The Center for Ethics, Governance, & Accountability

Our Beliefs

At CEGA, we believe non-profit, community-based, issue-specific organizations provide the best opportunity to solve tough problems faced by our communities today.

Organizations can be classified into one of three Sectors: Government (or Public); For Profit (or Private or Business); Non-Profit (or Charitable or Social).

The Non-Profit Sector is growing rapidly, and communities have a growing reliance on the Non-Profit Sector for problem-solving at the 'grass roots level' where citizens can be most involved and effective. Accordingly, we believe the Non-Profit Sector has a tremendous responsibility to lead by example in the areas of ethics, governance, and accountability.  The Public Sector (government) has proved too slow, unable, or unwilling to successfully address critical problems; politics get in the way of action. The Private Sector (business) does not include solving critical societal and community problems in their respective mission statement; the drive for profitability gets in the way.

Therefore, at CEGA, we are resolved to support the growth and nurturing of the Non-Profit Sector, whom we believe will be the increasingly-important, solution-based, issue-oriented, problem-solvers of community-based issues.

Our Concerns

The research we conducted in formulating the basis for our Certification was enlightening. With the Internet, there is no shortage of material on ethics, governance, and accountability and its relationship to the Non-Profit Sector. However, we found there was so much material -- so many non-profit membership associations -- and so many organizations wanting to serve the non-profit industry that it was very frustrating to try and find straight-to-the-point information.

We also found the many websites serving the Non-Profit Sector to be so voluminous that we got lost in the minutia. This part in our research caused us to become committed to providing cutting edge information on the single topic we felt was was critical to the survival and growth of non-profits: Ethics, Governance, and Accountability. We have resolved to provide an inviting format that is easy to navigate for our clients.

During our research, we found an overwhelming negativity toward the leadership potential of the Non-Profit sector, which we believe is not accurate, nor is it acceptable. Let’s briefly take a look at how the three Sectors compare:

• Remember the Watergate scandal? It is still likely to be the most memorable Public-Sector (Government) scandal in modern history. It began to unfold publicly in 1971 and President Nixon resigned in 1974 (and was pardoned). Many people believe Watergate played a large role in launching the growing skepticism of the average citizen toward our government.
• How about Enron? It was a huge For-Profit (Business) scandal and set off a new wave of resentment and skepticism of business practices. The Enron scandal began to unfold publicly in 2001 and its CEO, Kenneth Lay, was convicted in 2006. Enron was the largest energy company at the time and went on to become bankrupt and defunct. Many people believe Enron paved the way for new federal regulations for publicly-traded companies (Sarbanes-Oxley).
• What would be the most remembered Non-Profit (Charitable) scandal in our lifetime? Many people would likely recall United Way of America. The United Way scandal began to unfold publicly in 1991 and its CEO, William Aramony, was convicted in 1995. The organization was the largest charity in the country at the time of the scandal -- and, it remains so today.

We are concerned that the rhetoric surrounding the ‘issues’ related to the Non-Profit Sector may be misleading.  Using the United Way example above, the Non-Profit Sector appears to have the greatest resiliency of the three sectors and seems to support our belief that Non-Profits hold the greatest problem-solving potential for the future. We passionately believe that the Non-Profit Sector can benefit from awareness and education that our CEGA Certification provides in the areas of ethics, governance, and accountability. Such is the sole mission of CEGA.

Our Organization

Our Board of Directors is national in scope, with members located throughout the United States. In addition, CEGA has established a diverse team of experienced advisors, which provides a comprehensive perspective specifically designed to benefit non-profits.