Complete CV

John Templeton Foundation, West Conshohocken, PA

Vice President, Programs (2021-present)

 

Disruptor-in-Residence, Babson College (2021-present)

 

The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation, Atlanta

Senior Vice President (2014-2021)

Vice President (2004-2014)

 

Director of Planning & Evaluation, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Miami (1997-2004)

 

Journalism, Research & Media Consulting (1987-1997)

Issue Brief Writer & Editor, Education Statistics Services Institute of the American Institutes for Research, Washington, DC.

Created and implemented research designs for investigative journalism projects with U.S. News & World Report; Omaha World-Herald; WRAL TV, Raleigh, NC, and the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

Weekly Columnist, The Chapel Hill Herald, Chapel Hill, NC.

Researcher and Writer, North Carolina Global TransPark Authority, Chapel Hill, NC.

Reporter-Fellow, Knight Ridder Washington, DC., Bureau.

Reporter, The Daily Reflector, Greenville, NC.

Reporter, WMAS AM-FM, Springfield, MA.

Reporter, WCHL, Chapel Hill, NC.

Reporter, The Daily Tar Heel, Chapel Hill, NC.

 

Service

Member, Aspen Institute Leadership Council on Purpose & Meaning (2021 – ).

Member, Georgia Health News Board (2011-2021).

Co-Chair, Governor’s Advisory Council on Childhood Obesity, (2014-2020).

Advisory Group for The Commons / Open Road Alliance’s Risk Management for Philanthropy: A Toolkit (2015-2016).

Member, Atlanta Jewish Film Festival Programming Committee (2011-2014).

Member, Georgia Supermarket Access Task Force (2011-2012).

Participant, Creative Change Retreat (2011).

Executive-in-Residence, Georgia Tech Institute for Leadership and Entrepreneurship (2009-2019).

 

Selected Bibliography

 

Book Chapters & Essays

“Building Strong Foundation-Grantee Relationships,” with Michael Quinn Patton and Deborah G. Bonnet, in Foundations and Evaluation: Contexts and Practices for Effective Philanthropy, eds. Marc T. Braverman, Norman A. Constantine and Jana Kay Slater (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2004).

“Listening and Learning 2004: Introduction,” in Listening and Learning 2004 (Miami: John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, March 2004).

“Commentary,” in Evaluating Community Collaborations, ed. Thomas E. Backer, Ph.D. (New York: Springer, 2003).

“Listening and Learning,” in Community Indicators: Profiles of Knight Foundation Communities and the Nation (Miami: John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, March 2001).

“A New Strategy,” in Assessing Public Journalism, eds. Edmund M. Lambeth, Philip E. Meyer and Esther Thorson (Columbia, Mo.: University of Missouri Press, 1998).

 

Articles in Peer Reviewed Publications

“Reflections and Commentary on a Theory of Philanthropy,” The Foundation Review, Vol. 7, No. 4, December 2015.

“Philanthropy, Evaluation, Accountability, and Social Change,” The Foundation Review (Johnson Center for Philanthropy at Grand Valley State, Vol. 1, Issue 4, 2010).

“Evaluation Case Teaching from A Participant Perspective,” New Directions for Evaluation, Jossey-Bass and the American Evaluation Association, No. 105, Spring 2005, p. 83.

“U.S. Daily Newspapers and the Role of the Associated Press in First-Day Coverage of the 1989 Invasion of Panama,” International Communication Bulletin, Vol. 26, No. 1–2 (Spring 1991) p. 16.

“The War on Drugs: A Case Study in Opinion Formation,” The Public Perspective; A Roper Center Review of Public Opinion and Polling, November/December 1990, p. 29.

Issue Brief: Racial and Ethnic Classifications Used in U.S. Public Schools, (with Anne Meek and Mary Frase), National Center for Education Statistics, NCES 98–035 (July 1998).

Issue Brief: Internet Access in Public Schools (with Anne Meek), National Center for Education Statistics, NCES 98–031 (February 1998).

Issue Brief: The Impact of the Boom Echo on U.S. Public School Environments, National Center for Education Statistics, NCES 98–039 (September 1997).

“A New Look at Television Viewing and Adult Vocabulary,” International Journal of Public Opinion Research, Vol. 7, No. 1 (Spring 1995) p. 56.

“Truth About Daily Fluctuations in 1992 Pre-Election Polls,” Newspaper Research Journal, Vol. 15, No. 1 (Winter 1994) p. 73.

“Case Study – Wichita and Charlotte: The Leap of a Passive Press to Activism,” Media Studies Journal, Vol. 6, No. 4 (Fall 1992) p. 149.

