In retirement, a new way of working

When he retired to Chapel Hill 18 years ago, Chauncey Perry Colwell expected to spend his time riding motorcycles and driving sports cars.

He had spent 43 years with AT&T, climbing the ranks from a lineman scaling poles to senior vice president of financial management at the company's corporate headquarters in New York.

After decades devoted to problem-solving, Colwell, 83, expected a life of leisure. But he couldn't deceive himself.

"I kind of like to work," he says.

Now he's using the years once reserved for revving engines to help others as a volunteer adviser to nonprofit businesses and executives. As a consultant for Executive Service Corps of the Triangle, and a board member for several nonprofits, Colwell keeps a challenging schedule - about 35 hours a week - designed to support service-oriented organizations, reminding their leadership of the mission to "serve more people in more effective ways."

For his efforts, he received the 2009 Excellence in Philanthropy Award from the Association of Fundraising Professionals.

Over the years, Colwell has worked with more than 35 nonprofits in the Triangle, earning respect in the nonprofit community for his ability to help their businesses build stronger boards, improve strategic planning and increase fundraising. He also makes financial contributions to several nonprofits.

Though he has slowed the hectic pace of his youth, the slender-framed Colwell eagerly keeps appointments, arranging his days in a leather calendar case tied with a rubber band. Last week, he attended eight meetings with various clients.

One evening you may find him conversing with fellow board members at the Triangle Community Foundation or making suggestions to the board for the Women's Center in Chapel Hill. Another afternoon, he may be talking with the executive director of the Mental Health Association in Orange County.

"They help make this country run in so many ways," he says of nonprofits. "Whatever the reason for the nonprofit, they fill a gap in American society that really needs filling."

'He hardly ever says no'

He comes in contact with many nonprofits through his work at ESC, a Durham-based organization started in 1987. They offer the region's nonprofits affordable consultations with volunteers - many former executives with years of experience.

Colwell, who deflects compliments with a deft hand that sends them back to the giver, has developed a reputation for team-building when it comes to boards. He helps them find balance and keep a keen eye on the mission.

"He's just someone who seems to have the right touch," fellow ESC member Ed Rose says. "He has soft hands as far as getting a group of people with diverse opinions to work together."

Trudy Smith, executive director of ESC, says Colwell's compassion comes from an understanding that approximately 5,400 nonprofits in the Triangle face stiff challenges because of limited resources, especially with a recession-riddled economy limiting donations. Without help, she says, they may not achieve their missions.

"He hardly ever says no," she says.

As a volunteer for ESC, Colwell works directly with clients, usually in his specialty fields of board development or strategic planning. He brings a measured discipline to his meetings, preferring to ask more questions than answer them. But when he does speak, it's in even tones, and he usually makes his case with three examples.

Sarah Shapard credits one such simple conversation with Colwell for reviving the N.C.Therapeutic Riding Center.

The organization offers equine-assisted activities to children and adults with physical, emotional, mental and social challenges, the only such program to serve Alamance, Durham and Orange counties.

Shapard became director in September and has worked with Colwell over the past four months on a strategic plan. She talks about a meeting she had with him that resulted in the riding center raising $90,000 and cutting expenses for a 12-month period.

She presented him with a financial analysis, and he prioritized it, looking at her most immediate needs. The center had taken over a 28-acre farm, doubling expenses with fewer new donors. It considered increasing fees to clients.

Colwell's questions inspired Shapard, an 18-year veteran of nonprofits. She thought to check old donor pledges and found someone who agreed to match fundraising efforts.

"That single conversation is one of the reasons we're turning a corner," she says. "Why we are heading in the right direction. Why we are much healthier than we were when the economy tanked."

Advocating creativity

That success comes as no surprise to Dr. Robert Murphy, the executive director of the Center for Child and Family Health. He sees it all the time with Colwell.

"He's always someone I can count on for tough questions," Murphy says. "He asks straightforward questions that make you think. He asks them in a good way, too. He doesn't mince words. ... We should all have people in our lives who push us to think more creatively."

Colwell also serves as a private consultant to nonprofit executive directors through ESC's executive coaching program. He says he understands their plight, as they have what he calls a "lonely job."

For nonprofit leaders such as Andrea Bazan, president of the Triangle Community Foundation, he also serves as a sounding board when the need to vent arises. Bazan recalls the handwritten note Colwell gave her a few years ago, saying, "Keep up the good work."

"I have a tremendous affection for Perry," she says. "He has helped me deal with some leadership challenges that I've had as an executive throughout my years as someone in the nonprofit world. He's always done it in a thoughtful way. I'm very grateful."

But Colwell dodges those compliments like he's steering a motorcycle through a mountain range.

Not all business

He's familiar with such turns. That's his hobby outside of the board room. Even with a busy retirement career, he has found time to ride bikes through the French and Swiss Alps. He has made 15 tours through the European mountains, braving the hairpin turns and extreme elevation. "It's an adventure," he says.

He and his wife, Betty, are members of the Antique Motor Club of America and have participated in riding events around the country. He has given up the two-wheel rides for ones with side cars. He owns a 2008 BMW GS 1200 with a Hannigan side car and is restoring a 1969 BMW R69S.

"Not as fast as I used to, but I still enjoy it a little bit," he says, anticipating a riding event in September in the Alleghany Mountains in Pennsylvania.

Last year, while riding in Austria with his son, Chauncey Perry Colwell IV, the elder Colwell injured his leg and was forced into a black medical boot. He still reported to work.

"That didn't stop him at all," Bazan says.