Meet the Workshop Team
Lead Coordinators:
Dr Diane Holt (University of Essex). Diane Holt (BSc, MSc, PhD) is an experienced teacher, researcher, and academic administrator. At Queen's University Belfast (2007-2013) she was programme leader for a suite of postgraduate programmes in the sustainability area. She previously held a position as Principal Lecturer at Middlesex University Business School (1996-2007) including 1.5 years seconded to their Dubai campus responsible for the roll out of the Business Programmes. Now based at University Essex as a Senior Lecturer in Management (2013-present) she teaches courses in business and international development, research methods and operations management. Diane has published over 60 peer reviewed journal articles, book chapters and conference papers. She has over 1150 cites in Google scholar in area such as the role of business in development, social, entrepreneurship, green supply chain management and sustainability discourse. She is the Principal Investigator on the ESRC funded Trickle Out Africa Project (TOA) which considers the impact of social and environmental enterprises on poverty alleviation and sustainable development across the 19 countries of Southern and Eastern Africa. The online Directory now lists over 4000 social purpose ventures. TOA has a thriving social media presence with a Facebook page, numerous blog posts, and articles in the Big Issue, newspapers and trade publications. TOA has developed strong links with user organisations such as the African Social Entrepreneurs Network. In 2012 TOA hosted a workshop in Nairobi for 22 African academics from Zambia, South Africa, Kenya, Malawi and the UK, as well as presenting a master class on entrepreneurship attended by over 70 members of Kenyan business and civil society. TOA directly engaged with 20 case study organisations in Zambia, Kenya, South Africa and Mozambique during more than 24 weeks of fieldwork. From April 2011 - Feb 2014 visitors have downloaded 12,321 copies of the documents hosted on the site (articles, presentations, case studies etc), with the website receiving over 3.8 million page views over the last 12 months. Recent honours include nomination and short listing as a finalist for the 'Outstanding Academic Study in Development' category of the International Development Awards - All Party Group on International Development. Winners were announced at Stormont, Northern Ireland in May 2013 where she received an honourable mention. In addition she and her co-author were awarded best paper in Social, Ethical and Environmental Enterprise Track at the Institute for Small Business and Entrepreneurship Conference in November 2013, again in November 2014 and awarded best full paper in track at the British Academy of Management in 2014 in the Sustainable and Responsible Business track. She is also a member of the ESRC Peer Review College and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.
Dr Eliada Griffin-EL (University of Cape Town) is a Senior Lecturer of Social Entrepreneurship at the Graduate School of Business (GSB) at UCT. She received her doctorate from the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public and International Affairs (Pennsylvania, USA), where she specialised in International Development (Economics) and Global Political Economics. Prior to this she had completed her bachelor’s degree in Sociology at Yale University (Connecticut, USA), before going on to study her Masters in International Development at the University of Pittsburgh. Eliada’s research explores the network-based ecosystems and innovative activity of social entrepreneurship in African emerging markets - specifically South Africa. Her work seeks to understand how an organization’s social embeddedness among institutional, community, and entrepreneurial actors informs the nature of its innovation, and the implications for ‘network-based’ entrepreneurial approaches and ecosystems for social change. She has presented her work at international forums such as the Colloquium for Social Entrepreneurship at Oxford University (2013), the International Small Business Congress (2012), and the Academy of Management (2011). She has recently served as the principle investigator for a cross-country study sponsored by the ODI and funded by DFID (UK) to explore the social entrepreneurial ecosystem and its engagement with the policy framework of Kenya, and is lead academic for UCT’s participation in a 25-member research consortium entitled Social Innovation:Drive for Change sponsored by the EU. Furthermore, she is co-editor of the forthcoming book, The Business of Social and Environmental Innovation: New Frontiers in Africa (Springer). Eliada is the Founding Faculty Member of the Bertha Centre for Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship at UCT. Established in 2011 as the first academic centre in Africa dedicated to research, teaching, dialogue and support of social innovations that positively change and challenge rules, policies, technologies, structures, beliefs and institutions. Here she has served in contributions such as co-designing the Social Innovation Stream of the MBA, and lead academic on the working committee for the Social Innovation and Policy Strategy for the Western Cape Provincial Government. The Bertha Centre was established in partnership with the Bertha Foundation, a family foundation that works with inspiring leaders who are catalysts for social and economic change. Today it’s an innovative and dynamic space with priority areas including private sector and public-private partnerships in education, health, innovative financing mechanisms, poverty and inequality in Africa. Eliada has served on the steering committee of African Social Entrepreneurship Network Western Cape, and serves as a board member of two social enterprises – Kanmas Educational Support Center (Pennsylvania, USA), and Amandla Development (Cape Town, SA).
