ANDY WOLBER:
 
Andy Wolber




 
 
 
 
 
Executive Director, NPower Michigan in Detroit. Wolber has led technology strategy and planning workshops for more than 250 nonprofit organizations throughout the Midwest. Prior to joining NPower, he worked for USWeb/CKS, where he developed Internet strategies for Fortune 500 clients such as J.C. Penney and StorageTek, as well as for a nonprofit regional hospital system. Wolber had previously been appointed the youngest executive director in the 60-year history of the Dallas Historical Society and had served as board chairman of the Arts District Friends. Wolber holds a MBA in finance and an master’s degree in Arts Administration from Southern Methodist University.


WHERE BORN: "Greenville, Illinois."

MOST INFLUENTIAL PERSONS: "In my career, I would have to say Greg Poggy, the former director of the graduate program at Southern Methodist University, who’s now at the theatre department at the University of Michigan. He is very helpful and influential. Also, the former board members at the Dallas Historical Society, especially Bob Clyde, an accountant who was extremely helpful."

LAST BOOK READ: "The Box: How the Shipping Container Made the World Smaller and the World Economy Bigger by Marc Levinson."

WORDS THAT DESCRIBE ME: "Analytical, stoic, strategic, and I get along with most people."

WHERE MY FIELD/INDUSTRY IS HEADED: "NPower tries to bring technology advances to the nonprofit sector. A lot of what we try to do at the right point is pull technology into a lot of education and change practices, and another is looking at the economics of technology to see when we can push the price down or spur adoption in the nonprofit sector. The emergence of online tools enables a lot of things to happen outside of the wall, or remotely. It can help a large number of organizations to have stable systems. You can do so much without being on site."

FAVORITE TECHNOLOGICAL GADGET: "Treo."

FAVORITE PLACE: "Anywhere next to the water."

FAVORITE HOBBIES: "Reading, playing with my daughter, food."

FAVORITE FOOD: "Steak."

MY HIDDEN TALENT: "My undergrad degree was in music theory and composition, and it doesn’t come up in everyday life, so I’d say my music background."

HOW I WANT TO BE REMEMBERED: "That I had some positive influence. And that I had an effect and positive impact on how nonprofits use technology."

Grant Thornton Website At the annual awards reception in April 2014, one Leader & Innovator from the previous 12 months will be selected as the Grant Thornton Leader & Innovator of the Year.