Departments and Research Centers

Nonprofit and Public Management Center

The Nonprofit and Public Management Center equips future leaders with interdisciplinary insight that can help them operate more effectively when working for or collaborating with nonprofit and public ins

Showing 1 - 30 of 72 results

New Weiss report from IBM Center lays out “A Framework for Improving Federal Program Management”

Aug 7, 2018

“When something goes wrong in a federal program, it makes the news,” says Janet Weiss. Sometimes, that is the only picture that people see of such programs.That reality and the “crucial stake” that the public, Congress, and executive branch each...

Paula Lantz offers seven recommendations for 'pay-for-success' interventions

Dec 11, 2017

Harnessing the private sector for effective social programs ANN ARBOR—A set of seven recommendations for “pay-for-success” interventions identified by researchers at the University of Michigan can help governments and private investors work...

As Gates Foundation signals shift on education, the media turns to Tompkins-Stange

Nov 9, 2017

When the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced changes in its approach to education philanthropy, many in the media turned to Megan Tompkins-Stange, author of Policy Patrons: Philanthropy, Education Reform, and the Politics of Influence (Harvard...

State & Hill

Boosting the power of activism: New research shows we really are stronger together

Apr 30, 2017

In 1773, colonial resisters protested the British tea act. In 1911, industrial workers demanded safer factory conditions. In 1913, U.S. women petitioned for the right to vote. In 1963, African Americans claimed equal rights and protections under the...

News

U-M launches new initiative to address one of humanity's most critical problems: poverty

Oct 5, 2016

The University of Michigan has launched a new initiative to address one of humanity's most critical and seemingly intractable problems: poverty. Called Poverty Solutions at the University of Michigan, the initiative will explore and test models...

Megan Tompkins-Stange addresses the influence of private foundations on education policy

Sep 20, 2016

This week, Megan Tompkins-Stange and her research were featured in a variety of programs: Michigan Radio's Stateside program, Prospect magazine, and the Tiny Spark podcast.In each, Tompkins-Stange discusses her new book, Policy Patrons:...

Tompkins-Stange in Inside Higher Ed, “how foundations seek to shape public policy”

Jul 20, 2016

Megan Tompkins-Stange spoke with Inside Higher Education about her new book, Policy Patrons (Harvard Education Press 2016), which explores how large foundations, including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, are working to shape educational...

Clean Energy Revolving Loan Fund helps A2 landlords improve rental unit efficiency

Jul 15, 2016

A few years back, Ford School alumnus Cassie Brown (MPP ’14) and an interdisciplinary team of Dow Sustainability Fellows worked with the City of Ann Arbor to establish a $40,000 Clean Energy Revolving Loan Fund for landlords and renters seeking to...

New undergrad politics, policy course offers opportunities to work with survey research data

Jun 28, 2016

The Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy (CLOSUP) is offering a new undergraduate course for students looking for opportunities to work with survey research...

Tompkins-Stange challenges philanthropic assumptions as guest blogger for Education Week

May 24, 2016

This week, Megan Tompkins-Stange is taking over Education Week’s “Rick Hess Straight Up” blog.Today’s post by Tompkins-Stange, “Silver bullets and solutionism in education philanthropy,” looks at the dramatic rise of outcome-oriented philanthropy in...

State & Hill

IPAers, IPPSters, and Fordies: Catch up with fellow alums via spring 2016 "Class Notes"

May 4, 2016

Peter F. Lydens (MPA ’58) provides pro bono management consulting services to the city of Mount Airy, NC. He was Mount Airy’s first city manager (1961–63), and retired there in 2007. Frank Spence (MPA ’60) was appointed planning commissioner for...

Photo of Andrew Bracken and Jimmy Schneidewind

The dawn of public policy, 45th anniversary of first MPPs (continued from State & Hill)

Mar 31, 2016

The protests started in earnest in the spring of 1965. Operation “Rolling Thunder,” spearheaded by Defense Secretary Robert McNamara, commenced on March 2, with massive and near-continuous air strikes of Vietnam. The first U.S. combat troops were...

News

Massive policy simulation explores regional cooperation, economic development, green energy

Jan 5, 2016

It’s hardly uncommon for University of Michigan faculty to invite in an outside expert or two to share their perspectives with students in a course. Still, it’s safe to say that Elisabeth Gerber, the Jack L. Walker Professor of Public Policy, has...

News

Alum Steve Tobocman of Global Detroit, disrupting urban poverty, one new American at a time

Dec 4, 2015

Steve Tobocman (MPP/JD '97) is the director of Global Detroit, a non-profit that seeks to revitalize Michigan’s economy by making the region more attractive and welcoming to immigrants, international students, businesses, and investors. He speaks...