Workshop Mentors:
Professor Bob Doherty (University of York). Bob's research primarily focuses on the marketing and management aspects of fair trade social enterprises. Bob has been editor in chief of the Social Enterprise Journal (published by Emerald Publishers) for the last 8-years. He was also author of the first text book in social enterprise management titled ‘Management for Social Enterprise’. Prior to moving into academia Bob spent five years as Head of Sales and Marketing at the Fairtrade social enterprise, Divine Chocolate. Bob is also a member of the organising committees for both the International Social Innovation Research Conference (ISIRC) and also the International Fair trade Symposium. Bob is a member of the Co-operative Retail Group’s Responsible Retailing Advisory Panel (RRAP) and also Chairs Liverpool’s Fairtrade steering Committee. Bob recently chaired and hosted the Fourth International Fair trade Symposium 2012. Bob has also provided evidence for a House of Commons International Development Select Committee for Fairtrade and Development. Bob brings a wealth of experience to this workshop, especially his experience as the journal editor of 'Social Enterprise', experience of working in cross-sectoral partnerships and his research experience in Africa. Participants in the workshop will be encouraged to submit their work to the Social Enterprise Journal.
Professor Abby Ghobadian (University of Reading) is a very experienced academic with extensive experience of mentoring early career researchers, including acting as Director of Research at Middlesex University Business School. Abby is vice-president of the British Academy of Management (BAM) and chairs its research and development committee and its publication sub-committee. He serves on the Chartered Management Institute’s academic advisory council, the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills’ business school task force, and
the Association of Business Schools’ (ABS) research committee. Previously he served on the ABS’s executive committee and chaired its research committee. Abby is a member of the Economic and Social Research Council peer review college. Abby is the co-editor of the Journal of Strategy and Management. He serves on the editorial board of journals in the UK, USA and Hungary. Abby has over 3500 citations in Google Scholar, and has published more than 100 refereed articles in major journals, 7 research monographs, 2 edited books, and 50 book chapters. He has also published in mass circulation press such as FT. Abby has attracted
significant amount of research funding from a wide range organisations. He is an experienced PhD supervisor and has successfully supervised 20 doctoral students to completion. He brings this wealth of experience and knowledge to the workshop to support and mentor the early career researchers.
the Association of Business Schools’ (ABS) research committee. Previously he served on the ABS’s executive committee and chaired its research committee. Abby is a member of the Economic and Social Research Council peer review college. Abby is the co-editor of the Journal of Strategy and Management. He serves on the editorial board of journals in the UK, USA and Hungary. Abby has over 3500 citations in Google Scholar, and has published more than 100 refereed articles in major journals, 7 research monographs, 2 edited books, and 50 book chapters. He has also published in mass circulation press such as FT. Abby has attracted
significant amount of research funding from a wide range organisations. He is an experienced PhD supervisor and has successfully supervised 20 doctoral students to completion. He brings this wealth of experience and knowledge to the workshop to support and mentor the early career researchers.
