Dr. Manuel Pastor is Distinguished Professor of Sociology and American Studies & Ethnicity at the University of Southern California. Pastor holds an economics Ph.D. from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, is the inaugural holder of the Turpanjian Chair in Civil Society and Social Change, and he currently directs the Equity Research Institute (ERI). For the fullest and most up-to-date description of his work (as well as downloadable photos, a recent CV, and other material), go to his research center webpage.

Dr. Pastor’s research has generally focused on issues of the economic, environmental and social conditions facing low-income urban communities – and the social movements seeking to change those realities. 2021 saw the publication of two new books, South Central Dreams: Finding Home and Building Community in South L.A. (co-authored with Pierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo) and Solidarity Economics: Why Mutuality and Movements Matter (co-authored with Chris Benner). His previous 2018 boo, State of Resistance: What California's Dizzying Descent and Remarkable Resurgence Means for America's Future (New Press 2018) as lauded in a New York Times review as “concise, clear and convincing.”

Previous volumes include Equity, Growth, and Community: What the Nation Can Learn from America's Metro Areas, co-authored with Chris Benner (UC Press 2015), a text that argues how inequality stunts economic growth and how bringing together equity and growth requires concerted local action. He also co-edited the book, Unsettled Americans: Metropolitan Context and Civic Leadership for Immigrant Integration with John Mollenkopf (Cornell University Press 2016), which offers a comparative study and detailed analyses of immigrant incorporation efforts across seven different U.S. metro regions.

Dr. Pastor's prior volumes include: Just Growth: Inclusion and Prosperity in America’s Metropolitan Regions, co-authored with Chris Benner (Routledge 2012); Uncommon Common Ground: Race and America’s Future (W.W. Norton 2010; co-authored with Angela Glover Blackwell and Stewart Kwoh); Staircases or Treadmills: Labor Market Intermediaries and Economic Opportunity in a Changing Economy (Cornell University Press 2009; co-authored with Chris Benner and Martha Matsuoka); Staircases or Treadmills: Labor Market Intermediaries and Economic Opportunity in a Changing Economy (Russell Sage 2007, co-authored with Chris Benner and Laura Leete); and Regions That Work: How Cities and Suburbs Can Grow Together (University of Minnesota Press 2000; co-authored with Peter Dreier, Eugene Grigsby, and Marta Lopez-Garza).

Dr. Pastor was the founding director of the Center for Justice, Tolerance, and Community at the University of California, Santa Cruz. He has received fellowships from the Danforth, Guggenheim, and Kellogg foundations, and grants from the Irvine Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the National Science Foundation, the Hewlett Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation, the California Environmental Protection Agency, the W.T. Grant Foundation, The California Endowment, the California Air Resources Board, and many others.

Dr. Pastor speaks frequently on issues of demographic change, economic inequality, and community empowerment and has contributed opinion pieces to such outlets as the Los Angeles Times, the San Jose Mercury News, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Sacramento Bee, the Huffington Post, and many others.

Pastor has served as a member of the Governor's Task Force on Jobs and Business Recovery and as a Public Member of the Strategic Growth Council in California. He also previously served as a member of the Commission on Regions appointed by California’s Speaker of the State Assembly, and as a member of the Regional Targets Advisory Committee for the California Air Resources Board.

In 2002, Pastor was awarded a Civic Entrepreneur of the Year award from the California Center for Regional Leadership. In 2012, he received the Liberty Hill Foundation’s Wally Marks Changemaker of the Year award for social justice research partnerships. In 2017, he received the Champion for Equity Award from the Advancement Project for his work with community-based organizations fighting for social change.