 

CNN.com Opinion

• CNN, Dec. 11, 2020: Live, Death and Pie: My Last Moments With My Wife
• CNN, Aug. 26, 2014: Ice Bucket Challenge is not a gimmick
• CNN, July 11, 2014: Lesson of the underwater robot
• CNN, June 13, 2014: A salute to the Stealth Dad
• CNN, January 30, 2014: Pete Seeger’s music struck a chord
• CNN, January 1, 2014: Make 2014 the year your kids play
• CNN, May 22, 2013: Reviving Detroit from the Ground Up
• CNN, June 9, 2013: Millennials will reinvent charity
• CNN, June 28, 2013: How Wendell Pierce is remaking the Big Easy
• CNN, July 19, 2013: They sacrificed, and now they are giving more
• CNN, Sept. 23, 2013: Teach kids to make things
• CNN, Nov. 6, 2013: Get rid of the ‘food desert’ label

 

Risk & Evaluation

• “Risk Management, Foundation Practice, and the Status Quo”, Nonprofit Quarterly, 2.3.17.
• “Expanding your comfort zone: Managing risk,” Family Giving News, September 24, 2015.
• “What is Developmental Evaluation?” Essentials, Association of Small Foundations newsletter, Issue No. 3, 2013.
• “Reflections for a New Era in Evaluation,” FSG Strategic Evaluation Blog, Oct. 11, 2011.
• “Risk,” The Evaluation Exchange, Vol. VIII, No. 2 (Fall 2002), p. 9.
• Book Review: “Civil Society, Philanthropy and the Face of the Commons,” Grantmakers in the Arts Reader (Vol. 21, No. 3, Fall 2010).
• “Evaluation and the Sacred Bundle,” The Evaluation Exchange, a publication of the Harvard Family Research Project, Vol. XI, No. 2, Summer 2005.
• “On Evaluation and Philanthropy: Evaluation in a New Gilded Age,” The Evaluation Exchange, Vol. IX, No. 4, Winter 2003/2004, p. 20.
• “Which Way Makes a Difference? Good grantmaking calls for some measure of three crucial factors for success: execution, strategy and leadership,” Foundation News & Commentary, (January/February 2003), p. 31.
• “Looking Before Leaping,” (with Thomas E. Backer) Foundation News & Commentary, (March/April 2002), p. 49.
• “Try My Elixir: Ten ways to communicate the value of evaluation to grantmaking colleagues,” Foundation News & Commentary, (January/February 2002), p 22.

 

Nonprofit Capacity

• “Helping Rural Areas Reinvent Philanthropy to Serve Their Own Needs,” (with Penelope McPhee), Philanthropy & Rural America journal, (Council on Foundations, 2008).
• “Introduction,” (with Penelope McPhee) in Building Capacity in Nonprofit Organizations, eds. Carol J. De Vita and Cory Fleming, The Urban Institute (April 2001), p. 1.
• “Goal: Stronger Nonprofits; Going to the Next Level,” (with Thomas E. Backer) Foundation News & Commentary, Vol. 41, No. 5 (September/October 2000), p. 38.
• “Scanning the Environment for Philanthropic Best Practice Systems,” (with Thomas E. Backer) Foundation News & Commentary, Vol. 40., No. 6 (November/December 1999), p. 24.

 

Journalism & Media

• “The Phil Meyer Legacy,” Carolina Communicator, (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Summer 2008).
• “Newspapers, Internet Use and Community Ties,” essay for 2008 Symposium, Raising the Ante: The Internet’s Impact on Journalism Education and Existing Theories of Mass Communication, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, January 2008.
• “Advice and Guidance for Overseas Journalism Trainers,” Nieman Reports, a publication of the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University, Vol. 59, No. 2, Summer 2005.
• “Why the First Amendment (and Journalism) Might Be in Trouble,” (with Ken Dautrich) Nieman Reports, a publication of the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University, Vol. 59, No. 2, Summer 2005.
• “Non-traditional News Sources in the 1992 Presidential Campaign,” North Carolina DataNet, a quarterly newsletter published by the Institute for Research in Social Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Vol. 1, No. 2 (March 1993) p. 1.
• “Who Owns the Media,” (by Jim Lee and Eric Bates, with contributions from John Bare), Southern Exposure, Vol. XX, No. 4 (1992) p. 11.
• “Problem Solving at S. News & World Report,” Uplink: The Forum for Computer-Assisted Reporting, Vol. 3, No. 8 (September 1992) p. 3.
• “Survey says: Read between the lines with election year poll results,” The Daily Tar Heel, August 31, 1992, p. 9.
• “Doug Marlette: Forcing society to face itself,” JAFA News, Vol. 12, No. 1 (Fall 1991) p. 6.
• “Tom Wicker: Watchdog of government and journalism,” JAFA News, Vol. 11, No. 3 (Winter 1991) p. 8.

