Founded in 1987 by Dr. Lester M. Salamon, and directed by him until his passing in August of 2021, the Johns Hopkins Center for Civil Society Studies served as a leading source of ground-breaking research and knowledge about the nonprofit sector, philanthropy, and the tools of government. Working in collaboration with governments, international organizations, investment innovators, and colleagues around the world, the Center encouraged the use of this knowledge to strengthen and mobilize the capabilities and resources of the public, nonprofit, and for-profit sectors to address the complex problems that face the world today.

To this end, the Center conducted research and educational programs that sought to improve the understanding of the nonprofit or civil society sector around the world, to analyze trends affecting this sector as the emerged, and to promote promising innovations in the ways that government, civil society, and business collaborate to address social and environmental challenges.

With the passing of Dr. Salamon, the Center has now ceased active operations. This website has been developed to serve as a permanent repository and archive of the Center’s work over its 35-year history. It is the sincere hope of Dr. Salamon’s family and his colleagues, both at Johns Hopkins and around the world, that the research and resources available here will continue to fulfill the Center’s mission to “strengthen and mobilize the capabilities and resources of all three sectors—governmentcivil society, and business—in addressing today’s, and tomorrow’s, complex problems.

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