State & Hill

In the mayor's office and after: Serving, staying, and making a home in Detroit

Nov 26, 2015

Serving, staying, and making a home in the City of Detroit Jennifer Niggemeier was surprised when she attended the fifth annual Worldwide Ford School Spirit Day gathering in Detroit this summer. “When we first did a Detroit event in 2011, there...

State & Hill

Next-gen Detroit Area Study, informing policy in the greater Detroit area

Nov 25, 2015

Building a data infrastructure to inform policy in the greater Detroit area Starting in 1951 and running for more than 50 years, U-M’s annual Detroit Area Study (DAS) helped social scientists better understand the attitudes, views, and lives of...

Ford School alum to publish plant-able coloring book, highlighting water security

Nov 20, 2015

Ford School alum Kathryn Curtis (MPA ’15), recently spent 12 months in Brazil as a Boren Fellow. In the process, she learned about water scarcity and security concerns, and has launched an indiegogo crowd-funding campaign for a plant-able coloring...

U Record spotlights Luke Shaefer, “Associate professor studies extreme poverty in America”

Nov 11, 2015

When living in extreme poverty, people make use of whatever assets they have as a means of survival, whether it means selling plasma, junk yard scrapping, food stamps or sex just to get by."It's both depressing and uplifting," Luke Shaefer says of...

ACLU's Kary Moss petitions EPA calling for immediate action on Flint’s water crisis

Oct 8, 2015

Kary Moss, a lecturer at the Ford School and executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Michigan, worked with a coalition of groups behind the Flint Water Study to petition the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to take...

ACLU's Kary Moss renews call for civil asset forfeiture reform - content image

Internship field report, Luis de la Cruz @ Facebook's data center site selection team

Aug 10, 2015

When I graduated college, I decided to start my own consulting practice because I could not find an organization that carried out a mission that I believed in or identified with. Partnering with public and non-profit organizations, I worked to help...

News

Internship field report, Grace Evans @ Detroit's Office of the Deputy Mayor for Economic Policy, Planning, and Strategy

Jul 30, 2015

Second year MPP candidate Grace Evans is spending her summer in the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Economic Policy, Planning, and Strategy in the City of Detroit. This new office was created by Mayor Mike Duggan in late 2014 as an effort to raise...

News

Internship field report, Sandy Mervak from the National Conference of State Legislatures

Jul 7, 2015

That old trope about states serving as "laboratories of democracy" has become much more real for me this summer. I am working as a research intern in the energy program at the National Conference of State Legislatures—a national, bipartisan NGO that...

State & Hill

The Last Word with CLOSUP director Barry Rabe on carbon pricing, frackademics, and more

May 1, 2015

Republicans support a carbon tax? Yes they do. Barry Rabe, director of the Ford School’s Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy, explains. S&H: You'll spend your sabbatical year working on a book about carbon pricing. Why that...

Improving health in developing countries, Erin Zaikis’ (BA ’10) social enterprise

Feb 24, 2015

By Mandira BanerjeeCleaning upAs Erin Zaikis lay sick with dengue fever in a Thailand hospital in 2013, she had an epiphany. She wanted to dedicate her life to helping others.Confined to her hospital bed with little to do, she ran through images of...

Ford Case Competition winners present to East Lansing City Council

Feb 20, 2015

At the East Lansing City Council’s February 17 meeting, five first year Ford School masters students, winners of the inaugural Ford Case Competition, presented to the council their proposal to resolve the city’s downtown parking concerns. The city,...

State & Hill

Next century teaching: Heated debates, hard decisions, and hands-on philanthropy

Dec 9, 2014

By Miriam Wasserman Months after the semester ended, many of the students in Megan Tompkins-Stange’s undergraduate philanthropy course still feel connected to the topic, visit the class Facebook page, and attend office hours. Their sustained...

Next century teaching: Heated debates, hard decisions, and hands-on philanthropy

State & Hill

The Last Word

Dec 8, 2014

We kicked off our Next Century Campaign as part of our Centennial Reunion celebrations. Here, two members of our development team, Dan Ginis and Sonia Gill, talk about our alumni campaign. S&H: Set the stage: what are our alumni campaign goals?...

How foundation-funded 'advocacy research' makes its way into policy proposals

Nov 12, 2014

“Despite the centrality of high-profile funders in the production of advocacy research, scholars have not closely examined their influence,” write Megan Tompkins-Stange and Sarah Reckhow (MSU) in the proposal for their research project, “Financing...

Congrats to Neel Hajra, next president, CEO of Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation

Sep 12, 2014

Neel Hajra, who regularly teaches “Policy and Management in the Nonprofit Sector” at the Ford School, has been named the next president and chief executive officer of the Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation. He will begin his new post on January 1,...

State & Hill

Fighting poverty like an IPPSter

May 2, 2014

Peter Borish applies analytics and creativity to for-profit and not-for-profit endeavors alike "I was like every other kid," says Peter Borish (AB '81, MPP '82). "When I was growing up, I wanted to become a professional baseball player." Like...