Happy 50th Anniversary To Us! |
Although the pandemic delayed our celebrations until this year, we reached our 50th anniversary in 2021!
The institute was formed in 1971 by Maurice A. Donahue, a former Massachusetts state senate president. In its infancy, the institute served only government entities and was initially known as the Institute for Governmental Services. Today, our clients come from the government sector, nonprofits and the corporate world and we provide a much more expanded array of services. Please see the link below to watch a 10-minute video about our history and our future vision.
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Our anniversary celebration was three-fold in 2022. In May, we hosted an event at the UMass Club in Boston. Executive Director Johan Uvin emceed the event that included a retrospective by former Executive Director Lynn Griesemer, a future-focused message from Dr. Uvin and the presentation of the first-ever Donahue Institute Public Service Award to former Boston City Council President Andrea Campbell. Watch the event video.
Our celebration also coincided with the welcome to our new home on the UMass Amherst campus. The institute's Open House event at the beautiful Old Chapel was attended by faculty, staff and students. This was an opportunity to introduce ourselves to the key campus departments, offices and other potential partners. We hosted a round table discussing the institute's role in public service that was joined by Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy. Please check out the Open House video.
Lastly, in September, the Old Chapel was also the site of our staff celebration. Given that our colleagues are spread out across the country, it was quite amazing to have an 86% turnout for the party!
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Civic Initiative comes back with biggest-ever international program season |
In 2020, all of the UMass Civic Initiative’s international exchange programs were canceled or moved online because of the pandemic. In 2021, they ran a few of their programs virtually while others were paused.
In 2022, with the help of the U.S. Department of State, UMass, and their other funders, Civic staged a remarkable comeback. From May to August, they managed six programs that brought 122 people from 33 different countries. Included were Argentina, Africa, the Middle East, and Pakistan. Across all programs, there were over 200 talks and events in eight different cities on the Eastern seaboard. Participants spent time on campus, at Amherst public schools, with the Boston business community, in the City of Holyoke and the Town of Amherst. Groups also visited multiple community agencies to learn about food insecurity and intergenerational programs.
They're not done yet! In November, Civic hosts its final 2022 program with a group of 20 entrepreneurship students from Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, and Tunisia. They plan to have a full menu of programs on hand for next summer.
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Tracking the Massachusetts economy
MassBenchmarks, the journal of the Massachusetts economy, is continuing to monitor the ups and downs as we recover from the pandemic.
The twice-yearly MassBenchmarks Journal (April 2022) investigates the current conditions in the economy, including the status of economic recovery from pandemic lows.
The latest installment of the quarterly Notes from the Board (May 2022): "Economic recovery for Massachusetts and the U.S. stalls".
The July 2022 issue of the quarterly bulletin, Current and Leading Economic Indices: "Pace of state economic growth remains weak in Q2": Output growth weak despite strong labor markets; strong nominal wage growth lags inflation for the average worker.
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Celebrating 50 Years of Public Service (video) |
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Now registering for Spring 2023 leadership excellence webinars!
We're already thinking about Spring 2023!
Become a more effective, self-aware, and confident leader, while developing action plans for both your personal leadership growth and leading change in your organization. The online Leadership Excellence Certificate program combines a cutting-edge leadership development curriculum with a highly interactive online learning environment.
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Mortgage lending trends in Massachusetts: Completed for the Massachusetts Community & Banking Council, the report found that Black and Hispanic/Latinx households both obtained record numbers of home purchase loans in 2020. However, Black and Hispanic/Latinx households received disproportionately fewer non-Federal Housing Authority (FHA) loans when compared to their shares of the statewide population. View the report.
Westover Metropolitan Development Corporation Economic Impact: The three airparks and the civilian airport operated by the Westover Metropolitan Development Corporation (WMDC) are highly productive and active commercial and industrial districts. Continued investment by WMDC in the airport has made it a competitive and highly-utilized facility. Meanwhile, businesses in the surrounding airparks area employ over 3,600 people across more than 100 establishments. View the report.
Springfield & Pioneer Valley Housing: Phase II: This represents analytical work on housing affordability that explores key topics in analytical detail, grounded in foundational information from the Phase I report in March 2021. Key takeaway: there is a serious affordability issue in the Pioneer Valley, and it can be addressed. View the report.
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Donahue Institute
UMass Amherst
100 Venture Way, Suite 9
Hadley, MA 01035
(413) 545-0001
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