Mr. Calvin
Edwards is founder & CEO of Calvin Edwards & Company.
Founded in
2001; this venture
builds on Mr. Edwards’ 20+ prior years of executive
leadership experience in the nonprofit world and financial
services sector. From 1996 to 2000 he was a part of the
senior management team, and a principal, at Ronald Blue &
Co. (RB&Co.), an investment advisory firm. Mr. Edwards
worked closely with Ron Blue on the growth and strategic
direction of the company. It was here that Edwards
recognized that affluent donors could benefit from wise
professional counsel regarding strategic giving.
Previously, Mr.
Edwards was the chief operating officer for Peter Lowe
International (PLI) in Tampa, Florida, a nonprofit
organization dedicated to promoting time-proven values that
help make great people and communities. PLI convened
business mega-seminars (10,000+ attendees per event)
featuring prominent, high-profile celebrities from
government, business, sports, religion, science, and the
media.
Prior to PLI,
Mr. Edwards was executive vice president of Walk Thru the
Bible Ministries (WTB) in Atlanta with responsibility to
manage its four revenue centers, international outreach, and
business operations. He joined WTB in 1985 and led an
expanding publishing division for more than five years
before assuming leadership of the entire company's
operations in February 1991.
Earlier, Mr.
Edwards was president of Good News Unlimited, a rapidly
growing interdenominational ministry in Auburn, California.
There he developed a nationally syndicated radio program,
published a magazine, and convened frequent weekend
conferences. Mr. Edwards previously taught in parochial
schools for some years as well as lectured in freshman
calculus and algebra while in graduate school.
Mr. Edwards has
served on the board of 15 nonprofit organizations and helped
to found six. He has written and lectured extensively on
nonprofit management, effective philanthropy, and a wide
range of related technical topics. As an adjunct professor
at Pepperdine University, he has taught a course on
Principles of Effective Philanthropy, and lectured on
nonprofit program evaluation at Georgia State University and
national conferences.
He earned a
bachelor of arts degree with a double major in literature
and religion from Pacific Union College, and a diploma in
education from Avondale College. He also earned a master of
divinity from Andrews University where he graduated summa
cum laude, and a master of business administration from
Georgia State University, which he completed with a 4.0 GPA.
Articles
authored by Mr. Edwards have been published in a variety of
magazines, and he has often been quoted in the
Wall Street Journal.
He was the general editor for the
Family Walk series
of books and senior editor for the
Youthwalk Devotional Bible (finalist for a Gold Medallion award). In
2001 Andrews University Press published his Seeker After
Light, the biography of theologian Albion Fox Ballenger,
which was co-authored with Professor Gary Land. He has
contributed to the publication of 30+ books.
Mr. Edwards
came to the U.S. from Australia in 1979 and is a naturalized
American. He is married with two adult children, and enjoys
reading, snow skiing, and running 10K road races.