Executive Director
pwm@wilder.org

Paul Mattessich has worked in applied social research since 1973. In 1982, he became executive director of Wilder Research and has served as a member of the Wilder Foundation's senior leadership team since then. He has authored or co-authored more than 250 publications. He has also served on a variety of government and nonprofit boards of directors and special task forces. He received his Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Minnesota.

Paul lived for a year in Belfast, Northern Ireland, where he worked with organizations that promote the development of democratic skills to bring communities together and to resolve conflict through nonviolent means. He lectures frequently throughout the United States and the United Kingdom, especially on topics of organizational effectiveness, collaboration/partnerships, and major social trends that will affect our future.

Recent projects

• Twin Cities Compass, a new initiative to raise awareness about community trends and support efforts to improve the quality of life in the Twin Cities region
• Writing a chapter on "managing evaluation studies," to appear in a New Directions in Program Evaluation book
• Studies of capacity building and volunteer initiatives
• Studies of community foundations and development of philanthropy
• Wilder Foundation strategic planning
• Study of racism in the East Metro area

Books

• Information Gold Mine: Innovative uses of evaluation
• The manager's guide to program evaluation
• Collaboration: What makes it work
• Community-building: What makes it work

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