Patsy Kraeger, Ph.D.

Chief of Staff
ACADEMIC AREAS OF INTEREST

Interdisciplinary focus of research: community development for locally focused economic regeneration and community engagement; institutional, place-based and community philanthropy focusing on accountability and democratic practices through a policy lens. Community development and community well-being, nonprofit and community-based organization effectiveness; social entrepreneurship; social enterprise including hybrid corporations as well as social food and arts incubators/accelerators.

PERSONAL AREAS OF INTEREST

Dr. Kraeger has a passion for all things nonprofit. She serves on the board of a national nonprofit organization, Healthy Democracy based in Oregon. She has served on nonprofit boards in Arizona, California, and Georgia. She has consulted with various nonprofit organizations on board governance to financial stability to developing a new Chamber of Commerce. She consulted on a pro bono basis with the founders of the Pride Chamber of Commerce in Bakersfield, Kern County, California over a six-month time in the spring of 2024 to establish the Pride Chamber of Kern.  She is proud of this work as she helped to impellent the vision of her former Master’s in Public Administration student at the California State university- Bakersfield.  She also developed the Philanthropy Shop funded by the Lodestar Foundation for Junior Achievement of Arizona which scaled nationally for the experiential Junior Achievement (JA) BizTown program for 5th and 6th graders. She is a lifelong volunteer. She enjoys spending time with family, friends, and dogs.

BIOGRAPHY

Patsy Kraeger, Ph.D., joined Chatham as Chief of Staff in July 2024. She is a member of the President’s Leadership Team.  She also is a Professor with tenure in the School of Business Enterprise. She oversees government and foundation relations, community engagement, and corporate partnerships to support Chatham’s mission. Patsy also serves as Secretary to the Board, coordinating Board activities and meetings. Previously, Dr. Kraeger was an Associate Professor at California State University-Bakersfield and Georgia Southern University. She has held leadership roles in government and nonprofit agencies and served in the Arizona Governor’s Office of Children, Youth, and Families.

Research includes peer reviewed solo and co-authored articles. She has authored book chapters and edited books for Edward Elgar Publishing, Routledge Publishing and Springer Publishing. She presents her research at international, national, and regional academic conferences. Her work is published in peer-reviewed journals.

Dr. Kraeger is the Reviews Editor for Local Development and Society and the Special Issues Editor for the International Journal for Community Well-Being, both peer –reviewed journals rated in SCOPUS. She serves on the Board of Directors for the International Society of Quality-of-Life Studies (ISQOLS). Dr. Kraeger is the Founding Co-Chair of the Nonprofit, Philanthropy, Social Enterprise, and Entrepreneurship (NPSEE) section for the World Social Science Association (WSSA). She is a member of the Democracy Research and Development network.

Dr. Kraeger also teaches a graduate level class at Tufts University in Summer Session B, UEP191, Philanthropy and Fundraising.

EDUCATION
  • Ph.D. in Public Administration and Public Policy, Arizona State University, School of Public Affairs
  • Masters in Nonprofit Leadership and Management, Arizona State University, School of Community Resources and Development
  • J.D., Mercer University School of Law
  • B.A., Sweet Briar College, History & International Relations
CERTIFICATES
  • Community Indicators Researcher Certificate, Management Institute for Quality-of-Life Studies/International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies
  • Social Impact and Innovation Certificate, Summer School on Social Impact & Innovation, European Research Network (EMES) and the University of Trento (Italy)
  • Social Economy and Innovation Certificate, European Summer School on Social Economy& Innovation, University of Bologna University (Italy)
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
  • Kraeger, P., Islam, R., and Phillips. R. (Eds). Social (In) Equality, Community Well-being, and Quality of Life. Edward Elgar Publishing (2024). ISBN: 978 1 03531 244
  • Kraeger, P., Phillips, R., and Akanmu, I. (2024). Participatory community philanthropy: A pathway for reducing social (in)equalities. In Kraeger, P., Islam, R., and Phillips. R. (Eds). Social (In) Equality, Community Well-being, and Quality of Life. Edward Elgar.
  • Kraeger, P., Phillips, R. G., Lubin, J. H., Weir, J., & Patterson, K. (2024). Assessing Healthy Effects between Local Level Farmer’s Markets and Community-Supported Agriculture and Physical Well-Being at the State Level. Sustainability, 16(2), 867-882
  • Kraeger, P., Phillips, R. and Ridzi, F. (2022). The Community Foundation - Community Indicator Interface: Exploring Connections and Applications. In F. Ridzi, C. Stevens and N. Watson (Eds.) Community Quality-of-Life Indicators: Best Cases IX. Springer.
  • Kraeger, P. & Phillips, R, Kuenzi, K. & Ugboya, I. (2021). Exploring Select U. S. Community Foundations and COVID-19 Responsive Community Philanthropy. International Journal of Community Well-Being. DOI: 10.1007/s42413-021-00161-3
  • Kraeger, P. (2021). Philanthropic Engagement, Shifting Philanthropic Engagement: Moving from Funding to Deliberation in the eras of the COVID-19 Global Pandemic and Black Lives Matter. Local Development and Society. DOI: 10.1080/26883597.2021.1939766.
  • Kraeger, P. and Schecter, D., (2020). Mini-public deliberation in philanthropy: A new way to engage with the public. newDemocracy Foundation: Research and Development Note, 1-8.