After 20 years, today is my last day as the editor in chief at Nonprofit Quarterly. Because I am having trouble composing an appropriate note, here are the things I have to say, in bullet form:
NPQ is what it is because of you. Your active presence has given it its character, relevance, and deep intelligence.
I will dearly miss being in the midst of this rich, challenging, and dedicated intellectual melee that we call NPQ.
I am leaving NPQ in very good hands—far more capable than mine could ever hope to be—as we enter a time of what we hope is national transformational change at many levels. And I am speaking here not only about the hands of the exciting new EIC (to be announced next week), but the whole of our impressive and insightful staff team and my partner in leadership, the indomitable Joel Toner.
A few other bullets:
I loved every minute of working with the hundreds of partners who have contributed to NPQ’s coverage and direction over the years and want to take a moment to remember especially our beloved Rick Cohen and Woods Bowman, who were two of my constant comrades, now fallen. Those living know who you are: DR, JP, KK, LR, KB, CG, WS, VW, LC, HP, GN, LS, DL, FA, RM, PR, WS, C&ML, EB, TD, JM, MC, MW, EC, BS, BD, etc., etc., etc. You are always on my mind, and I am going to keep calling you to talk about stuff.
This building of a relatively sustainable but independent of spirit publication is not for the faint of heart, so I also want to thank all the board members and funders who suspended their well-based skepticism in the face of years of chronic deficits even when others gave us the side-eye or no eye at all.
I would also thank my mother, but she still doesn’t know exactly what I do, though she admires it a lot.
In summation, I will be forever grateful for your partnership over these many years, and I trust you will increase that investment of spirit and support as NPQ moves forward. So, I hand off this baton, and I ask you to get ready to welcome my able successor and to give and give generously to NPQ today!
Your friend,
Ruth
P.S. Don’t forget to write a note along with your donation, expressing what NPQ has meant to you.
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