MIAMI (March 16, 2011) – The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation has promoted Mayur Patel to serve as Vice President of Strategy and Assessment.
His new position reflects Knight’s continued emphasis on assessment as a powerful tool for strategy development, planning and improvement. He reports directly to Knight Foundation President and CEO Alberto Ibargüen.
“Mayur has redefined the role of learning in our work. We seek impact as we promote informed and engaged communities. Learning what works and doesn’t and sharing that learning is critically important to effective grant making; sharing that learning multiplies the value of our work,” said Ibargüen. “His promotion as an officer of the foundation is in recognition of both his personal merit and the importance of the function he performs.”
“I look forward to accelerating our efforts to embed assessment into our work to strengthen our grantees’ effectiveness as well as the foundation’s strategy and mission,” said Patel. “Understanding social impact and gathering feedback on a timely basis are critical to driving continuous learning and improvement – within our organization, with others and across the field.”
Patel joined the foundation in 2009 and was promoted to Director of Strategic Assessment and Assistant to the President in 2010. He was formerly a project associate with the Global Economic Governance Programme at the University of Oxford, involved in research on international economic affairs, and a fellow with the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva.
He has served as a consultant to Oxfam’s offices in the UK and in Kenya, and as a policy adviser on trade and investment to Realizing Rights, a New York-based non-governmental organization. He previously worked with the United Nations Development Program in his native Zimbabwe on issues of government accountability and civic participation in parliamentary affairs.
Patel, a Rhodes Scholar, is completing his doctorate in international development at the University of Oxford, from which he also earned a master’s degree.
About the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation advances journalism in the digital age and invests in the vitality of communities where the Knight brothers owned newspapers. Knight Foundation focuses on projects that promote informed and engaged communities and lead to transformational change. For more, visit www.knightfoundation.org.
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Contact: Marc Fest, Vice President of Communications, Knight Foundation, 305-908-2677; [email protected]