Insights, Updates, and the Importance of Nonprofits

At Suffolk University’s Sawyer Business School, we take full advantage of our unique location in—and strong connections to—the diverse and dynamic organizations that make Boston such a vibrant city.

It is not just being next door to the seats of political power and public administration in Boston and Massachusetts, of course; it is about being fully immersed in a place where innovation thrives not only in technology, but also in public service.

As you will read below, our work is strongly informed by and helps shape the very rich ecosystem of nonprofit organizations in Massachusetts. One of the ways we do this is by forging close relationships with senior public service leaders who can share their experience and help shape emerging research programs through initiatives such as our distinguished guest lecturer appointments. I invite you to learn more about these and other endeavors of the Suffolk MPA Program.

Carlos Rufín

Professor of Public Service and International Business

Director, Master of Public Administration Program

News From the Sawyer Business School’s MPA Program

One week after the 2024 election, nonprofit practitioners and leaders, community stakeholders, and funders convened at our bi-annual Moakley Breakfast to examine the state's nonprofit sector and explore how the election’s outcome might impact their organizations and the clients they serve. Read what they discussed.

Our MPA Program has a new distinguished guest lecturer. Geoff Beckwith, an expert on state and local government and a nonprofit leader, has joined the Suffolk MPA Program to share his extensive experience and build new initiatives with the program’s faculty and students over the course of the 2024-2025 academic year. Read more about Beckwith.

A national expert on policing, Professor Brenda Bond helps college police organizations around the country deal with new challenges, including whether or not to arm campus forces. Read a Q&A about her work.

Faculty Expertise

Professor Lauren Hajjar co-authored a paper in The American Review of Public Administration. “Seeing the Whole Together Through Relational Mapping: A Method for Engaging in Complex Systems Change” shows that a promising new method for facilitating collaboration among stakeholders, called relational mapping, can be a powerful tool to facilitate systemic change in complex problems that affect diverse parties.

Professor Saerim Kim co-authored a paper in Public Management Review, titled “The effect of merging mandated collaborations on performance in homeless services.” In the research piece, Kim and co-authors explore the consequences of requiring organizations to collaborate with each other, showing that while organizations do collaborate more if required to do so, this comes at the expense of the populations they serve.

Professor Aroon Manoharan co-edited a paper in the Journal of International Public Administration. “Digital Transformation and Public Administration: The Impacts of India’s Digital Public Infrastructure” examines the role of digital public infrastructure blocks (DPI) in transforming public service delivery and in creating public value.