Marshall Ganz

Marshall Ganz is the Rita E. Hauser Senior Lecturer in Leadership, Organizing, and Civil Society at the Harvard Kennedy School. He specializes in leadership development, narrative strategy, and organizing frameworks for social movements and civic institutions. His career spans decades of activism, academia, and global training initiatives.

• Education: Completed an undergraduate degree in history and government (2000), MPA (1993), and PhD in sociology (2000) at Harvard University.

His research focuses on the role of leadership in social change, public narrative as a mobilization tool, and strategic capacity-building in grassroots movements. He has published extensively in American Journal of Sociology, American Political Science Review, and policy journals like Stanford Social Innovation Review.

Recent scholarly work emphasizes the intersection of storytelling and collective action, with trends toward democratizing power structures in civic communities. Awards include the Michael J. Harrington Book Award (2009) for Why David Sometimes Wins and an honorary doctorate in divinity (2010) from Episcopal Divinity School. His sponsored projects include Leadership for Democracy and Social Justice (funded by The City College of New York) and Democratic Governance Assessment Project (with Girl Scouts of the USA).

As co-founder of the Leading Change Network, Ganz trains global leaders in organizing and leadership development. He has also designed executive programs like Public Narrative: Leadership, Storytelling, and Action and Leadership, Organizing, and Action: Leading Change, which have been adopted across sectors.