| Professors in the Field |
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Mark Tigan
Assistant Professor of Community Development and Planning
Phone: (508) 421-3839
Email: mtigan@clarku.edu |
Education
Ph.D., University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Research
Community economics, neighborhood revitalization, intergovernmental financing techniques and strategies, participatory planning and development
MARK TIGAN has more than 25 years experience in governmental programs and has worked at the local governmental level in numerous capacities, including, Model Cities director, city manager, community and economic development director, and local community development corporation executive director. He practiced the community development profession at the local level in several states such as California, Vermont, and Ohio. After serving a co-director of Community Development Training Institute, he embarked on a consulting and teaching track. During the last 10 years he has consulted on major projects funded by Housing and Urban Development (HUD), including Oklahoma City terrorist bombing recovery, State of Connecticut's pilot economic development program, and Boston's World Trade Center hotel. Tigan is also the author of several HUD guidebooks. In partnership with former Deputy Assistant Secretary of HUD Warren Butler, Mr. Tigan's firm is a recognized national expert in HUD's community development and housing programs. Tigan's projects and work have been featured on "The MacNeil/Lehrer Report" and The Economist has called Tigan "one of the most successful local grantsmen in the country."
Presentations
On Jan 26, 2007 IDCE's Mark Tigan presented a paper to the National Community Development Association at their annual legislative conference in Washington, DC. The topic of the paper was "U.S. Governmental Accountability Office's (GAO) Approach to Domestic Program Funding." Dr. Tigan serves on the National Academy of the Science's 'Expert Panel' for community development funding allocations to local governments. The Academy study was commissioned by GAO, an arm of Congress.
Tigan presented “Non-profit and NGO Roles in the Privatization of Governmental Responsibility on a Local and Global Scale” at the Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning Department at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Tigan was also invited to attend two Community Development Training Institute’s (CDTI) Board of Directors meetings, one in Fort Worth, Texas and one in Brattleboro, Vermont. In Texas, Tigan gave the board an update on Clark’s “National Urban Policy Competition” project and received input on structuring and marketing the August/September 2008 conference, at which the winning ‘White Papers’ will receive $65,000. In Brattleboro, Mark assisted the CDTI board in making a decision to invest in a start-up international non-profit which intends to provide consultancy services to small businesses attempting to meet a growing set of environmental product content standards (e.g., carbon credits, recycled content minimums, etc.).
Urban Initiative Competition
The Community Development Training Institute (CDTI)—with major support from Freddie Mac—sought the design and implementation of an Urban Initiative Competition by a major university with community development concentrations at the graduate study level. Mark Tigan saw the potential match with the Community Development and Planning and Clark's Graduate School of Management programs.
In fall 2006, CDTI awarded $100,000 to IDCE for the purpose of organizing such a national competition for policy imitative 'white papers' on 1) affordable and sustainable housing, 2) economic development, and 3) financial services to low income communities. This is a national competition for ‘Action Plans’ in anticipation of congressional interest in new and creative urban initiatives and a need for national attention on domestic development policies and initiatives.
All applicants must be teams of local governments/non-profits and universities. The competition will be based on the quality of research, logic of position/theory, originality, and practically. The submissions should advance a proposed new or revised policy that could be easily translated into Federal or State legislation and ultimately programmatic implementation. Two key elements of the competitive criteria will be: financial feasibility and practically of implementation.
CDTI hopes that the innovative results of this competition may lead to future legislation and the '08 presidential candidate platforms. More information on the Urban Initiative Competition.
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