Norman Walzer, Ph.D., is a Professor of Economics Emeritus at Western Illinois University where he founded the statewide Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs (IIRA) in 1989 and retired as director in 2005. He has served as president of the Community Development Society, the Midwest Section of the Regional Science Association, and has held leadership positions in other professional organizations. He has published extensively with 27 authored, coauthored, or edited books and numerous articles on Collective Impact, local public finance, community and economic development, strategic planning, community-owned businesses, and related issues. He co-edits Local Development and Society, an international community and economic development journal and is on the Editorial Board of Community Development.

Christopher D. Merrett, Ph.D., is the Dean for Innovation and Economic Development, Director of the Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs, and Program Chair for the master's degree in Community and Economic Development at Western Illinois University. His research focus is on regional development, social justice, and cooperatives as they relate to community development. He co-edited (with Norman Walzer) two books on this topic and he has also published on these issues in a wide range of academic and policy outlets.