Scholar Community

In addition to awarding research funds, Advancing Knowledge seeks to build a community of scholars, mentors, and advisors working to improve the practice of human services philanthropy.

Award recipients will be matched with a project mentor to serve as an advisor throughout the course of their research.  Recipients will also be invited to identify potential mentors.

Mentors will provide ongoing feedback to recipients to strengthen their research. Additionally, mentors can help scholars address the broader challenges and issues they may face in the field of research about nonprofits.  Mentors and award recipients will create a mentoring plan by January 2012. Templates and guidance for developing a plan will be provided by Advancing Knowledge staff.

Recipients, mentors, and the Advancing Knowledge Advisory Council will be invited to workshops at the Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action (ARNOVA) annual conferences in 2011 held in Toronto and 2012 held in Indianapolis to review scholar recipient projects.

The time and travel costs incurred by mentors should not be included in the applicant’s budget. Mentors will be awarded a $1,500 stipend over two periods in order to remove financial barriers to participation. Mentors will be reimbursed for half of all travel and lodging costs to attend ARNOVA meetings in 2011 and 2012.

Award recipients will also have the opportunity to work with a communications consultant to disseminate research findings to the broader nonprofit community. This service will be provided to recipients in 2013 after traditional scholarly research papers have been produced and should not be included in project budgets.

Advancing Knowledge Advisory Council

Robert L. Fischer
Co-Director, Center on Urban Poverty & Community Development
Research Associate Professor, Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences
Case Western Reserve University
Webpage:http://msass.case.edu/faculty/rfischer/index.html

Larry M. Gant
Professor, School of Social Work
University of Michigan
Webpage: http://www.ssw.umich.edu/about/profiles/profile-lmgant.html

Elizabeth Graddy
Professor, Jeffrey J. Miller Chair in Government, Business, and the Economy
Vice Dean, School of Policy, Planning, and Development
University of Southern California
Webpage: http://www.usc.edu/schools/sppd/faculty/detail.php?id=13

Bob Grimm
Professor and Director of the Philanthropy and Nonprofit Leadership Program
Philanthropy and Nonprofit Management, School of Public Policy
University of Maryland
Webpage: http://www.publicpolicy.umd.edu/directory/rgrimm#bio

Kirsten Grønbjerg
Professor of Public and Environmental Affairs, Sociology and Philanthropic Studies, Efroymson Chair in Philanthropy
Indiana University
Webpage: http://www.indiana.edu/~spea/faculty/gronbjerg-kirsten.shtml

Una Osili
Associate Professor of Economics and Philanthropic Studies
Director of Research, Center on Philanthropy
Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis
Webpage: http://www.philanthropy.iupui.edu/About/Staff/unaosili.aspx 

Jodi Sandfort
Associate Professor, Humphrey School of Public Affairs
Special Assistant to President Robert Bruininks
University of Minnesota
Webpage: http://www.hhh.umn.edu/people/jsandfort/

Tamitha Walker
Program Officer 
The Kresge Foundation

Stephen Wernet
Professor, School of Social Work 
Saint Louis University 
Webpage: http://www.slu.edu/x11535.xml