1. Administration, n.d., 1986-2000

This series documents the activities of the Boston Foundation's Persistent Poverty Project in outreach activities and internal administration. All subseries contain 5 ¼ inch diskettes; researchers should note that Archives staff was unable to check the contents of these disks.

Executive Staff documents the work of the Project's individual staff members, including executive directors Tony Wagner, Wendy Puriefoy, and Charlotte Kahn and Boston Foundation president Anna Faith Jones. This series reflects not only the Boston work of the Project, but also the wider involvement of the staff, including regular attendance at Rockefeller Foundation-sponsored conferences during the early 1990s which brought together all six Project cities. Records include correspondence, minutes, agendas, project histories, and clippings.

Strategy Development Group reflects the activity of the controlling group for the Project. The Group, also called the Strategy Design Group and most frequently referred to simply as the "SDG", was convened in 1990 to develop and guide the work of the Project. The Group was responsible for planning, data control, publications, committees, and retreats. The Group was also responsible for the overall design of the Project's work, including the focus groups and roundtables that took place in the early 1990s and formed the basis for much of the Project's subsequent work. Records include correspondence, minutes, agendas, memoranda, retreat packets, reports, member biographies, and contracts. Of particular note are the records of the assessment sessions which took place in the early 1990s evaluating the work of the Group to date; these sessions eventually resulted in the "Making Democracy Work" report and are documented through minutes, agendas, correspondence, and lengthy transcripts of the assessment sessions.

Conferences, Meetings, and Presentations reflects the efforts of the Project staff to bring the information being gathered by the Project to the general public. The Project was involved in a variety of conferences and meetings, including several of the Boston College-sponsored Citizen Seminars. The Project staff prepared briefings on their work for a variety of outside organizations, including Associated Grantmakers of Massachusetts, the Boston Housing Authority, and the Ford Foundation. Records include programs, correspondence, agendas, notes, presentation packets, and transcripts.