 

Food Systems

• “From Food Desert to Food Oasis, One Casserole at a Time,” Healthy Food Access Portal, February 17, 2016.
• Food Tank, April 12, 2016: “Addressing a Food Oasis with Right-Size Retail”
• Food Tank, May 26, 2014: “Food Oasis Vision Places Residents at Heart of Food Strategy”
• Food Tank, February 16, 2014: “Baking is more than a new job, it’s a new life”
• Food Tank, February 11, 2014: “HEALing with cooking, growing, and eating”

 

Social Enterprise

• “Social enterprise, southern fried,” Medium/Ashoka, 4.7.16

 

The Arts

• AndACTION blog from 2018 Sundance Film Festival, 2.5.18.
• “Tell Me a Story”, Audience Building Roundtable Blog, 11.27.16.
• “Advocates for arts education may be doing more harm than good,” The Hechinger Report, July 9, 2015.
• “What Substantive Value Do the Arts Bring?” ARTSblog, Americans for the Arts, May 3, 2012.
• “You Can’t Know What Will Grow from the Seeds You Plant,” ARTSblog, Americans for the Arts, May 1, 2012.
• “Bridging the Gap: Orchestras and Classical Music Listeners,” (with Alan Brown), Magic of Music Issue Brief, No. 2, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, May 2003.
• “Symphonies Adrift: 15 orchestras in search of a bigger audience,” (with Alan Brown) The Public Perspective, March/April 2003, p. 13.
• “Advancing Nonprofit Arts Marketing,” in Marketing the Arts: Lessons from a Community Marketing Collaboration, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, November 1999.

 

U.S. News & World Report

• “Separate and Unequal: America’s special education was intended to give disabled kids an edge. But it is cheating many – and costing the rest of us billions,” (Cover story by Joseph P. Shapiro, Penny Loeb and David Bowermaster with Andrea Wright, Susan Headden and Thomas Toch. Story consultant John Bare), S. News & World Report, December 13, 1993, p. 46.
• “Espionage: The Bloch File,” S. News & World Report, September 14, 1992, p. 23.
• “Danger: Implants,” (by Steven Findlay and Doug Podolsky, with John Bare), S. News & World Report, August 24, 1992, p. 62.
• “They’re just plain angry: In a S. News election-year poll, business and economists give Washington thumbs down,” (by Susan Dentzer, with John Bare), U.S. News & World Report, July 20, 1992, p. 48.
• “Let’s Play Election,” S. News & World Report, July 13, 1992, p. 14.

 

Other

• “Tuition dollars buy less: Students pay larger share of UNC‟s income,” The Chapel Hill Herald, November 24, 1991, p. 1.
• “Political Maneuvering At Its Best,” The Daily Reflector (Greenville, N.C.), Dec. 2, 1990, op-ed page.
• Daily articles and more than 300 weekly columns for The Daily Reflector (Greenville, N.C) 1988-89, and The Chapel Hill Herald, 1990-97.

 

Teaching

Faculty, Certificate in Sports Philanthropy online course, George Washington University (2013-14).

Guest lecturer, Georgia Tech College of Management/ILE, Nov. 10, 2009 (Social Entrepreneurship course).

Guest lecturer, Georgia Tech College of Management/ILE, Jan. 28, 2009 (Social Entrepreneurship course).

Speaker, Georgia Tech IMPACT Speaker Series, Sept. 3, 2008 (Philanthropy and Social Change).

Instructor, Emory University’s Executive Leadership Program for Nonprofit Organizations, June 24, 2008.

Guest lecturer, Goizueta School of Business, Emory University, Atlanta, Ga., April 15, 2008 (Nonprofit Marketing course).

Guest lecturer, Georgia Tech College of Management/ILE, Atlanta, Ga., April 1, 2008 (Social Entrepreneurship course).

Instructor, Emory University’s Executive Leadership Program for Nonprofit Organizations, June 28, 2007.

Instructor, College of Education, Georgia State University, Atlanta, Ga., Fall 2006 (Course: Educational Policy and Research Studies 8620, Educational Evaluation).

Instructor, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University, Atlanta, Ga., Fall 2005 (Course: Public Administration and Urban Studies 8521, Evaluation and Research).

Guest lecturer, Goizueta School of Business, Emory University, Atlanta, Ga., February 2005 (Nonprofit marketing course).

Co-Instructor, School of Journalism and Mass Communication database journalism course, Chapel Hill, N.C., Spring 1993, 1994 and 1995.

