Ed Fields, IOM, MBA – Co-Founder & Managing Director
Known as a level-headed diplomat, creative risk taker and inspirational leader, Ed Fields is an award-winning professional with nearly ten years of nonprofit experience in a variety of roles, including CEO, board member, staff person and volunteer. A natural right brained creative thinker with well-trained left brained technical skills, Ed’s reputation for his ethical, hardworking and executive approach to business challenges, especially in the areas of economic and business development, business diversity and association management, has added credibility to the organizations he serves.
A transplant from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Ed received his undergraduate degree in marketing from Alabama State University and earned his Masters of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Alabama’s prestigious Manderson School of Business. In 2007, Ed, a former chamber of commerce executive, completed his Institute of Management (IOM) designation, a nonprofit management certification, from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
Ed has served as a member of several community organizations including the Alabama Germany Partnership (Board Member), Birmingham City and Jefferson County Schools Career/Technical Advisory Boards (Board Member), Birmingham Change Fund (Founding Member), Birmingham Urban League (Board Member), Birmingham Urban League Young Professional (Founding Member), Birmingham Change Fund (Founding Member), Central Alabama Women’s Business Center (Board Member), The Literacy Council (Board Member), PROPEL for Young Men (Founding Member), INROADS/Birmingham Alumni Association (President), City of Birmingham Arts and Culture Commission (Commissioner), and the Alys Stephens Center Young Patrons (Member), Alabama MBOC (Advisory Board), Alacare Home Health & Hospice Professional Advisory Council (Member)
Ed previously served as president for the Central Alabama Women’s Business Center board of directors and as a mentor for the Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center as well as the COMPASS project for African-American males at Center Street Middle School in Birmingham. Ed currently serves as the Chairman of the Birmingham Change Fund.
A little more about Ed:
He loves sweets – just call him the cookie monster…
Recommended readings include: The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Dr. Stephen Covey, and The Miseducation of the Negro by Dr. Carter G. Woodson.
He’s the resident DJ at Club PUI after hours
He gets a kick out of this video – how may times can one person say “practice” in two & a half minutes?
We’ve all seen this video tons of times, but watch it again. It’s still funny.
