Staff

Greg Werkheiser - Managing Director

Greg Werkheiser is the inaugural Managing Director of the Mason Center for Social Entrepreneurship. He has formed and led social enterprises in the field of social innovation, civic education, law, government and politics, and cultural heritage preservation.

In the field of social innovation, he founded and has directed for six years the Phoenix Project, an initiative with a mission of devising new approaches to preparing college students for roles as future leaders of sustainable social change in economically distressed communities, which effort received the 2009 Virginia Governor’s Volunteerism and Community Service Award.

In the field of civic education, Werkheiser created and led for seven years the college and high school civic education programs of the Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership at the University of Virginia, the success of which were documented by The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching in the book Educating for Democracy: Preparing Undergraduates for Responsible Political Engagement.

In the field of law, Werkheiser represented Fortune 500 companies in complex litigation for the world’s largest law firm, and was named Pro Bono Attorney of the Year for his precedent setting victory on behalf of Native Americans in preventing the destruction of the Black Creek site, now a national historic property and state park.

In the field of government, Werkheiser has served in public service roles at the White House, the U.S. Information Agency, the U.S. Embassy in Paris, the Virginia General Assembly, the Congressional Management Foundation and the State Department. Werkheiser has been a candidate for public office, securing the endorsement of The Washington Post and more financial support for his campaign for the Virginia House of Delegates than any person running previously for that office.

In the field of cultural heritage preservation, Werkheiser cofounded Cultural Heritage Partners, LLC, a legal and strategic consulting firm that counsels governments and NGOs globally on historic preservation and business sustainability strategies.

He earned his J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law and his B.A. in Government from the College of William and Mary, where he served as student government president and chair of the statewide student coalition.

Paul M. Rogers - Faculty Director

Paul M. Rogers (Ph.D. University of California, Santa Barbara, 2008) is the Faculty Director of the Mason Center for Social Entrepreneurship. In that role he works with other Mason faculty to expand integration of social entrepreneurship concepts and pedagogy within their teaching, research and writing. Rogers has been a leader of Mason’s ChangeMaker Campus Team, a partnership between Ashoka and Mason aimed at fostering the capacities of social entrepreneurship across the University, the work of which helped lay the foundation for the launch of the Center. an Assistant Professor of English at George Mason University and the incoming Director of the Northern Virginia Writing Project. In addition to working with K-12 teachers throughout Northern Virginia, he teaches undergraduate courses in academic writing, business writing, writing for the humanities, and advanced nonfiction writing, as well as graduate courses in the teaching of writing, composition theory, and research methods in rhetoric and writing.

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. His recent books and articles include: "Writing Across the Curriculum: A Critical Sourcebook" co-edited with Terry Zawacki (Bedford St.Martin's, 2011); "Traditions of Writing Research" co-edited with Charles Bazerman (Routledge, 2010) and "Rejoining the learning circle: When inservice providers conduct research" in the January 2011 issue of English Education. Professor Rogers was a 2008 recipient of AAC&U's K. Patricia Cross Award for leadership in higher education, and a co-recipient of NCTE's 2009 Janet Emig Award for research in English education. Paul works on the Stanford Study of Writing Research team, and was co-chair of the 2011 international writing research conference-Writing Research Across Borders II.

Phil Auerswald - Senior Scholar

Philip Auerswald is the Senior Scholar of the Mason Center for Social Entrepreneurship and is an Associate Professor at the School of Public Policy at George Mason University. He is also the co-founder and co-editor of Innovations: Technology | Governance | Globalization, a quarterly journal from MIT Press about entrepreneurial solutions to global challenges; an associate with Harvard's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs; and an advisor to the Clinton Global Initiative. Since 2008 he has been the facutly co-lead for the Ashoka Changemaker Campus initiative. He is author and co-author of numerous books, reports, and research papers pertaining to entrepreneurship and innovation including, most recently, The Coming Prosperity: A Guide to Opportunity in the Age of Entrepreneurship (forthcoming, Oxford University Press, 2011, blog).

Marion Forsyth Werkheiser - Senior Advisor

Marion Forsyth Werkheiser serves as strategic advisor to the Mason Center for Social Entrepreneurship, continuing her service in this role after co-founding and co-directing over five years the Phoenix Project from start-up to winner of the Virginia Governor’s Volunteerism and Community Service Award.

Werkheiser counsels the Center on development strategies and compliance with best management practices. She earned her J.D. from Harvard Law School, where she focused her studies on community organizing, critical theories of social change and cultural heritage preservation. She is a founding member of Cultural Heritage Partners, a legal and strategic consulting firm through which she counsels governments and NGOs on historic preservation and business sustainability strategies. She co-founded and served as Vice President of the Lawyers' Committee for Cultural Heritage Preservation from 2004-2008.

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Werkheiser previously practiced corporate and regulatory law in the Washington, D.C. offices of Baker and Daniels. She served as a legal fellow in the office of U.S. Senator Evan Bayh, the Massachusetts Attorney General, and in the legal offices of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Werkheiser has edited several legal volumes published for both students and practitioners and taught as an adjunct professor at the College of William and Mary School of Law. She is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Indiana University, where she studied political science and classical art and archaeology as a Wells Scholar and served as Chief Justice of the student judicial system, and president of the College Democrats. She and her husband, Greg Werkheiser, have a young daughter, Amelia.

BETHANY RUBIN HENDERSON- SENIOR ADVISOR

As Senior Advisor to the Mason Center, Bethany Rubin Henderson ap

plies the skills and knowledge she has gained as a social entrepreneur to help grow entrepreneurship and innovation at Mason.