Professor Ralph Hamann (University of Cape Town) PhD (University of East Anglia, UK); MSc (UCT, South Africa); BSc (Hons) (UCT, South Africa). In addition to his role as Research Director at UCT Ralph teaches sustainable enterprise and research methodology, especially in the school’s MBA and EMBA programs. He is also an Extraordinary Associate Professor at the School of Public Management and Planning, University of Stellenbosch, and he occasionally teaches for various others, including Stanford and Rotterdam School of Management. He is the founding Director of FutureMeasure, a company that provides a web-based sustainability performance management system (developed initially for Woolworths); a co-founder of the Southern Africa Food Lab, a multi-stakeholder initiative in support of food security; and a Director of the Cape Town Partnership, known for its contributions to urban development strategies and initiatives. Ralph has over 70 listed publications and 850+ citations in Google Scholar. He has published widely including Development Southern Africa, Natural Resources Forum, Development, Journal of World Business, Journal of Corporate Citizenship and Journal Business Ethics. He also edits the upcoming book from Springer on the Business of Social and Environmental Innovation. Ralph brings not only his experience as Research Director mentoring staff and students at UCT, but also his extensive experience of working in multi-stakeholder partnerships in Africa and his subject expertise in the area of social and environmental innovation.
Prof Boris Urban (University of Witwatersrand) brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to the workshop. He has more than 30 years academic and professional experience in business, where he has practiced, taught and researched strategy, organisational behaviour and entrepreneurship. His research juxtaposes business and social issues from an entrepreneurship capital agency perspective. Boris has more than 50 peer reviewed publications in scholarly journals, including high-impact ISI and FT Top 40 ranked journals. He is the book series editor and author of ‘Perspectives in Entrepreneurship: a Research Companion’ published by Pearson Publishers and Springer Books internationally. He is co-author of ‘Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice’ published by Oxford University Press, which is prescribed as a standard text at several universities. Boris is a National Research Foundation rated researcher, serving on many editorial boards, including the Journal of Social Entrepreneurship (Oxford), Journal of Small Business Management (US), Journal of Social Business (UK) and numerous local journals. He has participated in many panels, notably the MIT Global Start-up conference and the International Council of Small Business. Boris leads the entrepreneurship research agenda at the WBS, where his research themes guide the Centre for Entrepreneurship (Cfe), serves as a platform for research fellows and Masters and PhD students, and provides access to international networks.
Invited Experts
Professor Ans Kolk (University of Amsterdam Business School) has a long-standing expertise in corporate social responsibility and sustainability, especially in relation to international business firms and their interaction with stakeholders and society. Specific topics have included poverty and development; bottom of the pyramid and subsistence markets; partnerships; stakeholders and governance; codes of conduct and non-financial reporting; climate change and energy. She has published numerous articles in a range of international journals (e.g. Journal of International Business Studies, Journal of Management Studies, California Management Review, Academy of Management Perspectives, Journal of Product Innovation Management, Research Policy, International Marketing Review, Journal of World Business, British Journal of Management, World Development) as well as book chapters and books, with more than 6600 citations in google scholar. Ans is a recipient of the Aspen Institute Faculty Pioneer European Award (Lifetime Achievement Award), which recognises exceptional faculty who are leaders in integrating environmental and social issues into their research and teaching both on- and off-campus. She has been Research Director and Chair of the international strategy & marketing Department at her university, and has participated in many projects and interactions with private, public and societal organisations. Ans serves as editorial board member for major journals in her field, has (co-)edited several special issues, and is a regular reviewer for international journals. For more information and overview of publications, visit her web page here http://www.anskolk.nl
Professor Jo Crotty (University of Salford) is an expert in Corporate Social Responsability and Corporate Citizenship in the transition economies of the Former Soviet Union and China. She has taught courses on CSR and Environmental Economics at both undergraduate and postgraduate level and has taught extensively on executive programmes across the UK. Jo began travelling to the former Soviet Union 20 years ago when she worked for PriceWaterhouseCoopers. She then completed her Ph.D. employing a stakeholder approach to examine influences on corporate greening within Russian manufacturing enterprises. Since then she has won over half a million Euro to research the interaction of state, society and business in the Russian Federation at it relates to CSR, corporate greening and civil society. She has also completed research projects looking at the greening of supply chains in China and the EU. She is particularly interested in the issue of ‘context’ as it relates both to CSR and civil society development and has published widely in international journals including Organization Studies, Business and Society and Non-profit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly.