Skip to main content

It’s All Community

A Conversation with Robert Ashcraft

Dr. Robert Ashcraft is the Lodestar Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Innovation Executive Director at Arizona State University. Chanda connected with Robert to talk about nonprofit leadership, community building, and the direction of philanthropy.

Listen to Our Episode
About Our Guest

Robert Ashcraft

Robert F. Ashcraft, Ph.D. is the executive director of the Lodestar Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Innovation at Arizona State University (ASU), the Saguaro Professor of Civic Enterprise in ASU’s School of Community Resources and Development (SCRD), and a Senior Global Futures Scholar, Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory. Robert teaches courses in nonprofit management and philanthropy, along with the capstone course for students in ASU’s graduate degree program. His research interests have resulted in numerous publications on topics such as nonprofit and social entrepreneurship education models, collaboration strategies, and volunteer management.

Robert has also served since 1984 as executive director of the Nonprofit Leadership Alliance at ASU (formerly American Humanics), a flagship program that recruits, educates, and inspires undergraduate students across disciplines for nonprofit service careers. His leadership brought about the nation’s first undergraduate degree in the field of nonprofit leadership and management. In prior nonprofit professional service, Robert worked as a director of volunteers, director of youth and community services, manager of human resources, and executive director.

In 2012, Robert was named one of the most influential leaders in the nonprofit sector by the Nonprofit Times as a member of its “Power and Influence Top 50” list. Robert holds a baccalaureate degree from the University of Arizona, an M.A in Education degree from Northern Arizona University, and he earned his Ph.D. degree from Arizona State University.