Faculty and Staff

INSTITUTE Faculty

Peter Frumkin
RGK Center Director and Professor of Public Affairs

Peter Frumkin is Professor of Public Affairs and Director of the RGK Center for Philanthropy and Community. His research and teaching focus on social entrepreneurship and philanthropy. Under his direction, the Dell Social Innovation Competition was launched in 2007 to engage students at any college in the world to participate in a real-world exercise in creating ventures to solve entrenched social problems.

Publications

Frumkin is the author of numerous articles on all aspects of philanthropy. His book, Strategic Giving: The Art and Science of Philanthropy (University of Chicago Press, 2006), has been touted by reviewers as the “benchmark text for the field” and “the most penetrating exploration of contemporary philanthropy now available.”

Frumkin is also the author of On Being Nonprofit (Harvard University Press, 2002), and two new books: Serving Country and Community, co-authored with JoAnn Jastrzab (Harvard University Press, 2010) and The Essence of Strategic Giving: A Practical Guide for Donors and Fundraisers (University of Chicago Press, 2010).

Previous Work

Prior to coming to The University of Texas at Austin, Frumkin was an associate professor of public policy at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government, where he was affiliated with the Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations. He has lectured on philanthropy at meetings of grantmakers across the country and served as a consultant to foundations and individual donors on strategy and evaluation.

Education

Ph.D. in sociology, University of Chicago, 1997; M.P.P., Georgetown University, 1989; B.A., Oberlin College, 1984

Suzi Sosa
Associate Director for Programs, Senior Fellow in Social Entrepreneurship

Suzi Sosa is the President and Founder of the MPOWER Foundation, an independent, charitable organization supported by the MPOWER Group, a socially committed venture capital fund and portfolio of social impact companies dedicated to the financial empowerment of the underserved. With a vision of a world in which all individuals have an opportunity to participate freely in markets and thereby to escape poverty and disenfranchisement, the MPOWER Foundation funds and operates non-profit programs, catalyzes strategic public/private and nonprofit/private partnerships, and provides an independent forum for the creation and dissemination of ideas that empower the underserved. Among its programs, the MPOWER Foundation has launched The Empowerment Lab at Harvard University, a cutting-edge applied research center focused on “Trillion Dollar Problems” affecting the underserved, and RISE, a not-for-profit global entrepreneurship program that connects, empowers, and inspires entrepreneurs of all stages.

Previously, Ms. Sosa served as an economic development specialist in the U.S. Department of Commerce, and as a special advisor to the Prime Ministers of Lebanon and Bermuda. Ms. Sosa’s areas of expertise include: economic development, social entrepreneurship, and impact investing. She lectures in social entrepreneurship at the LBJ School of The University of Texas at Austin and also serves as a Final Judge in the Dell Social Innovation Competition. She has a Masters in Public Administration in International Development from the Harvard Kennedy School, and a B.A. in Plan II from The University of Texas at Austin.

William A. Mitchell
Professor of Political Science (Baylor University)

William A. Mitchell, (B.S., M.A., PhD), is Professor of Political Science, Emeritus, and served in the Department of Political Science (1992-2007), Director of Middle East Studies, Director of Baylor Study Abroad in Turkey and Greece, and Joe Murphy Chair and Director of the Center for International Education at BU (2000-2007). Professor Mitchell joined the Institute in 2009. He teaches multidisciplinary courses on Middle East Studies, ethnopoltical conflicts, terrorism and religion, mitigation of humanitarian crises and international security. Professor Mitchell led academic teams to Iraq five times from 2003-2007 and was instrumental in creating a Center for Democracy in northern Iraq. He has published numerous articles in national and international journals and is writing his third book. Professor Mitchell has extensive field experience in the Middle East and has responded as a social scientist for NSF earthquake disaster research teams on many occasions. Dr. Mitchell was recognized for this research with the United States Air Force Humanitarian Service Award for Armenia, Iraq, and Turkey. He is also a veteran of the Vietnam and first Gulf war (Colonel, USAF, retired).

INSTITUTE Staff

Kelly Iverson
Program Coordinator

Kelly Iverson is the Program Coordinator for the RGK Center Institute on Social Entrepreneurship and the Dell Social Innovation Competition. Her experience includes international nonprofit work and two years of nonprofit management. Ms. Iverson earned her M.A. in Advertising from The University of Texas at Austin, and her undergraduate degrees in Journalism and Spanish from Ohio University.

Moira Porter
Senior Program Coordinator

Moira Porter, MPAff, is the Senior Program Coordinator for Executive Education and Student Exchanges at the RGK Center. She develops open enrollment and customized programs to connect the expertise of the RGK Center with practitioners in the nonprofit sector. Her experience includes 5 years of nonprofit governance, as well as financial management and development. Ms. Porter received degrees from Bryn Mawr College and the LBJ School of Public Affairs.

Sarah Krueger
Marketing Specialist

Sarah Krueger is the Marketing Specialist for the RGK Center. She develops and implements of all marketing activities for the Center. Ms. Krueger received her MA in Advertising from The University of Texas at Austin, and her undergraduate degrees in Advertising and Art & Design from Iowa State University.