Nathan Mayo - True Charity

About Nathan Mayo

Nathan Mayo earned his Bachelor of Science in Economics from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. In 2013, he was commissioned as an Armor and Reconnaissance officer in the U.S. Army and stationed in Germany with a mission to deter Russian aggression in Europe.

Upon completion of his military service as a Captain, Nathan and his wife, Abigail, spent two years in Haiti building up a network of Haitian-run churches and schools before moving to Missouri to join True Charity in 2020.

Nathan is inspired by solving challenging problems with data and translating the insights of experts into applications for practitioners. In his role as Network Director, he recruits, equips, and connects poverty-fighting organizations so they can continuously improve their approaches and outcomes. His work has appeared in CNN Business, the Washington Examiner, Real Clear Policy, WORLD Magazine, and more.

Nathan and Abigail live with their daughters Heidi and Lillie in Joplin, Missouri.. Nathan is an avid traveler with 39 countries down. He also enjoys hiking, recreational economics, and movies with gratuitous explosions.

Entries by Nathan Mayo

Program Design

Approaches to Christmas Gifts: Restoring Dignity

As the holidays approach, many churches and nonprofits run programs to give Christmas gifts to kids in need, and many more partner with existing national programs. The traditional toy drive is simple. Donors buy gifts and volunteers distribute them. The volunteers either go to the homes of the children or have a day of distribution in a central location. Kids smile, donors feel good … everyone’s better off, right? Unfortunately – it’s not that simple.

November 13, 2020

Program Design

Approaches to Food Distribution: More Than a Hand-Out

Feeding the hungry is one of the oldest forms of charity and seems like it should be simple. However, as many know from years of practice, even when food is collected, stored, and distributed efficiently, it still may not reduce dependency or change lives.

The good news is that there are innovative approaches to solve the issues created by the standard hand-out model.

October 15, 2020

Policy Analysis

Where Did All the Poor People Go?

“We normally see 30 to 40 clients a day,” said the manager of a Joplin, Missouri food pantry. “Since the pandemic, we’ve seen a sharp decrease in number of clients, sometimes as few as four a day.” This is not what I expected to hear when I visited this food pantry to learn about their programs. But their experience is not an anomaly.

August 6, 2020