Nonprofit

Alumni spotlight

Strange bedfellows for a cleaner NYC

May 9, 2025

When Emma Renzi Wise (BA ’19) got hooked on learning about environmental policy at the Ford School, she never imagined working for the New York City Department of Sanitation. But nearly six years after leaving Ann Arbor, Wise is the community...

Collage of Emma Renzi Wise with an oyster shell, manhole cover, and recycling bin

State & Hill

Class notes, spring 2025

May 7, 2025

Read the latest news from impressive Ford School...

Two infants wearing University of Michigan outfits; one lying on a star-patterned blanket smiling, and the other resting against a pillow looking thoughtful.

State & Hill

The Last Word: Elisabeth Gerber

May 7, 2025

Professor Elisabeth Gerber is the inaugural faculty director of the Ford School’s Online Master of Public Affairs (MPA) program, which will launch in January 2026. Read what she has to say about the new...

A person gesturing while speaking at a podium with a backdrop labeled "Gerald R. Ford School, University of Michigan.

News

Rose Reilly (BA ‘24) makes 2023 ALL IN Student Voting Honor Roll

Apr 26, 2023

Reilly is one of 175 college students recognized for their nonpartisan democratic engagement work in 2022. Today, the University of Michigan and the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge (ALL IN) announced that Ford School junior Rose Reilly (BA ‘24)...

In the Media

Ralph reports on local leaders' theory of change in Cincinnati

Aug 23, 2022 Soapbox Cincinnati

Writing instructor Alex Ralph spoke to four nonprofit leaders in Cincinnati "to understand what drew them to their work and how, obstacles and all, they try to implement their theory of change." "These four leaders form a kind of Greek chorus,"...

Alumni spotlight

Katie D’Hondt Brooks (BA ‘12) creates a safer digital world and develops people-focused solutions

Mar 30, 2022

After Katie D’Hondt Brooks (BA ‘12) graduated from the Ford School, she worked at Partnership for Public Service where she managed a set of programs meant to inspire the next generation to pursue careers in public service. She thought she would work...

News

MPP student receives 2021-22 Skip and Carrie Gordon Scholarship

Dec 8, 2021

Three full-time MBA students from the Ross School of Business were recently announced as the recipients of the 2021-22 Skip and Carrie Gordon Scholarships. Those Michigan Ross students, including one dual MBA/MPP student — Nathan Alston (MBA...

Alumni spotlight

Sharon Dolente (MPP/JD ‘04) expands ballot access in Michigan

Jul 13, 2021

Instrumental in passing Proposal 3, which heavily expanded access to the ballot in Michigan, Sharon Dolente (MPP/JD ‘04) is an expert at creating voting rights policy. “Although Americans identify in our tribes, or our camps, or our political...

Youth Policy Lab releases Resource Guide for Nonprofits Seeking Public Assistance

Apr 23, 2020

April 23 press release from Youth Policy Lab: A new Michigan Resource Guide for Nonprofits Seeking COVID-19 FEMA Public Assistance provides timely information for Michigan nonprofits providing emergency response services as a result of...

Nonprofit Quarterly highlights Parthasarathy in “Patents and profits in public settings”

Aug 10, 2017

This month’s Nonprofit Quarterly highlights Shobita Parthasarathy’s work in “Patents and profits in a public setting: Who should benefit financially?” The article quotes from Parthasarathy’s recent Conversation piece, “How to make sure we all...

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...

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...

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...

State & Hill

Skin in the game, Applied Policy Seminar puts students to work for local governments, NGOs

May 1, 2014

When Susan Pollay, executive director of the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority (DDA), wanted to document the economic impact of her organization and others like it around the state of Michigan last fall, she sought help from the Ford...

Undergraduate class uses $55,000 grant to study the art and impact of philanthropy

Apr 28, 2014

Students in Public Policy 475: "Philanthropic Foundations in the Public Arena" spent the semester getting a taste of what it means to be a philanthropist in a nonprofit organization. Taught by Lecturer Megan Tompkins-Stange, the class used a $55,000...

Ford School MPP student among winners of 2014 Social Impact Challenge

Feb 26, 2014

Noelle Polaski (MPP, MA '16) is among four U-M graduate students whose team, Le Rouge, won the 2014 Social Impact Challenge based on their recommendations for Detroit Future City. The Social Impact Challenge asks multidisciplinary teams of graduate...

News

Sausage-making for charity - Student-led auction wins Forever Go Blue award

Dec 16, 2013

Want to learn to curse in Bulgarian? Experience mixing, grinding, and stuffing your own sausages before you launch your career in DC? Challenge your school's dean to a game of Whirly Ball? Enjoy a momofuku-style Bo Ssam dinner with six of your...