Carolyn is the consummate professional and took on the challenging task of writing a development plan for a relatively new community foundation without trepidation. She was able to gather, synthesize and organize the information provided to her quickly and asked important and relevant questions reflecting a strong grasp on the task. In a very short timeframe, Carolyn put together a detailed, realistic and outstanding plan and in presenting to the board was articulate, confident and able to achieve consensus and understanding from the board members.

Carolyn’s insights and counsel have proven to be invaluable. She was very targeted, responding effectively to my questions and anticipating my needs on a just-in-time basis. She has a wealth of experience and is an excellent communicator.

Carolyn is smart, tactful, easy-going and gets things done in short order. I highly recommend her as part of a team in any capacity and am just thrilled with everything she was able to provide for us in the few months she was helping to fill a gap.

Carolyn Nopar led our search for Civic Consulting Alliance’s first head of development. She did a spectacular job. Carolyn managed every aspect of the search – from helping us draft a job spec to posting it in all the right places to outreach, screening, developing interview criteria and, finally, helping us choose the right person. We are thrilled with the hire and thankful to Carolyn for her leadership and counsel throughout the process.

Carolyn has been a personal friend and colleague for over 20 years. Carolyn is enthusiastic and practical. I have always admired Carolyn for her objective approach to any situation. All of this coupled with her intellectual capacity would make her a top candidate for any opportunity. If our firm had any openings that would fit her skill set she would be our top choice.

I highly recommend Carolyn Nopar as a leader in the philanthropic community. Through her creativity and willingness to take on new challenges, she was able to implement a new strategic direction for TEK’s 6-month transitional jobs training program. As Executive Director of a social enterprise, Carolyn has the undeniable ability to revamp sales efforts with retailers and the incentive industry. Her creative endeavors assisted TEK in introducing new product lines with a focus on quality control and packaging. Her ability to quickly transition from sales and marketing to building strategic relationships with government officials, corporations, foundations and individual donors never ceased to amaze me. She is a tremendous motivator to her staff and has the uncanny ability to bring her team closer together both professionally and personally to assist in raising performance levels for the overall good of the organization.

Carolyn Nopar would be an asset to any organization. The Enterprising Kitchen was fortunate to find her in 2010. Since joining TEK, Carolyn has made exceptional strides with her leadership skills & high energy. She has the communication and sales skills to build great relationships with both internal & external stakeholders. Carolyn has the vision and executional skills to drive change.

Upon taking the role of CEO and President of Family Focus, I recruited Carolyn Nopar as our Director of Development. I had participated in a Donors Forum workshop where she was the consultant/facilitator and felt she would be a valuable senior staff member and partner for me. In the past four years of her tenure, Carolyn has exceeded Family Focus board members and my expectations. She has brought the development functions to a new level from creating a new Web site to developing partnerships with Taproot and other funders. She is also an excellent coach and staff manager and has created a hard-working committed development team. We are bittersweet about wishing Carolyn the best in her next professional endeavors because we will miss her talent, expertise, management skills and good nature.

During her tenure as Executive Director, Carolyn brought much needed energy, vision and initiative to The Enterprising Kitchen (TEK). Her dedication to furthering the mission of TEK and providing top-notch, relevant skills training to its participants was exemplary. While respecting the strengths our board of directors brought to the organization, she also challenged us to be more action-oriented and thoughtful about how we could assist TEK, from both a strategic and fundraising perspective. She would be a tremendous asset to any organization and I would be delighted to work with her again.

I engaged Carolyn to provide interim leadership of the development department at Chicago Cares. Carolyn’s work and effort during that time were outstanding and she produced strong results in a relatively short period of time. Carolyn is a first-rate networker and connector. She is innovative, entrepreneurial and optimistic. She is a pleasure to work with and operates with the highest level of integrity. On a personal level she is both kind and thoughtful. She would be a strong asset to any organization.

I was a member of the Board of Directors at TEK when Carolyn joined as Executive Director. Carolyn created an enthusiasm and energy within TEK immediately upon joining. During her time at TEK, she organized a number of key events and successfully increased the individual donor base and overall momentum within the organization. While she faced significant challenges during her time at TEK, Carolyn remained focused and managed the process diligently and capably. I would recommend Carolyn as an Executive Director or in a similar leadership role and would welcome the opportunity to work with her again in the future.

Carolyn is the kind of person any organization would want. Her management and leadership skills are exceptional, she is outstanding in business administration, and to top it all off, she’s an enjoyable, warm person with an indefatigable positive attitude. Her intelligence, drive and charm make her truly one in a million.