Instructor, School of Journalism and Mass Communication introductory reporting course, Chapel Hill, N.C., fall 1993.

Guest Speaker for undergraduate reporting classes at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Fall 1989, 1990 and 1992.

 

Contributions to Conferences & Professional Associations

“The Inaugural Wellbeing Research & Policy Conference,” Roundtable Panelist, University of Oxford’s Wellbeing Research Centre, Oxford, UK, July 8, 2022.

“Funder-Filmmaker Collaborations,” Presenter, Media Impact Forum convening at Sundance 2019, Park City, Jan. 25, 2019.

“This is your brain on ‘nudge.’ How we are applying behavioral economics to our marketing and communications efforts,” Presenter, Communications Network, Philadelphia, Oct. 10, 2014.

“Co-opting Developmental Evaluation Techniques for Funders with Few or No Staff,” Webinar Presenter, Philanthropic Foundations Canada and Exponent Philanthropy, Sept. 10, 2014.

“Co-opting Developmental Evaluation Techniques for Funders with Few or No Staff,” Presenter at Grantmakers for Effective Organizations annual conference, Los Angeles, March 10, 2014.

“Purpose Over Task,” Workshop at Association of Small Foundations Annual Conference / Impact Working Group, Oct. 7, 2012, San Francisco.

“Dominoes or Pick-Up Sticks: Philanthropy, Evaluation & Social change,” Presenter at Council on Foundations 2012 Family Philanthropy Conference, Feb. 14, 2012, Miami Beach.

“Re-Imagine Impact: It’s Easy if You Try,” Presenter at Sundance Documentary Film Program panel session at Sundance 2012, Jan. 23, 2012, Filmmakers Lodge, Park City, Utah.

“10 Things in 10 Minutes on Philanthropy, Evaluation & Social Change,” Presenter at Creative Change Retreat, Aug. 16, 2011, Sundance/Redford Conference Center, Utah.

“Developing a Strategic Learning and Evaluation System,” Presenter at the 2011 GEO Learning Conference, June 7, 2011, Baltimore.

“Arts Philanthropy, Evaluation, Accountability and Social Change,” Presenter at the 2010 Grantmakers in the Arts Conference, Oct. 18, 2010, Chicago.

“Philanthropy, Evaluation and Social Change,” Presenter at the 2009 American Evaluation Association Conference, Nov. 14, 2009, Orlando.

“Partnering with Power Brands to Combat Childhood Obesity,” Presenter and facilitator at the 2009 Southern Obesity Summit, Oct. 5, 2009, Austin.

“Art, Philanthropy and Social Change,” Presenter at 2008 Grantmakers in the Arts national conference, Oct. 13, 200, Atlanta.

“Sports Philanthropy and Community Collaborations,” Presenter at 2008 Philanthropy Summit / Council on Foundations annual conference, May 5, 2008, National Harbor, Md.

“Evidence Based Practices and Bringing Research to Practice,” Facilitator for Leadership Panel, Communities in Schools National Conference, Nov. 1, 2007, Atlanta.

“Foundation – Nonprofit Partnerships,” National Health and Livability Summit, April 18, 2007, Atlanta.

“Putting Evaluation to Work for Foundations,” Atlanta Area Evaluation Association, Jan. 24, 2006, Atlanta.

“The Future of the First Amendment: Summary and Policy Implications,” (with Chris Barnes and Ken Dautrich, University of Connecticut) American Association for Public Opinion Research panel session, May 15, 2005, Miami.

“Where Is Your Evaluation Report? Dusty Book Shelf or Decision-making Tool?” American Evaluation Association panel session, Nov. 6, 2004, Atlanta.

“Foundations, Evaluation, and the Goal of Social Change, Part 2: Evaluation Practice in Support of Social Change,” American Evaluation Association panel session, Nov. 4, 2004, Atlanta.

“Foundations, Evaluation, and the Goal of Social Change, Part 1: Conceptualizing Social Change as a Process and Outcome,” American Evaluation Association panel session, Nov. 3, 2004, Atlanta.

“Why the Best-Laid Plans of Staff and Board Often Go Awry,” Grantmakers for Effective Organizations National Conference sub-plenary, March 19, 2004, Seattle.

“Managing Risk in a Grantmaking Portfolio,” Grantmakers for Effective Organizations National Conference workshop, March 19, 2004, Seattle.

“Learning from Outside Perspectives: Enhancing Philanthropy’s Self-Perception,” Grantmakers for Effective Organizations National Conference plenary, March 18, 2004, Seattle, WA.

