No good deed is left unpunished – or at least unridiculed – as Bill Novelli, AARP’s recently retired CEO and founder of Porter Novelli, takes a jab from Martina Navratilova, Sam Donaldson, Bob Druckenmiller, Tom Nelson, Andrew Stern and other roasters at the upcoming “Roast Bill, Save a Kid” fundraising gala on Nov. 5, 2009, benefiting Kidsave International.
Novelli, Washington’s crusader for social change, is opening himself up for some good natured fun in an effort to improve the lives of orphaned children around the globe waiting in orphanages and foster homes for permanent families.
So how exactly did someone who helped Richard Nixon get elected come to head AARP?
Selling laundry detergent for Unilever began Novelli’s entrance into the business world of marketing and management. From there, he worked for a large New York ad agency before settling in DC with the Peace Corps, where Novelli found his passion in advancing social issues.
After working on Nixon’s re-election campaign in 1972, Novelli, together with his Peace Corp boss, Jack Porter, and a third partner, founded Porter Novelli – today’s powerhouse public relations firm with 100 offices in 60 countries.
In 1990, Novelli left Porter Novelli to pursue a full-time career in public service, working as the executive vice president for CARE, and president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids whose mandate is to change public policies and the social environment, limit tobacco companies’ marketing and sales practices to children, and serve as a counterforce to the tobacco industry and its special interests. He now serves as its chairman of the board He also was named one of the 100 most influential public relations professionals of the 20th century by an industry publication. Just 10 years later, Novelli joined AARP as associate director of public affairs and, after one year, became AARP's CEO.
After eight years of CEO, he had more than doubling the organization’s operating budget, increasing membership by more than five million and made AARP the nation’s leading voice calling for comprehensive health-care reform.
In March, Georgetown University McDonough School of Business announced Novelli’s appointment as a Distinguished Professor of Practice, leading the school in developing courses and programs in nonprofit management, social responsibility, and social marketing for its undergraduate and graduate students.
Novelli is still active in the community promoting social change, as evidenced through his good-natured spirit with a roast to benefit Kidsave, the international humanitarian organization founded by two former Porter Novelli employees, Terry Baugh and Randi Thompson who headed up P/N New York and Los Angeles respectively.
Kidsave's mission is to ensure that no orphan or foster child is forgotten and that every child grows up in a family with love and hope for a successful future. Since 1999, more than 2700 children have found parents and lasting connections with adults thanks to Kidsave programs.
The “Roast Bill, Save a Kid” event will take place November 5, 2009, at the Marriott Washington Wardman Park Hotel. For more information and to purchase tickets, go to www.kidsave.org.
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