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Nonprofit Executive of the Year: Kent Kramer
In the 10-plus years since Kent Kramer became CEO of Goodwill of Central & Southern Indiana, he has led the organization through what he describes as “a hockey-stick-curved growth chart.” That includes mergers and new territories, as well as expanded programming.
In 2017, Indianapolis-based Goodwill merged with Clarksville-based Goodwill of Southern Indiana. In 2023, the organization was granted the rights to develop Goodwill in Puerto Rico, where the organization had never had a presence. And this June, Goodwill of Central & Southern Indiana and Goodwill Industries of Central Illinois announced plans to merge. The combined nonprofit will serve 21 counties in central Illinois and 40 counties in central and southern Indiana.
Kramer will lead the new entity.
“They saw some of the programming that we do and how we invest in mission, how we’ve been able to impact growth from a retail perspective, employ more people, serve more people, educate more people,” he said. “They wanted that in their territory.”
Kramer also is credited with increasing Goodwill’s employee base more than 60% during his tenure as president and CEO, securing more than $23 million annually in state funding for key programs, and growing the Goodwill Foundation of Central & Southern Indiana’s endowment from under $30 million to nearly $70 million.
“Kent is the consummate business leader,” Anthony Warren, chair of the Goodwill of Central & Southern Indiana board, said in a letter nominating Kramer for Executive of the Year. “He leads with vision and courage, thinking outside of the box with creative growth and mission expansion strategies, resulting in exceptional impact.”
Kramer has overseen the expansion of Goodwill’s Excel Center program, which offers adults the opportunity to earn their high school diploma. The program, which started in 2010 with one school, now has 24 across Indiana and 50 nationwide.
Also under his leadership, the Goodwill Nurse-Family Partnership has expanded to all 92 counties. This home-visitation program pairs a Goodwill-employed registered nurse with a Medicaid-eligible expectant mother during her first trimester of pregnancy. Nurses spend the next 2-1/2 years—until the baby turns 2—helping the mother with parenting skills, employment and education information.
Before joining Goodwill in Indianapolis 23 years ago as retail vice president, Kramer worked for the wholesale division of Walmart for 11 years, then Kmart for a couple of years. Working for public companies, he heard a lot of talk about investors and the need to increase shareholder value.
At Goodwill, he said, “the value goes to the people we employ, educate and serve. I love increasing shareholder value, still. It’s just a different shareholder.”•
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