Ronald David Pate PhD

Ronald (Ron) David Pate is a unique voice in the field of community development and urban planning. His career is characterized by interdisciplinary academic rigor and practical application, particularly in utilizing narrative processes that catalyze community formation and sustainability.

Pate's educational background combines a PhD in Urban Studies and Planning from Portland State University with a Master’s degree in American Studies (University of Alabama), and 39 graduate hours of theological studies (Regent College Vancouver, BC, and Portland Seminary). His dissertation focused on the transformative outcomes of a narrative process in his case study of "Swamp Gravy"—an ongoing community performance project in Colquitt, Georgia. The project involved local volunteers performing stories from their community, which led to the resurrection of their town, socially, economically and spiritually.

In addition to his academic achievements, Ron is an experienced facilitator of narrative processes with groups and organizations, and has been a professor in higher education. His vision is to facilitate a quality of meaningful connection that forms a learning/visioning community of collaborative action. He has founded and led various initiatives, including a clinic in the 90’s that prioritized client and practitioner as mutual “stories-tellers.”

Pate's work underscores the potential of “stories-telling” to bring about social change, build new relationships, and inspire collective vision. He continues to apply these principles through various services and community projects, always aiming to discover what is mutually good for all that’s found deep inside interpersonal experiences of community.