Civic Enterprises
Chief of Staff
Mary McNaught Yonkman
Since joining Civic Enterprises, Mary Yonkman has worked on numerous client projects and policy issues in her capacity as chief of staff and policy advisor.
Mary is co-author of "All Volunteer Force,"PDF the first ever report on the civic lives of veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. The report examines the tremendous civic potential of our nation's newest generation of veterans and recommends paths forward to ensure these veterans are engaged in their communities. The report was launched on Veteran's Day 2009, at the Mission Serve event, with First Lady Michelle Obama.
On education reform, Mary worked on the "Summit on America's Silent Epidemic," a national forum held in May 2007, and has spoken at state and local summits across the country. She helped develop Grad Nation,PDF a comprehensive guidebook on how communities can substantively address the dropout crisis. She has also collaborated on several education reports: "Engaged for Success,"PDF which focused on service-learning as a dropout prevention strategy; "One Dream, Two Realities,"PDF which looked at the perspectives of parents on the dropout crisis; "The Achievement Trap,"PDF which highlighted the plight of high-achieving, low-income students; and "On the Front Lines"PDF which examined the perspectives of educators on the dropout crisis.
On service and civic engagement, Mary has collaborated on the Service Nation effort, which led to a coalition of more than 120 organizations and 100 million Americans behind the Kennedy-Hatch Serve America Act and significant growth in national and community service. She also co-authored "The Quiet Crisis"PDF a report that looked at the impact of the economic downturn on the nonprofit sector.
On international issues, Mary co-authored "Prospects for Prosperity,"PDF a report that examined private sector investment in Rwanda. She has worked with Malaria No More on several projects, including an interfaith bed net distribution in Mali in 2007.
Finally, as chief of staff, Mary oversees communications, as well as development and management on projects. She works closely with the principals and policy council on the breadth of clients and helps develop strategic plans.
Prior to joining Civic Enterprises, Mary was a Governor's Fellow for Indiana Governor, Mitch Daniels. She graduated with distinction from the University of Virginia; and is founder and past president of Pancakes for Parkinson's, a non-profit event that benefits the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research. The event was launched nationally in conjunction with "Team Fox" and featured on the Rachel Ray Show. She is currently a mentor for Team Fox.
