Is notwithstanding pretty much a synonym of despite?

For example, if I say Despite being a top contributor on Yahoo! Answers, I do not claim to be omniscient, could I just replace despite with notwithstanding and say instead Notwithstanding being a top contributor on Yahoo! Answers, I do not claim to be omniscient? What would be a better way to formulate my new sentence? What are some other synonyms of notwithstanding? Thanks for your help.