Back on My Feet founder headed to Washington

Anne Mahlum's preferred footrace is the marathon, but that doesn't mean she can't move quickly when she sees the need.

Having turned an improbable notion - that the homeless can be helped through jogging - into a $3-million-plus nonprofit group in 21/2 years, Mahlum is leaving Philadelphia for Washington, where she hopes to become part of the national debate over homelessness.

"We want to be part of the national conversation about homelessness, and we now have the stats and success stories that heighten the credibility of our approach," she said yesterday.

"Unfortunately, we cannot do that from here. We need to have a presence in Washington."

Mahlum, 29, expects to be in Washington by March 1, where she will direct her organization's Washington chapter while establishing a national voice on the issue of homelessness.

While the move deprives Philadelphia of one of its most dynamic young nonprofit leaders, it will not cost the city the organization Mahlum started - Back on My Feet.

In December, Mahlum hired Jonathan Shur, senior marketing manager at Penn State Sports Properties and former chairman of the Back on My Feet board of directors, to serve as the organization's chief operating officer and Philadelphia's executive director.

"If Jonathan wouldn't have taken this job, I don't think I would have left. I have enormous confidence in his capabilities, and we work amazingly well together."

Mahlum and her organization represent one of the most remarkable success stories within Philadelphia's nonprofit sector in recent years.

The North Dakota native came to Philadelphia about four years ago to work for the nonpartisan civic-watchdog group, the Committee of Seventy.

An avid runner, she was struck by the plight of the city's homeless and wondered if they could be helped if they were exposed to the discipline of running.

Two years ago, she turned down a six-figure lobbying job with Comcast Corp. to test her theory. On her own, she started Back on My Feet, which encouraged the homeless to establish order in their lives and build self-esteem through running.

Back on My Feet now has a budget exceeding $3 million and chapters here and in Baltimore. Three more chapters - Washington, Boston, and Chicago - are set to open before 2010 ends.

The Washington chapter launches March 22 with more than $60,000 already raised, and Mahlum decided she wanted to get it up and running herself.

"I could have hired someone to run it, but I think I would have been too much of a micromanager," she said. "I'm really excited. We really want to make this a national organization. This is the opportunity to do that."