One Hundred Industry Leaders Take the Palindrome Pledge: a Commitment to Philanthropy and to Nonprofit Board Representation

March 30, 2011 One hundred top industry leaders, in a variety of sectors from across the world, made a public commitment (The Palindrome Pledge) today in order to change the way they give back to the nonprofit sector. The Palindrome Pledge grants that advisors will take a more prominent role in the Board management or operations of a nonprofit, pushing the traditional role beyond fundraising and volunteering to address the pressing business and management needs of many nonprofits. The announcement of this group of Founding Advisors was made today by Palindrome Advisors' Founder and Chairman, Zaw Thet. "This is just the start of how Palindrome Advisors will disrupt the nonprofit sector and create new, innovative ways for business leaders to contribute," said Zaw Thet. Before Palindrome Advisors, there was no easy path for nonprofits to find experienced leaders to help them at a board management level. A board role is not just about fundraising, but includes developing growth plans, operational efficiency, cause marketing, customer relationship management, event planning, and much more. Nonprofits need help in these areas, and that is precisely why we created Palindrome. Palindrome Advisors was initially founded in May 2010 as a nonprofit serving other nonprofits by providing free consulting services for social and mobile media, cause marketing, and other critical issues most nonprofits were unable to tackle. While impactful, Thet realized that the model was limited in its ability to impact nonprofits on a larger scale. The true potential of a group of experienced and talented for profit leaders, with a willingness to help, was not being fully realized. After almost a full year of working on re-defining the giving back model, Palindrome Advisors launches today with its group of one hundred Founding Advisors. These Founding Advisors have taken the Palindrome Pledge a commitment to serve on the board of a nonprofit for at least one full year and to attend monthly salons hosted around the world. Soros Fellow at Stanford's Graduate School of Business, and by the Giving Pledge, a campaign designed by Warren Buffet and Bill and Melinda Gates which encourages billionaires to pledge a majority of their wealth to philanthropy. In order to maximize results, Palindrome carefully matches Advisors to nonprofits based on their skills, interests and a nonprofit's needs. The salons serve as a platform for Advisors where they can compare notes on board experiences and identify common pain points in the nonprofit sector. Palindrome also hosts an annual summit: a forum for Advisors to evaluate the group's impact on nonprofits, discuss best practices, and add additional philanthropic or community programs that Advisors can participate in. Palindrome matches each Founding Advisor to a nonprofit and is actively screening and seeking additional nonprofit partners that want to participate in the program. Ben Paul, the Executive Director of After-School All-Stars, and one of Palindrome's first nonprofit partners, commented that Palindrome is a dream come true for the nonprofit landscape. It allows nonprofits to interact not just with the industry's best talent but also with the technology, culture and innovation that comes with that talent. Peter Kim, Executive Director of the Glow Foundation, another Palindrome nonprofit partner, said: "Working in the social sector as a leader and serving on boards, I realize the need for recruiting new and young leaders to serve on nonprofit boards now versus later. Palindrome creates a forum for young leaders to give back now, before they retire, to serve on nonprofit boards and create positive social impact during (as opposed to after) their careers." For accredited press, there will be a media call and Q&A with Zaw Thet, Palindrome Founder and Chairman, Ben Boyer, Chris Kelly and Donna Wells on Wednesday, March 30th, 2011 at 930am PDT / 1230pm EDT. Palindrome Advisors is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is to change how leaders give back. With over one hundred Founding Advisors and thirty nonprofit partners, Palindrome links the nonprofit world with executive level leaders that give back through a number of programs, including but not limited to: serving on the board of a nonprofit (the Palindrome Pledge), mentoring the next generation of entrepreneurs, engaging in volunteering programs and nonprofit-based salons, and dedicating time and resources to building tools specifically for nonprofit partners. Palindrome was founded in May 2010 and is headquartered in San Francisco, CA. For more, visit http://www.palindromeadvisors.org or find us online at http://www.facebook.com/palindromeadvisors or http://www.twitter.com/palindromeadv Contact Jen Colton colton@flashpointpr.com 415-420-5516