Scholar in Residence
April 27-May 1, 2009
Director, Effective Communities, LLC
Steven Mayer has worked the past thirty years with the gamut of civic, public and philanthropic organizations – grassroots groups, donors, foundations, agencies, associations, networks, and systems – to help them achieve greater effectiveness consistent with their mission.
Mayer concentrates on organizations seeking to level the playing field, reduce barriers, and otherwise improve conditions that support fair and equitable progress. Before beginning Effective Communities in 1999, he was the founding director at Rainbow Research, Inc., a Minneapolis-based nonprofit that helps foundations and nonprofits focus on organizational effectiveness, program evaluation, and capacity building.
Some of his key publications are Building Community Capacity: The Potential of Community Foundations; Successful Neighborhood Self-Help: Some Lessons Learned; Community Philanthropy in Central and Eastern Europe; Better Together: Religious Institutions as Partners in Community-Based Development; Inclusiveness Assessment Tool: A Tool for Assessing Progress in Racial and Ethnic Inclusiveness and Cultural Competence; and Building Community Capacity with Evaluation Activities that Empower.
While with the Center on Community Philanthropy, Dr. Steven Mayer presented a paper on strategies for impacting vulnerable communities.