About Robert Penna
I work with Charity Navigator as a consultant on grants and performance measures, as its International Coordinator responsible for the development of CN activities beyond the U.S. borders, and also serve on its advisory board.
I am also the Program Developer for Family & Children’s Services of Albany, NY.
I was a senior consultant to The Rensselaerville Institute from 2000 to 2008, facilitated seminars at the Institute’s The Center for Outcomes, worked on such projects as the Ohio Outcome Funding Community Development effort, projects for the A.E. Casey Foundation, the National Geographic Foundation and the Ford Foundation. One of the assignments that I most enjoyed and of which I am most proud was serving as Project Lead on the Institute’s three United Nations projects in 2003, designing the prototype for the organization’s Programme Performance Report, leading the Institute team creating the materials for the organization’s world wide training seminars on the new system, and facilitating training sessions at UN Headquarters in New York. The Institute’s resident expert on non-Institute outcome models, I am also the lead author of the Institute’s book, Outcome Frameworks.
Prior to joining the Institute, I was a member of the staff of the New York State Senate for 13 years beginning in 1982. Over that period I held several senior-level positions, including Director of Research for the Legislative Commission on Public-Private Cooperation, and Director of Communications for the Senate Finance Committee. I served on the staff of the Majority Leader for five years and also held the positions of Director of Operations and Special Projects Director for, respectively, two members of the Senate Majority. I was an adjunct professor of political science at Siena College, worked on the national field team of the Steve Forbes for President campaign in 1995-96, and am also one of New York State’s leading experts in special use zoning.
I grew up on the Bronx, graduated from Fordham University, and hold a Ph.D. in Political Science from Boston University with a specialization in urban and municipal affairs.
I live in Albany with my wife Elise and daughter Sara, and have two grown sons, one living in Schenectady and one serving with the 10th Mountain division at Ft. Drum in Watertown, NY.
I am a long-suffering Mets and Jets fan, in spite of my Bronx roots; probably know more about Superman and related DC Comics characters than any adult should admit to knowing; and really am something of a country mouse, being far more comfortable in a cabin in the woods than in a big city penthouse. Involved in Scouting for over 40 years, I love backpacking and camping. I am an avid cook (although my wife is better!), have eclectic tastes in music and reading, and am a cat person. I am also pleased to announce that I have just recently been elected to the Board of the Italian American Heritage Foundation, and to the Board of the Italian American Community Center -both of Albany, NY- and have also been accepted as a member of the Alliance for Effective Social Investing
