The Center for Nonprofit and Philanthropic Leadership is dedicated to improving the executive leadership and governance of nonprofit and philanthropic organizations. Its purpose is to assist these organizations to fulfill their missions and to provide a common meeting ground for their leaders to better define, describe and act on behalf of the sector as a whole.

The Center for Nonprofit and Philanthropic Leadership offers symposia and workshops, and certificate programs in nonprofit executive leadership and philanthropic leadership. James Abruzzo and Alex Plinio, the Center founders and co-directors, provide consulting to leaders in the sector, on an individual basis and through the Center's Leaders Common Ground program. The Center also sponsors research on issues of concern to the nonprofit and philanthropic sector, including the New Jersey Nonprofit Leadership Index report which is scheduled to be published in The Star-Ledger on a semiannual basis.