Gary D. Baker, Ph.D.

Gary Baker is the Director of Community Building Initiatives, Senior Fellow and Adjunct Professor of the Midwest Center for Nonprofit Leadership.  The Midwest Center is an education and outreach center of the Henry W. Bloch School of Business and Public Administration at the University of Missouri – Kansas City.  He holds an Interdisciplinary Ph.D. with emphasis in nonprofit entrepreneurism and urban education.  His dissertation was a study of the competitive advantages for urban core businesses.

He is also serving as a senior research and teaching assistant for an urban core business research project in partnership with Professor Michael E. Porter, Harvard Business School.  The project, The Initiative for a Competitive Inner City, explores the various ways to help grow sustainable for-profit urban core businesses based on competitive advantage and advanced business clusters.

Prior to joining the University of Missouri, Gary was a Director of Youth Development and Manager of Planning and Support Services for the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.  He served as Team Leader for a Kauffman Foundation study, The Building Community Concept Team.  The team conducted a nationwide study of the best practices and key learning points which focused around the question of what is a “healthy community.”  He also facilitated numerous planning projects for various nonprofits in the greater Kansas City area.  Along with this, Gary facilitated training for the Kansas City Missouri Police Department, which focused on community policing and team performance.

During his career, Gary served for 18 years as the President and CEO of Crittenton, a children’s psychiatric hospital and family mental health program.  Previously, he worked for other organizations as an Associate Administrator, Business Manager, Operating Supervisor and Medical Corpsman.

Gary holds a Master of Public Administration-Health Care and a Nonprofit Fund Raising Professional Certificate from the Bloch School at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.  He received his BA in psychology with a double major in Business from Baker University.  Gary is also a graduate of the Senior Executive Program at the state and local level from the John F. Kennedy School of Government located at Harvard University.  He has been involved in numerous professional and civic leadership roles during his career.

Gary and his wife Nancy who is an elementary school teacher have two grown children and are native Kansas Citizens.

Midwest Center for Nonprofit Leadership                                 2913 SW 11^th Street

University of Missouri-Kansas City                                           Lee’s Summit, Missouri  64081

Bloch School of Business, #225                                                Home:    (816) 765-7213

5110 Cherry

Kansas City, Missouri 64110

Office:     (816) 235-5632

Fax:          (816) 235-1169

E-mail:    bakerga@umkc.edu