(Greenwich, CT), Nov. 11, 2010 -

The Harvard Business School (HBS) Club of Connecticut Community Partners presented its second Turbo Award today to Connecticut Pre Engineering Program (CPEP). The first Turbo Award was presented by the Club in 2007. The $20,000 award recognizes the local nonprofit with the best idea to spark innovation and benefit the community. CPEP, based in Middletown, CT was chosen from over ninety applicants for its blended learning project which will allow over 1500 middle school children throughout Connecticut take advantage of the tremendous learning resources that are available to students through the internet. With assistance from educators and Science, Technology, Engineering at Mathematics (STEM) industry leaders, CPEP has developed a portfolio of hands-on projects that their students build with the help of trained certified teachers. Specifically, the $20,000 grant will be used to allow CPEP to migrate all of their current and future projects to the MOODLE blended learning environment, creating the platform for them to significantly increase the number of students served and to enhance the depth of their experience.

Community Partners, the nonprofit arm of the Harvard Business School Club of Connecticut, donated $10,000 for the award. New Country Porsche of Greenwich matched the donation. A reception was held honoring the recipient and all five finalists.

"The HBS Club of Connecticut continues to support nonprofit organizations in tough economic times helping extend their reach and impact in our community," said club president Gautam Ramchandani (MBA 1977). "The Turbo Award challenges nonprofits to consider how they can "turbo-charge" their programs to accelerate their impact."

Robert Whitby (MBA 1966), Chair of the Turbo Award Committee observed "By providing $20,000 to encourage the application of business concepts in the social sector, we incentivize nonprofits to improve an existing program, to launch a new initiative, or to enhance overall organizational effectiveness."

Presenting the award to CPEP were Robert Whitby (MBA 1966), and other Community Partners Board members including Gautam Ramchandani (MBA1977), Anna Park Song (MBA 1992), and Nancy Tafoya (MBA 1980).

The Turbo Award Committee also decided to present a second place award this year of $5000 to Family ReEntry, Inc. of Norwalk, CT. This innovative nonprofit has developed a research based residential ex-offender reentry program for the city of Bridgeport and the award money will help them to formalize the Fresh Start Training Center, and increase throughput capacity from just under 50 individuals per year to 150 per year.

Three additional Connecticut nonprofits received honorable mention for their competitive proposals - Abilis of Greenwich, Mercy Learning of Bridgeport and Transportation Association of Greenwich (TAG).

About the HBS Club of Connecticut
The HBS Club of Connecticut unites more than 2,400 alumni who live and work in the state. The club is committed to volunteerism and public service. Through the Community Partners program, alumni have the opportunity to provide pro bono consulting and apply their wealth of functional, industry, and board expertise to the core business issues facing leading nonprofits. Community Partners also works in partnership with senior executives and boards in social enterprises across diverse sectors. It provides scholarships to the Strategic Perspectives in Nonprofit Management executive program at Harvard Business School. The program provides nonprofit leaders a forum for examining and realigning their goals and missions to achieve greater organizational success. In addition to promoting excellence in nonprofit management in Connecticut, the club offers a variety of educational, business, and career and social networking events to its growing alumni base.