MDLF one of three finalist nonprofits in New York Executive Council Top Ten Award 2007

As I have mentioned occasionally on this blog, I serve as the board chair of the Media Development Loan Fund, a nonprofit private equity fund that supports independent media around the world. We've been around for a little more than a decade, and starting from zero, we now have a portfolio of about $50 million. We have assisted newspapers, radio stations, TV stations, and internet news operations in places ranging from Serbia to Malaysia to Guatemala. More information at MDLF. I have long known that MDLF is one of the cutting edge venture philanthropy organizations in the world, the coolest of the cool. I am delighted to see that others are starting to notice, too, including being named as one of three finalists in this prestigious New York Executive Council competition:

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MDLF has been selected as one of three Finalists for the Executive Council of New York's "Ten Award" for Best Non-Profit, apparently out of hundreds of nominees. The winner will be announced at the Ten Awards Gala to be held November 5 at Cipriani Wall Street, a famed New York banquet hall in the former NewYork Stock Exchange. The keynote speakers will be former Treasury SecretaryPaul O'Neill and Donny Deutsch, Chairman of the Deutsch Inc. advertising agency and host of a show on CNBC. The New York Ten Awards are billed as "the Academy awards of New York Business." Its goal is "to act as an annual milestone highlighting extraordinary leadership and innovation in the New York business community.

The Ten Awards is an annual selection of ten individuals in the greater NewYork business community who lead national and multi-national companies whohave, through their innovation, significantly impacted their organization and industry." One award is for Best Non-Profit and the remaining 9 awards are all for commercial business leaders. The Non-Profit Award is "presented by Saatchi & Saatchi." The judges for the awards include journalists from the Financial Times, Institutional Investor, Crain's and The Deal.

It is expected that 500 business leaders will attend the gala on November 5, where the winners will be announced. They represent "the executive teams of many of the largest organizations in New York, as well as the new and emerging leaders of the city." There will also be a special "Ten Awards NASDAQ Market Closing" with the winners & keynote speaker. Sponsors of the Ten Awards include Accenture, American Express, AT&T, Business Week, Cushman & Wakefield, EDS, Ernst & Young, Flexjet, Fortune, Google, IBM, Loews Hotels, Marsh, Microsoft, NASDAQ, Philips, The Ritz-Carlton Club, JetBlue, Sentient Jet, SoftBank, Sprint, TIME, UPS, and Zagat Survey.

More information can be found at: http://www.execcouncil.org/TenAwards/2007/index.html