Shirley Sagawa, 2012 Curran Distinguished Mentor

Shirley Sagawa, co-founder of Sagawa/Jospin Consulting Firm, was named a “Woman to Watch in the 21st Century,” by Newsweek magazine, and one of the “Most Influential Working Mothers in America” by Working Mother magazine.

 A national expert on children’s policy and philanthropy, she has been called “a founding mother of the modern service movement” in the United States. She is currently a fellow in the Center for American Progress.

Her book, with Deb Jospin, The Charismatic Organization, (Jossey-Bass 2008) offers breakthrough insights into building strong, effective, and well-resourced nonprofit organizations. Her previous book, Common Interest, Common Good: Creating Value Through Business and Social Sector Partnerships (Harvard Business School Press) describes how business and social sector organizations can collaborate for mutual gain.

Shirley has served as a presidential appointee in both the first Bush and Clinton Administrations. As Deputy Chief of Staff to First Lady Hilary Clinton, she advised the First Lady on domestic policy and led the planning for White House Conferences on Philanthropy, Partnerships in Philanthropy, and Teenagers. Shirley was instrumental to the drafting and passage of legislation creating the Corporation for National Service and AmeriCorps. After Senate-confirmation as the Corporation’s first chief operating and policy officer, she led the development of new service programs for adults and students, including AmeriCorps, and directed strategic planning for this new government corporation.

She also managed successful collaborations in the private sector, including Learning First Alliance, a partnership of national education associations. With advanced degrees in law and public policy, she began her career as the Chief Counsel for Youth Policy for the Senate Labor Committee, specializing in education, children’s, and youth issues, and subsequently served as senior counsel to the National Women’s Law Center, and on many nonprofit boards.

Shirley is a graduate of Smith College, the London School of Economics and Harvard Law School, where she served on the Harvard Law Review.