| ABOUT US
Mission and history
The purpose of the Public and Nonprofit Leadership Center is to enhance the leadership of nonprofits, philanthropy, and the public sector to work together, and with the private sector, to advance the common good and serve the public interest.
The Center enjoys a comparative advantage in the strength of its faculty's research capabilities, its ability to link to additional research capacity within the Humphrey Institute and the University, and the Institute's and University's ability to convene high-level decision makers and policymakers for planning and action related to critical issues affecting nonprofits, philanthropy, and the public sector. The Center is unique in the United States in its concentration on all three institutions that serve the public and its focus on furthering understanding of how and when cross-sectoral partnerships are effective mechanisms to solve complex public problems and advance the common good.
The Center brings together several core strengths of the Humphrey Institute. It builds on the 20-year record of the former Reflective Leadership Center and the Humphrey Institute's international standing in leadership development to support high-quality, well-trained, and experienced leaders who understand how to work collaboratively for change and for the public good. The Center provides a focal point for the Institute's nationally ranked scholarship and education efforts in nonprofit management, work within the University for interdisciplinary activities related to teaching and research, and partnerships with the nonprofit community to address management issues. The Center also builds upon the late Dr. William Diaz's pioneering work on diversity, social justice, and philanthropic giving. The Center will provide donors and grantmakers with resources on giving for maximum impact in policy arenas and research on issues in giving and volunteering related to public policy. It will serve as a catalyst for discussion of important questions facing the philanthropy community.
The Center houses the Gross Family Professorship in Nonprofit Management held by Center director Melissa Stone. It also houses the Louis W. Hill, Jr. Fellowship in Philanthropy, created in 2002 with gifts from the Northwest Area Foundation and Grotto Foundation to honor the 100th anniversary of the birth of Louis W. Hill, Jr., grandson of railroad magnate James J. Hill. The first Hill Fellowship was awarded in 2003 to Joseph Selvaggio, widely known as the founder of Project Pride for Living and the One Percent Club, whose members pledge to donate one percent of their net worth to charitable causes. The second Hill Fellowship was awarded in 2004 to Dr. Reatha Clark King, past president and past chairperson of the General Mills Foundation and past president of Metropolitan State University. The third Hill Fellowship was awarded to Sage and John Cowles, who are known in Minnesota and elsewhere for their work with nonprofits, their personal philanthropy and their civic involvement. The current Hill Fellow is Laura Waterman Wittstock, who president and CEO of Wittstock & Associates, a media and education consulting firm, and founder and longtime leader of MIGIZI Communications. She has served on the boards of numerous nonprofit organizations, and is a former journalist. Waterman Wittstock has played a key role in educating foundations about diversity issues, focusing specifically on Native American giving.
On October 23, 2003, the Center hosted its inaugural event, a dinner to honor the work of Dr. William Diaz, who established the Humphrey Institute's program in philanthropy and public policy in 1994. The event, attended by more than 200 community and University leaders, was keynoted by Ford Foundation President Susan Berresford and featured a memorial note by Dr. Nelson Colón, president of the Puerto Rico Community Foundation. On December 11, 2003, the Center held its first Louis W. Hill, Jr. Fellowship Symposium, also for 200 participants, with a presentation by the first Hill Fellow, Joe Selvaggio. |
