We didn’t set out to start a non-profit. It was late summer of 2020, deep in the covid era, when we accepted the challenge to participate in the TED Countdown, a worldwide movement to foster a rapid shift to a world with net zero greenhouse emissions and tackle the climate crisis.

“We” were five people who had hosted and worked on two previous independent TEDx events at UNLV and were eager to be part of such a monumental initiative. Our team included Nancy Matheny, Sam McMullen, Randy Hees, Chelsea Bibb, and Gael Hees – five of PCE’s current board members.

We presented a virtual event, “TEDxHenderson: Focus on Southern Nevada,” that featured six speakers, two entertainment sets, and several videos from the TED Countdown library. Our expenses were minor, but we still hoped to do fundraising. We needed an existing non-profit that could accept donations on our behalf and fund our project. None had a broad mission or open mindset that would allow such an activity.

We aired the TEDxHenderson event as scheduled, covering the costs ourselves. We soon created the flexible non-profit we were seeking — The Partnership for Community Enrichment.