Faculty

Gretchen Cummings, MBA, MPP

Email

Education

MBA, Presidio Graduate School
MPP, Harvard Kennedy School of Government
BA, Princeton University

Bio

Gretchen is the Interim Program Chair of Presidio's MPA program and teaches in the MPA Capstone course. She is a 2011 graduate of the MBA program, served on Presidio's Board of Directors and brings two decades of experience in education research and nonprofit growth and management. She currently manages a study for the Stuart Foundation, investigating public schools in California that are closing the achievement gap for low-income and minority students. Prior to this, she was part of the executive leadership team that built WestEd, a $100+ million quasi-governmental agency dedicated to achieving excellence and equity in public education, and winner of multiple "Best Places to Work" awards. While earning her MPP at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, Gretchen concentrated on Human Services, Labor and Education Policy and Nonprofit Management and consulted for a newly formed nonprofit that promoted civic engagement in Vermont. She has training in organizational assessment for the Baldrige National Quality Program and in conflict mediation with Community Boards. She attended Harvard Business School's Executive program on Performance Management for Effective Management of Nonprofit Organizations. Gretchen is particularly interested in research on measurement of outcomes and impact in social change.