Social innovation in research and practice

This year has been transformative. It’s truly been a time of positive change in finalizing my PhD study on nonprofit innovation, sharing the study’s findings at seminars and conferences across the globe, having two more studies published, and gaining new practitioner roles where I’ve been able to directly apply my research insights. In addition to my ongoing position as Charley’s Chocolate Advisory Board Member, in early 2024, I became a Queensland University of Technology (QUT) Industry Fellow and, md-year, joined both the Journal of Nonprofit Innovation as an Editorial Board Member and AusCam Freedom Project as Chair.

Inspired by my own longtime board and executive background helping nonprofits and for-profits to scale, I had embarked on my PhD study to learn if innovation could help nonprofits resolve their challenges and build organizational and sectoral sustainability. Since boards clearly are responsible for innovation oversight, as part of their organizational direction and performance supervision, I also had been curious whether they could effectively foster innovation in nonprofits. Through my phased study of a systematic literature review, nonprofit director interviews, and a nonprofit director survey, I identified that innovation is different in nonprofits, being characterized by small, incremental steps and connectedness. It is important in nonprofits for financial viability, growth, and social impact. And effective boards use a blend of levers, some which are new to nonprofit innovation research, to foster innovation for growth in nonprofits.

In 2024 (and early view in mid-2023), my interview study, coauthored with Professor Sarah Jane Kelly, Nonprofit Boards in Pursuit of Innovation for Growth: Views From the Frontline, was published in Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly from Sage. We weave together a comprehensive literature review with findings from 26 interviews with nonprofit directors. In this first-in-field conceptual paper, we describe nonprofit innovation for growth and why it matters. And we originally conceptualize that nonprofit boards seem to prioritize particular factorial determinants new to nonprofit-innovation research in their effective pursuit of innovation for growth.

I was thrilled to submit my thesis for external examination and head off to a whirlwind experience in Europe, attending the renowned International Society for Third Sector Research biennial conference in Antwerp. It was wonderful to then experience charming Lyon, traversing its hilly streets, strolling beside its Rhone and Saone rivers, and enjoying the murals dotted throughout this delightful city that dates to the first century B.C..And finally I was pleased to head back to the historic portside city of Antwerp, continue my re-immersion in European politics and cultural life, visit the Magritte museum in Brussels, and wander around the cobblestone streets of Leuven where I saw the gate that marks the city’s origins in the 1200s.

On my return to Australia, I enjoyed participating in the inspiring global Social Entrepreneurship Summit 2024 held in Bulgaria and online. I presented highlights from my PhD study on decoding nonprofit innovation for growth and fostering its effective governance. Featuring 30+ participating social enterprises and welcoming 100+ attendees from 25+ countries, the summit involved a jampacked two-day agenda that incorporated a mix of fascinating topics. We heard from Professor Dimitar Dimitrov, Professor Nikolay Dentchev, Former Bulgarian Social Policy Minister Ivanka Shalapatova PhD, and Professor Sophie Bacq in their inspiring keynote on the current state and outlook of social entrepreneurship. Other expert scholars and practitioners shared insights about nonprofit coopetition context and alliances, Irish social enterprises and entrepreneurship, and the role of bricolage in scaling sustainable social entrepreneurship at the bottom of the pyramid market. Special thanks to my panel colleagues for their interesting discussions about the Indonesian black soldier fly’s sociopreneurial potential and the connection of impact ambition and impact achievement in social enterprises.

Then in late 2024, it was an honour to meet second year public policy PhD students from The University of Texas at Austin The LBJ School of Public Affairs and present my guest lecture. It was such a diverse and engaged group and I thoroughly enjoyed sharing my research journey and insights from my PhD study on the governance of nonprofit innovation. I particularly appreciated the fabulous questions on what collaboration in nonprofit innovation looks like, tips on approaching a literature review, and how to undertake and be relevant with multidisciplinary research.

I was thrilled, too, to see the publishing of my latest article coauthored with Professor Sarah Jane Kelly, Unlocking Nonprofit Innovation for Growth: Director Insights from Australia. Published by Journal of Nonprofit & Public Sector Marketing, it reports findings on the governance of nonprofit innovation from a survey of directors from predominantly Anglo-Saxon, especially Australian, nonprofits. The research has important implications for scholarship and practice, particularly for nonprofit directors, marketing leaders, and policymakers.

And it was a delight to lead the Annual General Meeting of AusCam Freedom Project, the Australian anti-trafficking nonprofit I chair that helps keep girls safe from exploitation in Cambodia.

Finally, I capped off the year by successfully completing the oral ‘defence’ of my PhD and passing with no changes requested! I appreciated the external examiners who are global leaders in nonprofit innovation research and generously shared their scholarly and practice-based wisdom, as well as my fabulous advisors, helpful readers, and panel chair.