Patricia Wyzbinski

Patricia Wyzbinski, President of Management Cornerstones Inc., is a social entrepreneur focusing on the

nonprofit sector. She has launched, managed, consulted, trained, and funded nonprofits for 40 years, working

with 4,000 clients in social services, the arts, education, health care, civic and community life, as well as

philanthropic organizations and coalitions.

She has created many resources for the nonprofit sector locally, regionally, and nationally. In Milwaukee, she

started ENTECH (now based at UW-Milwaukee), which provides nonprofits with technology services, and

BoardStar, which assists Boards with governance. She has provided staff support to the Nonprofit Management

Fund for 17 years in Milwaukee and for 13 years in Waukesha County. These funders’collaboratives—the first

in the state of Wisconsin—have involved 17 local funders meeting regularly to award more than $8 million for

building the capacity of local nonprofits.

Prior to moving to Milwaukee, Management Cornerstones was based in Chicago, Illinois. In Chicago, she co-founded and co-directed the centre, inc. (a youth service agency) in 1972; and she founded the Corporation for Cultural Reinvestment, sponsor of ArtsBridge ( the nation’s first business incubator for the arts) in 1987. She was the 1988 recipient of the Athena Award for Outstanding Businesswoman of the Year from the Uptown Chamber of Commerce in Chicago. She is a founding member of the Nonprofit Management Association, and has served on many Boards.

Ms. Wyzbinski has written and taught extensively. Her publications include a seminal research study, Technical Assistance in Cook County; two technical assistance directories for the Donors’ Forum of Chicago; and, contributions to the New Directions publication Small Non-Profits: Strategies for Fundraising Success. She has organized and taught multi-year professional development institutes on Board governance and conducting organizational assessments. She has also taught at Columbia College-Chicago, Roosevelt University, Northern IllinoisUniversity, and University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.