5 years ago, Bethany gave up a biglaw job to launch City Hall Fellows - a non-partisan national service corps preparing the next generation to lead America’s cities. City Hall Fellows prides itself on its proven ability to secure the best young talent, and its highly-regarded, one-of-a-kind, purpose-driven, 300+ hour leadership training program – which prepares Fellows to drive social change through effective local policy innovations and empowers them to be lifelong public leaders.

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In just a few short years, City Hall Fellows has trained 61 young, diverse urban changemakers who have transformed three cities by doing everything from saving taxpayers over $10M by streamlining municipal services to piloting ground-breaking public health and alternative energy programs to speeding up pothole repair. Over half of alumni remain in local public service.

Bethany bootstrapped City Hall Fellows from a one-page sketch to an impactful venture, raising over $4M from public and private sources. To cultivate City Hall Fellows, Bethany opted to leave a successful legal career at Quinn Emanuel, the country’s largest business litigation-only law firm. Her inspiration: spending the year after college on the 5-person team that guided New York City’s transition into the Internet era. As part of a citywide cohort of young policy wonks, Bethany experienced both city government’s far-reaching impact and the enormous social change young people can create working inside city government.

Bethany is widely recognized as a leader and innovator. She is an Echoing Green Fellow (2009); a Next American City emerging urban leader (2010); and a former NYC Urban Fellow (1998-99). She was named one of the 40 under 40 progressive political entrepreneurs of 2011 by the New Leaders Council and babble.com's 2011 Mom Who Is Changing Your World (Politics). Bethany has her J.D. from Harvard Law School and both a B.A. and M.A. in Political Science (summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa) from the University of Pennsylvania. She has authored or co-authored nine academic and industry journal articles and several blog posts on topics ranging from intellectual property to civic engagement to cities' human capital crisis to juggling social entrepreneurship and parenthood.

Bethany lives near Washington, DC with her husband of nine years, their two delightful young daughters and one very spunky dog.

Kathleen "Kiffy" Johnson - Director of Operations

As the Center’s Director of Operations, Kiffy Johnson oversees the wide range of organizational tasks required to support the Center’s activities. Johnson graduated with a Master’s degree in Sociology and a Certificate in Gender Violence Intervention from Virginia Commonwealth University and was a recipient of the VCU Presidential Scholarship. She brings to the Center additional experience in program management and event coordination, including work at the VCU Office of Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence Services coordinating community education, outreach programs, and volunteers. Johnson has taught courses that delve into the topics of women, gender and violence as an adjunct faculty member at VCU and the University of Richmond. She also has provided strategic and capacity-building consulting services to governmental and not-for-profit domestic violence prevention organizations through Social Innovation Professionals.

Katie Rendon - Social Innovation Program Director

Katie Rendon recently graduated from George Mason University with a degree in Global Affairs with a concentration in International Development and a minor in Conflict Analysis and Resolution. While at George Mason, she studied abroad in the Philippines where she was given the opportunity to work closely with grassroots organizations that focus on poverty and human rights issues specific to the Philippines. It also allowed her to attend the 2010 Mindanao Peacebuilding Institute for Trauma Healing and Reconciliation. She most recently completed a six-week summer, work program that places at-risk youth from Baltimore City in the Maryland Park Service, giving them the opportunity to learn job skills and appropriate work place behavior.

Michael Youngblood - Strategic Partnerships

Michael Youngblood is an entrepreneur and social entrepreneur who has co-founded or advised multiple ventures including eco-tourism businesses, micro-finance organizations, and new models in higher education. He has twice used universities -- as an undergrad and graduate student -- to launch new businesses, work with mentors, write business plans, and find funding for new ventures. He has authored numerous business plans for social enterprises, tech start-ups, and financial institutions. He was instrumental in the launch of the Mason Center for Social Entrepreneurship, where he is still an advisor. He holds an MPA from George Mason University and a B.S in anthropology from the College of Charleston.

Rachel Bruns - Executive Director, Social Venture Consulting

Rachel Bruns is the Executive Director of Social Venture Consulting, a pro-bono non-profit consulting firm partnered with the Center for Social Entrepreneurship. A junior global affairs major, concentrating in global economy and management with a minor in women and gender studies, she is honored to serve as the Student Representative on the George Mason University Board of Visitors for the 2011-12 academic year. In addition, she serves as Vice President of Events for Mason Ambassadors and is a member of the National Society for Collegiate Scholars, Alpha Lambda Delta Honor Society and the L-Team. Her passion for social entrepreneurship was ignited as a seventeen year old on a mission trip to Ghana and has continued through the presidency of the GMU Chapter of Students Helping Honduras, a non-profit organization working in El Progreso, Honduras and participation in a service trip with the group in January 2010. She has interned for the Medill Project on Targeted Warfare and International Law and an economic research boutique in Maryland. Currently, she works for the Department of Defense at an Army Research, Development and Engineering Center.

Sam Tesfaye - International Program Advisor

Samuel Tesfaye studied Global Affairs, with specific emphasis on Emerging Markets Economy at George Mason University. Samuel worked for major newspapers in Africa since 2002. His journalistic activity includes covering the White House, the State Department, the Historic 2008 election of President Obama in Grant Park Chicago, and stories related to Africa for various media outlets. He is also a consultant for the Institute for Multi-track Diplomacy. He has produced a cultural heritage preservation project under the title old and historical buildings of Ethiopia. He has conducted interviews with a wide variety of professionals including heads of state, ministers, mayors, ambassadors and community members. He is a member of the National Press Club, Washington DC. Currently, Samuel is working on a project to establish a Press Club in Ethiopia.