In October 2009, the Surdna Foundation announced new programs to support its mission to help create just and sustainable communities. The work of what had been the Community Revitalization Program was refocused towards building "strong local economies". As part of its process for thinking about its approach to building strong local economies, the foundation commissioned Mt. Auburn Associates to prepare a white paper on the current structure and challenges of the nation's workforce and economic development systems. This paper was originally presented as part of a November 9-10, 2009 Board of Trustees meeting.

Manchester Bidwell Corporation established the National Center for Arts and Technology (NCAT) to respond to growing demand from communities across the nation to replicate its unique and highly successful model of adult vocational training and art-infused education for urban youth in Pittsburgh. After piloting the replication initiative for five years, NCAT retained Mt. Auburn to evaluate its progress and recommend measures to increase the pace and effectiveness of its replication efforts.

The Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, a state-chartered independent economic development agency charged with promoting growth in the state's innovation economy, selected Mt. Auburn to conduct an evaluation of its John Adams Innovation Institute. The Institute's investments support the development of innovation clusters, create new partnerships between industry and research institutions, and enhance the state's research and development capacity. Mt. Auburn is evaluating the Institute's initial progress and advising MTC on measures to increase the Institute's effectiveness.

Mt. Auburn has been selected to lead a multi-year evaluation of the second phase of SkillWorks, a comprehensive initiative to promote workforce development systems change in Boston. The initiative, led by the Boston Foundation with participation by other philanthropic funders, the city of Boston, and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, funds innovative sector workforce development programs and promotes workforce development policy reforms. Before its selection to lead the Phase 2 evaluation, Mt. Auburn was a senior member of the Phase 1 evaluation team.