Program Administration

Kenwyn Smith, Ph.D.Program Director and Governance Committee Chair
Kenwyn Smith, PhD
Tel: (215) 898-1238
E-mail: kenwyns@sp2.upenn.edu

Dr. Kenwyn Smith, Professor of Organizational Behavior and Director of the graduate program in Nonprofit/NGO Leadership at the University of Pennsylvania, teaches leadership, group and intergroup dynamics, organizational politics and change management to students in several of Penn's graduate schools (School of Social Policy & Practice, Education, Law, Arts & Sciences and the Wharton Business School).

  • Internationally, Dr. Smith is best known for his book on group dynamics (with David Berg), Paradoxes of Group Life and for his work in the HIV/AIDS community documented in his book MANNA in the Wilderness of AIDS: Ten Lessons in Abundance.
  • Dr. Smith is a scholar-practitioner, who has worked in a range of settings: from prisons to schools, from businesses to health care institutions, from state enterprises to social entrepreneurial activities, from oppressed black townships in South Africa to agencies creating sustainable livelihoods in rural India, from pharmaceuticals in Belgium to financial services in urban America, and from the World Bank to the Chinese government.
  • He holds B.A. and M.A. degrees in Psychology (University of Queensland, Australia) and M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Organizational Behavior (Yale University).
  • The working titles of his forth coming books are The Heart of Leadership: Lessons from Lincoln, Gandhi and Mandela; The Abundance Chronicles; and Transforming Economics.

 

 

Joretha Bourjolly, Ph.D. Femida Handy, PhD
Tel: (215) 573-2660
E-mail: fhandy@sp2.upenn.edu

Dr. Femida Handy's area of expertise is nonprofit sector economics. She has significant experience in the micro foundational issues of the nonprofit sector as well as nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and volunteerism.

  • Dr. Handy's research interests include nonprofit entrepreneurship and volunteerism, comparative and international aspects of the nonprofit and voluntary sector, and social accounting.
  • Dr. Handy's teaching interests include various topics related to the nonprofit sector, the economics of human behavior and organizational life, social welfare and the environment.
  • Dr. Handy serves as an editor of the Nonprofit and Volunteer Sector Quarterly, an international and interdisciplinary journal for research in the nonprofit sector.  The journal provides a forum for researchers around the world to publish articles encompassing a rich diversity of disciplinary perspectives.

 

 

Eric Ashton, JD, MPH, MSSenior Associate Director of the NPL Program
Eric D. Ashton, JD, MPH, MS
Tel: (215) 898-1857
E-mail: ashtoned@sp2.upenn.edu

Eric Ashton received his law degree from the University of Pennsylvania and his masters of public health from Yale University.  He has significant work experience with both the federal government and the nonprofit sector before coming to Penn in 2006.

Eric has extensive background in nonprofit volunteer work in the areas of HIV/AIDS, adolescent homelessness and domestic violence.  Prior to coming to the School of Social Policy & Practice his work focused on children’s mental health policy for a regional nonprofit organization.  He currently serves on the board of Mental Health America located in Alexandria, Virginia and the Association of Yale Alumni of Public Health (AYAPH) at Yale University.  As Associate Director for the NPL Program, Eric oversees the administrative functions of the program as well as serving as the academic advisor for students and keeps in touch with program alum from around the world.  He is always available to respond to questions by prospective applicants from the United States and abroad.

 

 

Mary Mazzola, MSW, LCSWAssociate Dean of Enrollment Management
Mary Mazzola, MSW, EdD
Tel: (215) 898-5511
E-mail: mmazzola@sp2.upenn.edu

Mary Mazzola is the Associate Dean for Enrollment Management. Dr. Mazzola received her EdD in Higher Education Management at the University of Pennsylvania, Graduate School of Education. She earned her MSW degree from the School of Social Policy & Practice. Prior to coming to Penn, Dr. Mazzola worked in the health care arena. She has extensive clinical and administrative experience that includes serving on a senior management team of a Philadelphia hospital for five years.

Dr. Mazzola returned to the School in 1994 (part-time) as a lecturer. She continues to teach courses in the clinical area. In 2000, Dr. Mazzola began her full time tenure at Penn assuming admission and recruitment responsibility for the MSW program. Currently, she is responsible for the enrollment management functions for all degree programs offered at the School. Dr. Mazzola’s research and scholarly interests include internationalization of higher education, outcomes measurement, and leadership.