MIT World Speakers

Marshall Ganz

In 1964, a year before he graduated from Harvard College, Marshall Ganz left to volunteer as a civil rights organizer in Mississippi. In 1965, he joined Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers; over the next 16 years he gained experience in union, community, issue, and political organizing and became Director of Organizing. During the 1980s, he worked with grassroots groups to develop effective organizing programs, designing innovative voter mobilization strategies for local, state, and national electoral campaigns.

In 1991, Ganz returned to Harvard College and, after a 28-year leave of absence, completed his undergraduate degree in history and government. He was awarded an M.P.A. by the Kennedy School in 1993 and completed his Ph.D. in sociology in 2000. He teaches, researches, and writes on leadership, organization, and strategy in social movements, civic associations, and politics.