Sherry Whitaker Budziak wanted to work for nonprofits from an early age.

While many of her high school classmates looked forward to some unbridled fun during senior week, Budziak was president of the school’s Students Against Drunk Driving chapter. She was cause-oriented from the start.

What was not on her radar during her formative years was technology.

“I almost flunked computer science in college,” she told CEO Update in an interview.

Now Budziak, a communications and political science double major turned entrepreneur, is one of the top technology consultants in the association space as founder and CEO of .orgSource. She is also an author, podcast host, keynote speaker, executive coach and the CEO Update and Association TRENDS 2026 Association Industry Partner of the Year.

She has earned that last distinction in large part because her work goes well beyond technology recommendations to encompass business and strategic planning, and because her care for others in the sector goes beyond strictly business relationships.

“I show up for people, and not just our clients,” she said. “People call me because they’ve had a crisis. I have always been passionate about helping others. I grew up in a smallish town (Hobart, Indiana). It was part of our culture that you helped other people.”

In addition to .orgSource, which she founded in 2005, she co-founded a second company, .orgCommunity, in 2015. The latter is a networking and educational membership organization for association executives and consultants. Budziak created the LinkedIn group Women in Association Leadership, writes daily on LinkedIn, pens two weekly newsletters and hosts the “Association 4.0” podcast.

“Association 4.0” is also the main title of two books she co-authored with Kevin Ordonez, with whom she co-founded .orgCommunity. (Ordonez is president and managing director of digital strategy at .orgSource.) The term refers to what has been called the fourth industrial revolution, characterized by artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing, robotics, blockchain and big data. The authors recommend that associations be agile, data-driven and entrepreneurial.

“Sharing is just part of helping others, and it’s something that we should all be doing,” she said of her thought leadership. “Writing, speaking and podcasting give me a platform. And when we’re talking about technology, the problem I see is that people tend to overthink it or make it too complex. Those platforms provide me the opportunity to translate some of those complex topics into real, practical insights.”

Budziak formulated a leadership philosophy she calls H.E.A.R.T, for Humanize, Empower, Ascend, Reimagine and Transform. She says technological advancement requires empathy and cultural transformation.

“It’s about more than just technology,” she said. “You have a people problem, and you have a culture problem. People need to be trained. There’s a whole change management mindset that needs to happen. People need more help understanding the scope of change and what digital transformation really means.”

From obsolete to state-of-the-art

Budziak’s technology experience started with her first association job at the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) in the mid ’90s. She embraced the mission but was so distressed by the obsolete technology in use, like Wang word processors, that she was looking to quit.

Then AANS gave her a personal computer. David Martin, soon to retire as CEO of the Society of Critical Care Medicine, was assistant executive director at AANS at the time and made a fateful request.

“He came up to my desk and said, ‘Hey, Sherry, you’re one of the only people here who knows how to use a PC. Do you want to help us build our website?’” Budziak recounted.

“I was just a kid sitting at this desk in a communications department, writing press releases and editing magazine copy. If David hadn’t given me that opportunity, I don’t even know what I’d be doing now. I didn’t know what I was doing then, but sometimes you just have to say ‘yes’ to opportunities.”

The American Academy of Dermatology recruited her in 1996 to start a for-profit subsidiary developing websites for other associations. In her nearly nine years there, Budziak helped more than 150 associations with website development and maintenance.

That laid the groundwork for starting her own tech consulting firm for nonprofits, .orgSource.

Removing obstacles

The concept of not allowing oneself to trip over obstacles — like rugs — is central to her thinking. The word “rug” is in the titles of two of her books, including the latest, coming Feb. 1: “RUG: How to Move What You’re Tripping Over and Lead With H.E.A.R.T.”

“We were helping a client with a digital transformation project many years ago, and there was this ugly oriental rug outside the boardroom that everybody kept tripping over,” Budziak recalled. “I said, ‘Guys, why don’t we move the rug?’ And they said, ‘We have to go ask the CEO.’

“After two days, as people kept tripping over the rug, I literally rolled it up and set it aside. They had transitioned to a new CEO, and I knew that CEO didn’t care about the rug. But it was that moment that gave staff that sense of, ‘Oh, we can do something.’

“So, it’s about how you help people move those rugs,” she said. “It’s about humanizing and seeing the people behind the scenes, whether your members or your staff, and seeing what they’re dealing with, to help you navigate change.”

Harnessing AI

As associations strive to capitalize on AI and cope with the risks, Budziak said it’s wrong to try to overlay AI tools on outdated work processes.

“That’s like buying a gorgeous, million-dollar house and putting your 30-year-old furniture in it,” she said.

“Many associations are stretched too thin, and it’s easier to just continue working with legacy systems and applying those temporary fixes,” Budziak said. “The organizations we are working with that have embraced AI are totally rethinking their business models, and it’s opening doors to new products and services.

“There’s an opportunity for associations now, because people don’t trust a lot of these AI tools,” she said. “Associations are trusted sources. They have solid brands. They are there to provide knowledge and connect people. If they can use AI to do that in the right ways, there’s a huge opportunity.”

UP CLOSE WITH SHERRY BUDZIAK

A website pioneer: Early in her career, Budziak was helping Panasonic sell batteries for the first commercially available cell phone, from Motorola. But she longed for the nonprofit world. She quit Panasonic to join the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS). Shocked by the outdated technology at the association, she sought to return to Panasonic, but her former boss, knowing her passion for nonprofits, urged her to persevere. She went on to help develop what was likely one of the first association websites for AANS.

Writing for all ages: Budziak is a co-author of “Association 4.0: Positioning for Success in an Era of Disruption” and its sequel, “Association 4.0: An Entrepreneurial Approach to Risk, Courage, and Transformation,” and author of the forthcoming “RUG: How to Move What You’re Tripping Over and Lead With H.E.A.R.T.” At her mother’s urging, she also wrote “Jules Moves the Rug,” a children’s book about embracing change.

Words of wisdom: “Consultants should serve with integrity,” she says. “Simplify what’s complex and remember that your job is to support the organization’s mission.”