Discovering and applying new and innovative economic development tools, models, policies, and programs
Creating Jobs and Wealth in Distressed Michigan Communities
ZumBrunnen, Mary
Assistant Director, Center for Community and Economic Development
For two decades Mary ZumBrunnen has worked across communities at home and abroad on sustainable development to improve quality of life. Since 2005 she has focused on Michigan helping hundreds grow their community vision to fruition. It is from the impact of these experiences that she founded One-Community Consulting in 2007 to help connect industry expertise to solve local cross-sector challenges. In 2019 One-Community Consulting was awarded a “10 Over the Next Ten” social change-maker award from the Greater Lansing Regional Chamber of Commerce and the Grand River Connections across Ingham, Eaton, Clinton and Shiawassee counties.
Mary believes in paying it forward and offers rich training ground for those also wishing to give back to their community through One-Community’s unique social entrepreneur knowledge leadership system. Learn more about Mary's background including: commitment to National Service, sustainable development, public health and regional food systems on LinkedIn. A serious Spartan, she holds a BS in agriculture and natural resource communication, an MS degree in community resource development and an executive MBA from Michigan State University. She is a two-time fellow through the US Department of Education Foreign Language and Area Studies Program and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation.
In December of 2017, Mary's first book, Transcendent Partnership: Aligning Agendas for Collective Impact, was published by the Difference Press and a second edition later through Morgan James Publishing in 2018. This reached #1 on Amazon in both Business & Money and Politics & Social Science in the areas of philanthropy and charities. Combining professional expertise implementing sustainable development with nonprofit partners, she applies business supply chain management to work through many common system and relationship challenges that citizen stakeholders run into when solving large scale community issues.
An AmeriCorps*VISTA alumna, she still continues to serve and volunteers for the MSU Diversity, Equity & Inclusion committee. In her spare time Mary is a certified yoga instructor, licensed realtor and member of the Greater Lansing Association of Realtors. With family on multiple continents, most of her free time (when not traveling) involves developing Midwestern-Asian Fusion cuisine, painting in acrylic and taking care of her rescue animals.