Strive Network Managing Director Jeff Edmondson receives Independent Sector's 2012 American Express NGen Leadership Award

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Byron McCauley
(513) 504-8915

CINCINNATI -- (11/12/2025) -- Strive Network Managing Director Jeff Edmondson today will receive Independent Sector's 2012 American Express NGen Leadership Award, which recognizes one nonprofit leader under age 40 who's demonstrated significant impact addressing critical societal needs.

Edmondson will receive during the John W. Gardner Leadership Dinner Nov. 12 at “GameChangers,” the Indepedent Sector Annual Conference in San Francisco. The event, which opened Sunday at San Francisco Hilton Union Square, concludes today. On Sunday, Edmondson led an interactive discussion on collective impact. He also delivered the keynote address during a session, at the NGen: Moving Nonprofit Leaders from Next to Now pre-conference program.

Independent Sector is the leadership network for nonprofits, foundations, and corporate giving programs committed to advancing the common good in America and around the world.

Strive Network works with communities nationwide to help create a civic infrastructure to unite stakeholders around shared goals, measures, and results in education, supporting the success of every child, cradle to career. Its national work is rooted in the success of the Strive Partnership, a cradle-to-career initiative in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky.

“I am honored and humbled to be recognized with this award. It is a tribute to leadership in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky, and their peers in communities across the country doing the very challenging work of building cradle-to-career civic infrastructure,” Edmondson said. “They are identifying new and creative ways to work together, using data to put limited public and private resources behind what works for children and youth. The result of their efforts will be sustained improvements in educational outcomes locally and invaluable lessons on how to address some of the most complex social issues nationally.”

Edmondson was chosen from distinguished finalists including:

· Gregg Behr, executive director of Grable Foundation.

· Eric Greitens, founder and CEO of The Mission Continues.

· Aaron Hurst, president and founder of Taproot Foundation.

· Abagail Nelson, senior vice president of programs of Episcopal Relief and Development.

Independent Sector is the leadership network for nonprofits, foundations, and corporate giving programs committed to advancing the common good in America and around the world. Our nonpartisan coalition of approximately 600 organizations leads, strengthens, and mobilizes the nonprofit and philanthropic community in order to fulfill our vision of a just and inclusive society and a healthy democracy of active citizens, effective institutions, and vibrant communities.

Strive, a subsidiary of KnowledgeWorks, works with communities nationwide and helps them create a civic infrastructure to unite stakeholders around shared goals, measures and results in education, supporting the success of every child, cradle to career. Our national work is rooted in the success of a collaborative, cradle to career partnership in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky, founded in 2006.