Excellence. The Excellence Committee planned and coordinated the evaluation. This committee was made up of Elizabeth Abraham, Ellen Erickson, Susan Jacobus, Sandy Froiland and Cliff Korkowski. The ten principles used for evaluation are the nonprofit's role in society, governance, planning, transparency and accountability, fundraising, financial management, human resources, civic engagement and public policy, strategic alliances and evaluation.

The Board of Directors gave high marks of achievement for most areas but identified areas for improvement for each assessment area.

Pictured at right is Free2B! Executive Director, Cliff Korkowski holding the nonprofit Excellence Award provided by Marquette Financial Companies, MAP for nonprofits and the Minnesota Council for Nonprofits.