Published May 26, 2026
When I began working on federal welfare policy in the early 2000s, my boss told me to go see Bob Woodson and his network of projects in low-income neighborhoods. My think tank job revolved around producing white papers for policymakers in Washington, D.C. Bob didn’t have much use for white papers and thought Washington was woefully out of touch with real, on-the-ground change. But he took me in tow to Baltimore, Philadelphia, Milwaukee, and Denver, a few of the places his Center for Neighborhood Enterprise (now the Woodson Center) was active. Bob became a friend and mentor who shaped my outlook with his vision for social enterprise that expands community horizons by making the most of what we’ve been given.
Robert L. Woodson, Sr., died May 19 at the age of 89. Following civil rights activism in the 1960s and early ’70s, Bob spent much of his life identifying social entrepreneurs who were successfully helping others escape addiction, gangs, prison, and homelessness. These were not well-heeled or multi-credentialed experts. Bob was skeptical of strategies parachuted into low-income communities by outsiders, and he often reminded us that “to be certified is not necessarily to be qualified.” He was convinced that effective leaders are to be found in the “same cultural zip code” where the needs are. These leaders had credibility because of their commitment to their communities and their capacity to recognize the latent potential there.
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Jennifer Patterson is a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. Her work focuses on projects related to religious freedom and overcoming poverty.