“The Road Less Traveled: Connecting Program and Evaluation Work Without Bloodshed,” Grantmakers for Effective Organizations National Conference panel session, March 17, 2004, Seattle, WA.

“Measuring the Almost Immeasurable; How Funders and Grantees Can Shape Evaluation,” Grantmakers in Health panel session, Feb. 26, 2004, Hollywood, FL.

“New Frameworks for Understanding Demand-Consumer Relationships with Art Forms and Arts Institutions,” Grantmakers in the Arts Conference member report, Oct. 29, 2002, Charlotte, N.C.

“If it Takes a Village to Raise a Child, What Does it Take to Make a Village?” Grantmakers for Effective Organizations workshop, March 7, 2002, Washington D.C.

“Mainstreaming Evaluation in Arts & Cultural Institutions,” American Evaluation Association panel session, Nov. 10, 2001, St. Louis, MO.

“In Search of a Valid and Reliable Mechanism to Assess Risk in Grant Making,” American Evaluation Association Annual Conference think tank session, Nov. 9, 2001, St. Louis, MO.

“Overcoming Cultural and Technical Barriers to Integrating Evaluation into Foundation Program Work,” American Evaluation Association, Nonprofit and Foundation Evaluation TIG Meeting, Nov. 8, 2001, St. Louis, MO.

“Enhancing Community Infrastructure for Nonprofit Capacity Building,” Council on Foundations 52nd Annual Conference roundtable session, May 1, 2001, Philadelphia, PA.

“Turning Information Into Action,” Council on Foundations 52nd Annual Conference panel session, April 30, 2001, Philadelphia, PA.

“Integrating Evaluation into Foundation Program Work,” Council on Foundations 52nd Annual Conference panel session, April 29, 2001, Philadelphia, PA.

“Integrating Community Indicators into Grant Making,” (with Penelope McPhee and Liz Sklaroff), a research paper presented at annual conference of the Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action, Nov. 17, 2000, New Orleans, LA.

“Evaluation in Philanthropy,” National Institute for Government Innovation Grants Summit, Nov. 13, 2000, Washington, D.C.

“Strategies for Change,” American Evaluation Association roundtable, Nov. 2, 2000, Honolulu, HI.

“Turning Information into Action: A Model and Case Study for Integrating Community Indicators into Grant Making,” American Evaluation Association demonstration session, Nov. 2, 2000, Honolulu, HI.

“Integrating Community Indicators into Grant Making: A Model for Turning Information into Action,” Grantmakers Evaluation Network-Grantmakers for Effective Organizations Conference 2000 roundtable, March 30, 2000, Kansas City, MO.

“Tools for Evaluating and Replicating a Cooperating Arts Marketing Organization,” Grantmakers Evaluation Network-Grantmakers for Effective Organizations Conference 2000 panel session, March 30, 2000, Kansas City, MO.

“Getting Value from Evaluation,” Grantmakers in the Arts Conference panel session, November 15, 1999, San Francisco, CA.

“Marketing the Arts: Lessons from a Community Marketing Collaboration,” Grantmakers in the Arts Conference roundtable, November 15, 1999, San Francisco, CA.

“Indicators of Social Health: A New Tool for Philanthropy,” Independent Sector Annual Conference panel session, October 25, 1999, Los Angeles, CA.

“Community Indicators: Lessons from the Field,” 15th Fall Conference for Community Foundations panel session, September 29, 1999, Denver, CO.

“Cooperative Marketing Strategies for Nonprofit Arts Organizations,” Council on Foundations 50th Annual Conference roundtable session, April 20, 1999, New Orleans, LA.

“Examples of Precision Journalism Story Ideas Using NCES Data and Publications,” National Computer-Assisted Reporting Conference, March 6, 1997, Philadelphia, PA.

“The Impact of Public Journalism of Traditional Newsroom Beliefs,” a research paper presented at the 50th Annual Conference of the American Association for Public Opinion Research, May 1995, Fort Lauderdale, FL.

“The Role of Non-traditional News Sources in the 1992 Presidential Campaign,” a research paper presented at the 48th Annual Conference of the American Association for Public Opinion Research, May 1993, St. Petersburg, FL.

“Professional Bias Against Innovation: The Case of Perception of Society Coup Coverage,” (with Shannon Martin), a research paper presented at the 47th Annual Conference of the American Association for Public Opinion Research, May 1992, St. Charles, IL.

“Acquiring Knowledge of Current Events: The New York Times vs. USA Today,” (with Sue Greer), a research paper presented at the 47th Annual Conference of the American Association for Public Opinion Research, May 1992, St. Charles, IL, and at the Southern Association for Public Opinion Research Conference, October 1992, Raleigh, N.C.