Dr. Kenneth Taylor has been appointed director of Outreach and Professional Development in the new Center for Nonprofits and Philanthropy at the Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University. Taylor joined the Bush School faculty as an assistant professor of the practice.
Since joining the faculty, Taylor has taught nonprofit management courses and developed and delivered several workshops on the study of leadership. He earned his MBA from Bellarmine University’s Rubel School of Business and also holds a BA in sociology from the same institution. His PhD in leadership studies is from Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio, where his dissertation research investigated leader behavior and job satisfaction within nonprofit organizations. Prior to coming to the Bush School, Taylor was an assistant professor in the College of Health Science and Human Services at Murray State University and founded the nonprofit leadership studies program.
Taylor has more than twenty years of experience working in and with nonprofit organizations and was attracted to the Bush School because he found that practitioners are welcomed for their real-world experience and ability to impart information that may not be found in a textbook.
Taylor says his new position at the Center is primarily about outreach to local and statewide nonprofit organizations while focusing on professional development through educational workshops.
“The nonprofit sector is growing rapidly; one out of every ten jobs is in the nonprofit sector,” Taylor said. “I’m confident that with my experience in the field, I can make a positive impact on the nonprofit industry, and the Bush School is the best place to begin,” he added. “I want to utilize my professional experience and my research experience to help the industry,” Taylor said. “It’s really that simple—to be aligned with the academic environment to really assist nonprofit organizations with the growth we know is on the rise. And here at the Bush School, I believe that I can help shape future practitioners before they start or transition to jobs in the field,” Taylor said.
At the Center itself, Taylor said he would like to eventually see it expand its services and deepen the scale of involvement and outreach to organizations. This expansion, though, requires strategy, and that is why Taylor is here.
“The exciting part will simply be developing an agenda that’s appreciated out in the field, doing a few things really well, and then doing as many of those things as possible.” Taylor said.
