Paul Elam
Project Manager
Paul Elam, Ph.D., is a project manager at Public Policy Associates, Inc., a national public policy research, development, and evaluation firm headquartered in Lansing, Michigan with offices in Michigan and California. PPA serves clients in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors at the national, state, and local levels by conducting complex and comprehensive research, analysis, and evaluation designed to inform and support strategic decision-making.
Dr. Elam has over 15 years of experience working as a team builder and is recognized for his ability to assist government, academic, community, and philanthropic organizations with pressing sociological issues. He has been successful in securing over $15 million dollars in federal, state, and private contracts and grants to develop and maintain human services in the City of Lansing, Ingham County, and the State of Michigan. Dr. Elam has also worked with several City, County, and State coalitions to help develop community- and school-based programs.
Dr. Elam has wide experience and competency in research and analysis, program and policy development, grant administration and contract compliance, and university partnership building. Recent project positions include project manager for the Michigan Child Welfare Improvement Task Force, principal investigator for the Ingham County Youth Risk Factor analysis, principal investigator in an overview of the Wayne County Juvenile Detention Facility; and evaluator for the Ingham County/City of Lansing Community Coalition for Youth (CCY) Title V Juvenile Delinquency Prevention Program.
Dr. Elam is currently managing a project with the Michigan Department of Human Services, Bureau of Juvenile Justice and the Michigan State Court Administrator’s Office to help state and local governments prevent and control juvenile delinquency and improve the juvenile justice system. This project involves helping to develop and implement strategies to deinstitutionalize status offenders, separate juveniles from adults in institutions, remove juveniles from adult jails and lockups, and reduce disproportionate minority contact.
In addition, Dr. Elam is working with the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to develop a systematic process for identifying and engaging students of color in Michigan’s New Economy. This project aims to ensure that students of color will have equitable opportunities for securing employment in the New Economy by providing supports and opportunities such as summer jobs and internships in industries representing the new economy; academic, economic, and social supports; incentives to remain and/or return to Michigan; and training in leadership development and entrepreneurship.
Dr. Elam is also working with the Michigan Department of Corrections and the Michigan Council on Crime and Delinquency on the Michigan Prisoner ReEntry Initiative. He is working with these partners to help implement a state-wide model that connects recently released prisoners with the resources necessary for a successful reintegration into the local communities to which they are returning.
Prior to joining PPA, Dr. Elam worked as the grants and program coordinator for the City of Lansing Human Relations and Community Services Department. Dr. Elam has also worked as a research and teaching assistant at Michigan State University in the Departments of Urban Affairs, Criminal Justice, and Family and Child Ecology where he assisted professors with the study and instruction of crime, juvenile delinquency, research methodology, multiculturalism, demography, urbanism, and multicultural communication. He has also worked as an institutional research analyst at Lansing Community College where he assisted with studies on student retention, enrollment forecasting and trends, institutional program effectiveness, and student satisfaction.
Dr. Elam is the co-author and presenter of monographs and papers that have been presented at national conferences. He received both his undergraduate training in criminal justice and his graduate training in criminal justice, urban studies, and family and child ecology from Michigan State University.
119 Pere Marquette Drive • Lansing, MI 48912
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