MIAMI — Mayur Patel, a Rhodes scholar with expertise in international development, has joined the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation as director of strategic assessment and impact.
Patel will help Knight Foundation maximize its efforts to support transformational change in journalism and communities. He will work with grantees and develop new approaches to assess their grants’ real-time and long-term impacts.
“Reflection and analysis are essential to accomplish transformational change. Mayur has an impressive academic and professional background that will enable him to help Knight with both,” said Paula Ellis, Knight’s vice president, strategic initiatives. “Mayur will help the foundation learn from its experiences and draw on innovative research to help create true systemic change.”
A native of Zimbabawe, Patel is completing his doctorate in development studies at the University of Oxford, from which he also earned a master’s degree. While at Oxford, Patel was a project associate with the university’s Global Economic Governance Program, involved in research on international institutions and economic affairs.
Patel was also a doctoral fellow with the World Trade Organization in Geneva. He has served as a consultant to Oxfam’s offices in the United Kingdom and in Nairobi, 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 Zimbabwe on issues of government accountability and civic participation in parliamentary affairs.
Before attending Oxford, Patel earned his bachelor’s degree from the London School of Economics.
Patel, who started this month, looks forward to the challenges ahead.
“Information is an incredibly powerful tool for social change, and Knight is uniquely placed to support initiatives that use these tools to help transform communities and empower individuals,” Patel said. “I have been inspired by the dedication and commitment of the people I’ve met at the foundation and look forwarding to being part of this team.”
About the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation promotes excellence in journalism worldwide and invests in the vitality of the U.S. communities where the Knight brothers owned newspapers. Knight Foundation focuses on projects with the potential to create transformational change. For more, visit www.knightfoundation.org.