Temple University

Lynn Mandarano is an expert in community engagement and capacity building for collective action to address complex social and environmental concerns. Her research explores how everyone from individuals to regional collaborative institutions develop capacities, such as knowledge, relationships and political will to plan and implement projects that have positive, long-term impacts. Her work in Philadelphia assists communities with capacity building and engages students through community-based service learning projects. 
 
She is actively engaged in research and has been awarded over $1,000,000 in external funds.  Mandarano’s work is published in leading planning journals including the Journal of Planning Literature, Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, Journal of Planning, Education and Research, Local Environment, Planning Practice and Research and Society and Natural Resources, among others.
 
Prior to becoming a professor, Mandarano worked for more than 20 years as a professional consultant in the fields of environmental engineering and environmental policy for United States municipal, county and state governments, private business and international clients. In 1998, Mandarano started her own consulting practice, The Natural Resource, which is a certified as a woman-owned business enterprise in Pennsylvania and Philadelphia.
 
PhD, City and Regional Planning, University of Pennsylvania, 2004
MBA, Management Science, Iona College, 1990
BS, Mechanical Engineering, Cornell University, 1984

Selected Work
Mandarano, L., & Meenar, M. (2017, July). Equitable Distribution of Green Stormwater Infrastructure: A
     Capacity-based Framework for Implementation in Disadvantaged Communities. Local Environment,
     22(11), 1338-1357. doi:10.1080/13549839.2017.1345878
 
Mandarano, L. (2015, June). Civic Engagement Capacity Building: An Assessment of the Citizen
     Planning Academy Model of Public Outreach and Education. Journal of Planning Education and
     Research, 35(2), 174-187. doi:10.1177/0739456X14566869
 
Mandarano, L. and K. Paulsen.  (2011, December). Governance Capacity of Collaborative Watershed
     Partnerships: Evidence from the Philadelphia Region. Journal of Environmental Planning and
     Management, 54(10), 1293-1313. doi: 10.1080/09640568.2011.572694
 
Mandarano, L., M. Meenar, & Steins, C. (2010, November). Building Social Capital in the Digital Age of
     Civic Engagement. Journal of Planning Literature, 25(2), 123-135. doi:10.1177/0885412210394102
 
Mandarano, L. (2009, March). Social Network Analysis of Social Capital in Collaborative Planning.
     Society and Natural Resources, 22(3), 245-260. doi:10.1080/08941920801922182

Image credit: Ryan S. Brandenberg