Public Service Assistant

Matt Bishop is currently a Public Service Faculty member with the University of Georgia’s Fanning Institute. In that capacity, Matt is involved in community economic development, local government visioning, strategic planning, and group facilitation processes. He is currently serving as lead faculty for the statewide Communities of Opportunity Initiative. Matt also serves as Coordinator of the University of Georgia’s Initiative on Poverty and the Economy where he is responsible for poverty research and analysis of community and economic development policy. Before his appointment with the University of Georgia, Matt served under two governors as Associate Director of the Georgia Rural Development Council, as a regional coordinator with the Georgia Department of Community Affairs, and as an analyst with the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners. He is former chairman of the Celebrating Rural Georgia conference, and a former board member of the Georgia Rural Health Association. Matt holds a BA in political science from Presbyterian College, a MPA from the University of Georgia, and has finished coursework towards completion of a PhD in public administration and policy from the University of Georgia. Matt resides in Athens with his wife Natalie, a first grade teacher, and their daughter, Abigale Ann.