Assistant professor selected for Mawby Fellowship

Heather Carpenter, an assistant professor in Grand Valley’s School of Public, Nonprofit, and Health Administration, has been selected as the faculty fellow of the Russel G. Mawby Fellowships in Philanthropic Studies.

Carpenter will work with two undergraduate students to complete a study during the course of the fellowship. In her proposal to the Mawby Fellowships Selection Committee, Carpenter proposed a plan to develop and administer a comprehensive assessment of the technical assistance and management support needs of West Michigan-area nonprofit organizations. 

The plan will help guide the work of Grand Valley’s Johnson Center for Philanthropy Nonprofit Services program, and could also make a broad contribution to knowledge and scholarship about nonprofit organizations.

The fellowship requires that a report be published by Carpenter and the undergraduate students, and presented at an academic conference if possible.

Carpenter was selected from several applicants for the Mawby Fellowship, and will bring experience as a nonprofit manager, research skills, and a passion for helping people to the project. 

This will be the third needs assessment of the West Michigan area nonprofit sector in 14 years. Similar studies were conducted in 1998 and 2007.

The Mawby Fellowships are named after Dr. Russell G. Mawby, who set up the fellowships to help spread the study of philanthropy across the university, and with the intention that students would be engaged as co-researchers in every phase of the project work.