Michael (Mike) Edwards is an independent writer and activist based in upstate New York.
He was the founder and editor of Transformation at Open Democracy from 2013 to 2020, prior to which he enjoyed a long career at the Ford Foundation (as director of the Governance and Civil Society Program), the World Bank, Oxfam-GB, Save the Children-UK and other NGOs in Washington DC, London, Colombia, Zambia, Malawi, and India.
Mike’s writings have helped to shape a more critical appreciation of the global role of civil society, philanthropy and foreign aid; explore the integration of personal change with political action; and break down barriers between researchers and activists across the world. He is the author or editor of 17 books including Civil Society, the Oxford Handbook of Civil Society, and Small Change: Why Business Won’t Save the World.
In 2011 he received the Gandhi, King, Ikeda Award from Morehouse College for his efforts to unite spiritual practice with work for social justice. Mike was educated in England at the universities of Oxford and London, and now lives with his wife Cora in the farmhouse they rebuilt together in the foothills of the Catskill Mountains. In 2017 Cora was elected to a four year term as Commissioner for the Democratic Party at the Board of Elections for Sullivan County, and re-elected for a further term in 2021.
To contact Michael Edwards, email edwarmi@hotmail.com