Sam Magavern is senior policy fellow at Partnership for the Public Good, a community-based think tank that he co-founded in 2007 and co-directed until 2019. He teaches at University at Buffalo Law School and Cornell University’s ILR School, where he was the Visiting Activist Scholar in 2019-2020. Mr. Magavern serves as the attorney for the City of Buffalo Living Wage Commission and as a commissioner on the Niagara River Greenway Commission. His publications range from scholarly articles to comic books; they include a non-fiction book, “Primo Levi’s Universe,” and a book of poetry, “Noah’s Ark.” Mr. Magavern received his B.A. from Harvard University and his J.D. from UCLA Law.
Equitable Community ChangeCornell Certificate Program
Equitable Community Change (ILRC02)
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How It Works
Format
All Online
Time Commitment
3 months with 3 to 5 hours of study per week
Cost
$0
Learn From Top Minds
Courses are developed by Cornell faculty.
Power Your Career
Gain today’s most in-demand skills to stand apart.
Flexibility Fits Your Life
Learn on your schedule without stepping out of your job.
Small-class Experience
Participate in facilitated discussions and live sessions with industry peers.
Real-world Projects
Apply learnings and insights to your work to make an impact right away.
Personalized Feedback
Enjoy meaningful feedback on assignments from expert facilitators.
Format
All Online
Time Commitment
3 months with 3 to 5 hours of study per week
Cost
$0
Learn From Top Minds
Courses are developed by Cornell faculty.
Power Your Career
Gain today’s most in-demand skills to stand apart.
Flexibility Fits Your Life
Learn on your schedule without stepping out of your job.
Small-class Experience
Participate in facilitated discussions and live sessions with industry peers.
Real-world Projects
Apply learnings and insights to your work to make an impact right away.
Personalized Feedback
Enjoy meaningful feedback on assignments from expert facilitators.
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Faculty Authors
Sam Magavern
Senior Policy Fellow
Partnership for the Public Good
Visiting Activist Scholar, Cornell ILR School; Senior Policy Fellow, Partnership for the Public Good
Russell Weaver
Director of Research
Cornell ILR Buffalo Co-Lab
Director of Research, Cornell ILR Buffalo Co-Lab
Russell Weaver, Ph.D., is a geographer, quantitative social scientist, and Director of Research at the Cornell ILR School Buffalo Co-Lab. He was previously an associate professor in the Texas State University Department of Geography, where he taught courses in community geography, community development, urban planning, geographic thought, and quantitative data analysis. Dr. Weaver’s research programs are aimed at understanding and contributing to pathways for context-sensitive, sustainable, and equitable community change. He is the lead author of the book “Shrinking Cities: Understanding Urban Decline in the United States.” Find him on Twitter @RustBeltGeo.
Key Course Takeaways
- Build a foundational understanding of how community groups make regional economies more equitable and inclusive
- Identify how persistent problems have systemic causes and can be resolved through collaborative systems changes
- Use data and information to advocate for equitable community change
- Design a policy change program that would enable a shift from inequitable to equitable development
- Construct a public narrative aimed at bringing diverse people and communities together for equitable change
- Perform social action research to inform community change efforts

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