Mary Kay Gugerty

Assistant Professor of Public Affairs, Evans School, University of Washington

• Ph.D. Political Economy and Government, Harvard University
• M.P.A. John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University
• B.A. Political Science and Economics, Georgetown University

Mary Kay joined the faculty of the Evans School at the University of Washington in 2001. Her research interests are in institutional and organizational design, the impact of donor funding on NGOs, community groups, and governments in developing countries, and the role of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in development. Her current research focuses on the development of the NGO sector in East Africa. This research examines the role of NGO umbrella associations in self-regulation of the nonprofit sector and they ways in which NGOs associations affect state-civil society relationships in Africa.

May Kay has lived and worked in Kenya, and examined the impact of donor funding on indigenous community organizations in Kenya, the organizational design of informal savings organizations in developing countries, and the impacts of ethnic diversity on collective action and public goods provision in local organizations. In addition, she has studied the impact of economic growth on poverty alleviation, structural barriers to trade in sub-Saharan Africa, and the impact of agricultural commercialization on intra-household resource allocation in Kenya.

At the Evans School, Mary Kay teaches courses on nonprofit and public management, the political economy of NGOs and foreign aid, program evaluation, international policy analysis, and African development. She is the recipient of the 2005 Teaching Excellence Award at the Evans School.