Scott Gelzer

Scott Gelzer, Vice President of Management Cornerstones Inc., has over 17 years of experience in consulting with nonprofit organizations. Management Cornerstones Inc., a seventeen-year old firm, offers technical assistance to nonprofits through consultation, training, publication of resource materials, and the provision of special services. Clients have included social service agencies, arts groups, schools, churches, coalitions, community and civic organizations, environmental groups, and grantmaking foundations. Prior to his work at Management Cornerstones, he held various positions as a nonprofit Executive Director, numerous positions on Boards and committees, and served as a senior staff in the Illinois General Assembly and the Office of the Governor. A resident of Chicago for twenty-five years, he relocated to Milwaukee in 1997.

He has been instrumental in founding and operating numerous nonprofit organizations. In 1972, he co-founded the centre, inc., a comprehensive youth service agency that won national recognition for its use of educational materials. In 1987, he co-founded the Corporation for Cultural Reinvestment, sponsor of the nation's first business incubator for the arts (Arts Bridge). In 1995, he co-founded the Associates for Roscoe Village Enterprise, a business association dedicated to neighborhood development on Chicago's north side.

For over 10 years, Mr. Gelzer taught sessions on finance and corporate structure in the Certificate for Business Administration program at the University of Illinois in Chicago. Mr. Gelzer has written extensively about the management of nonprofit organizations and is contributing author to a recent New Directors publication by Jossey-Bass, "Small Nonprofits: Strategies for Fundraising Success."

In 1994, his firm was engaged by the Nonprofit Management Fund in Milwaukee to design the application process, review proposals, gather evaluative information, and coordinate special initiatives of the Fund. Since then, the Fund has generated over $2.5 million from 17 private funders who work in collaboration to build the capacity of nonprofit organizations in the greater Milwaukee area. He also serves as part-time program officer at the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation.

His special interests include corporate structure, social entrepreneurship, evaluation and planning. Recent engagements include strategic planning, grant reviews for several foundations, a report on social entrepreneurship for a foundation consortium, and a University presentation on diagnosing management problems at nonprofit organizations.