Most of my research attention focuses on diasporas and development. This work was initiated as a collaborative project with GW Associate Professor Lori Brainard and originally focused on digital diasporas. Continuing on my own, this project resulted in my book Digital Diasporas: Identity and Transnational Engagement (New York: Cambridge University Press, forthcoming). As an international development specialist I was eager to move beyond cyberspace to more specifically examine diasporas’ potential to contribute to the development of their homelands. I organized a major conference on diasoras and development, leading to my edited book Diasporas and Development: Exploring the Potential. I subsequently co-founded, was the founding director, and now co-direct GW's Diaspora Resarch Program (housed in the Institute of Global and International Studies in the Elliott School of International Affairs); proposed and now lead a related priority research area in GW’s Center for International Business Education and Research; and proposed and now co-lead a University Seminar on Diasporas and Development.
Always eager to explore the underutilized resources that could be brought to bear on poverty alleviation and international development, I built upon my doctoral research to more specifically explore the mechanisms by which NGOs could contribute through partnerships with donors, governments, and multinational corporations. The work is conceptual (developing theoretical frameworks and typologies), practical (exploring and creating design and management, and evaluation frameworks), and empirical (analyzing numerous case studies). It includes my book Partnership for International Development: Rhetoric or Results? (Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers, Inc., 2002).
In the area of NGOs, along with two GW colleagues, I co-organized a major conference examining the role of NGOs in achieving the Millennium Development Goals, resulting in a co-edited book volume and several co-authored book chapters. I have also focused on identifying and analyzing new forms of NGOs, including cyber-grassroots organizations (with GW Associate Professor, Lori Brainard) and diaspora organizations/philanthropy. My expertise in NGO management has been recognized by the State Department and I am often asked to delivery training and keynote speeches to visiting delegations of NGO leaders from around the world.
Through my more general research on governance, I continue to focus on state-society relations and NGOs/nonprofits. I have begun to explore related emerging challenges in international development, including fragile states (conflict, post-conflict, and at-risk states and societies), as well as the growing role of diasporas in contributing to these challenges and governance more generally.
I continue to explore new and emerging trends in development management. The definitional framework of development management (developed with Derick Brinkerhoff) has been recognized as a classic in the field. In addition to an invitation to update the framework for inclusion in The Handbook of Globalization, Governance and Public Administration, our originally published PAR article was selected for the volume on Comparative Public Administration: The Essential Readings.
In all of my areas of research, I seek to influence policy and practice. In addition to invited invitations, I disseminate my research findings to practitioner and lay outlets in forms that are more consumable for actionable application. These include magazines, newsletters, and newspapers of professional associations in the development and NGO communities. Selected works can be accessed under the substantive areas above.
June 26, 2008