St Chad’s researchers welcomed Dr. Patrick Harman to the College to discuss complementary interests on charitable giving and community regeneration.  Dr Harman serves as the Executive Director of the Hayden-Harman Foundation.  He is responsible for making giving recommendations as well as monitoring and guiding the Foundation’s processes for determining charitable activities.  He is also an adjunct professor at Elon University where he teaches courses on the nonprofit sector and community development.

His current major work for the Foundation has been a revitalization effort in an historic African-American neighborhood in High Point, North Carolina.  This work has included four commercial building renovations, fifteen residential housing improvements, a new municipal park, and many community events such as family movies, structured play at the park, and neighborhood festivals.

As a Fulbright scholar based in the School of Applied Social Sciences at Durham University, Dr Harmon will be contributing alongside Professor Fred Robinson of Policy & Practice, while in England, to the University’s ‘Imagine’ project funded by ESRC on Tyneside.