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Manuel Pastor is a trailblazer in making a critical connection for the citistate age — between the interests of minority and disadvantaged communities on one hand, and the economic and social future of entire metropolitan regions on the other. Former chair of the Latin American and Latino Studies department at the University of California-Santa Cruz and now co-director of the University's innovative Center for Justice, Tolerance and Community , Pastor is increasingly sought out as one of America 's most acute observers and dynamic speakers in his fields of expertise.
Pastor's research includes topics such as community development, environmental justice, and working poverty. In 1997, he headed a team of academics that produced a major report — Growing Together: Linking Regional and Community Development in Los Angeles. The report received wide press coverage ( click here for Peirce column ), and was subsequently published by the University of Minnesota Press under the title Regions That Work --How Cities and Suburbs Can Grow Together.
In 2006 Pastor authored a major new survey of equity initiatives in America's regions, based on a two-year national survey and analysis sponsored by the Ford Foundation. The publication, Edging Toward Equity-- Creating Shared Opportunity in America's Regions, is available as a PDF for downloading.
Dr. Pastor's most recent books include the co-authored Searching for the Uncommon Common Ground: New Dimensions on Race in America , described by leading scholar, William Julius Wilson, as “ . . . a fresh and thoughtful framework for the pursuit of racial equality in America.” He also co-edited a landmark collection of essays entitled Up Against the Sprawl: Public Policy and the Making of Southern California and he and a group of colleagues have recently completed an important report, Community Building, Community Bridging: Linking Neighborhood Improvement Initiatives and the New Regionalism in the San Francisco Bay Area .
Pastor holds his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Massachusetts , Amherst , and has received fellowships from the Danforth, Guggenheim, and Kellogg foundations and grants from the Irvine Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the National Science Foundation, the Social Science Research Council, the MacArthur Foundation, the California Endowment, the Hewlett Foundation, and many others. His current work on environmental justice is supported by the California Air Resources Board, and has included a look at the impacts of air toxics on school children and academic performance (see Reading, Writing, and Breathing )
Dr. Pastor speaks frequently on issues of community empowerment and has contributed opinion pieces to such outlets as the Los Angeles Times , the San Jose Mercury News , and the Christian Science Monitor. He served as a member of the Commission on Regions appointed by California's Speaker of the State Assembly, and in January 2002 was awarded a Civic Entrepreneur of the Year award from the California Center for Regional Leadership. |
