Social Impact Hub: Non-profits and Social Enterprises

The Social Impact Hub is a community of UQ Business School researchers whose work relates to social impact organisations (i.e., nonprofits and social enterprises) and socially-conscious business practices. Led by Associate Professor Cassandra Chapman and Associate Professor Jay Weerawardena, the hub brings together over 40 academics and PhD students to:

  • facilitate mentorship, collaboration, and research dissemination,
  • advance our practical and theoretical understanding of social impact practices,
  • and increase the impact of social impact research.

Contact the Social Impact Hub

If you would like more information or to explore opportunities with the Social Impact Hub please contact:

Associate Professor Casandra Chapman headshot

 

Associate Professor Cassandra Chapman 
Principal Research Fellow, ARC Fund
c.chapman@business.uq.edu.au

 

Associate Professor Jay Weerawardena headshot

 

Associate Professor Jay Weerawardena
Associate Professor 
j.weerawardena@business.uq.edu.au

 

Engage with us 

Co-Leads

Associate Professor Casandra Chapman headshotAssociate Professor Cassandra Chapman – Charitable giving, donor psychology and fundraising, trust in non-profits, and public responses to charity scandals, mixed methods

 

 

 

Associate Professor Jay Weerawardena headshotAssociate Professor Jay Weerawardena – Social innovation-based value creation in social purpose organisations (SPOs), social entrepreneurship, business model innovation in SPOs, building resilient non-profit brands, managing dual-value creation in social enterprises and hybrid SPOs

 

Key Researchers

Dr Andre Pekerti – acculturation, human factors, n-Culturals, servant leadership, social justice, trustworthiness and well-being

Dr Ann Wallin – Founding donor decisions (foundations/trusts), decision-making & social marketing in social impact space, quantitative, choice modelling

Dr Anne-Maree O'Rourke – Brand purpose, diversity, equity and inclusion in marketing

Dr Cassandra France – Social brand purpose, non-profit brand vulnerability, volunteer engagement

Dr Faith Ong – Social inclusion of events and tourism, volunteering in events, qualitative

Dr Felix Septianto – Corporate social responsibility, non-profit marketing, charitable giving, volunteering, diversity and inclusion

Dr Jie Wang – Tourism risk management, organisational disaster resilience, travel accessibility for people with disability, inclusive travel, algorithmic management in tourism and hospitality

Dr Josephine Previte – Social marketing, transformative service research (TSR), non-profit branding, social inclusion, intersectional evaluation

Associate Professor Judith Mair – Events & festivals, sustainability, social capital, social justice, social inclusion, sense of community 

Dr Kate Power – Discourse analysis, creative industries, gender, religion 

Professor Kathleen Herbohn – Corporate social responsibility, climate change and tax transparency, financial accounting

Dr Kim Weinert – Charity law, charity governance, not-for-profit legal structures, and comparative charity law

Professor Lisa Ruhanen – Indigenous tourism, sustainable tourism and policy, planning and governance

Dr Marten Risius – Social media, online extremism, content moderation, hate speech, privacy protection

Professor Martie-Louise Verreynne – Social innovation and entrepreneurship, public good innovation, mission-oriented knowledge co-creation

Dr Monica Chien – Sponsorship, cause-related marketing, prosocial behaviour, corporate social responsibility, social sustainability, social impact measures

Dr Mucha Mkono – Sustainable tourism, wildlife tourism, animal ethics, trophy hunting, air travel, cyberactivism, African destinations

Associate Professor Nicole Hartley – Services marketing, service technology and communication health, retail, tourism and not-for-profit

Professor Peter Popkowski-Lesczcyc – (Internet) auctions, charitable giving, consumer shopping behaviour and store choice behaviour, sustainable purchases and robotics

Associate Professor Ravi Pappu – Non-profit sponsorships, social partnerships, charitable giving

Associate Professor Raymond Rastegar – Justice, sustainability transition, climate change, sustainable tourism, recognition

Dr Richard Robinson – tourism/hospitality/services, employment, workforce, disadvantaged/marginalised groups, advocacy

Dr Samantha Cooms – Decolonising disability, diversity, inclusion, & sustainability, mental health

Dr Sharlene Leroy-Dyer – Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander disadvantage in education and employment; social impact of unions

Dr Terry Fitzsimmons – Women on boards, workplace gender equity strategy, national gender equity strategy, intersectionality and leadership, gender role stereotypes

Dr Xin Yu – Corporate philanthropy, corporate social responsibility (CSR), environment, social, and governance (ESG), sustainable investment, sustainability

Research Fellows

Mr Tyler Riordan – Non-profit, work & workforces, disenfranchised communities, corporate social responsibility, disruption

PhD Candidates 

Aakash Thottam – Exploring the Role of Different Motivations in Donor Decision-Making: Implications for Competitive Fundraising in the Charity Sector

Guanrong Liu – Service experience co-creation in human-robot interaction: An exploratory study based on psychophysiological measures

Kevin Blasiak – Social Bots for Peace: How moderator bots prevent online radicalization

Lakma Algewatthage – Examining the Role of Proactive Marketing Analytics in Innovation Based Competitive Advantage: Big Data Context 

Rose Ahearn – The Social Impact of Social Impact Evaluation: A Meta-Evaluation 

Sarah Rank – An empirical analysis of the practice of grant making through Private Philanthropic Foundations

Tyler Riordan – Mediated hospitality: how migrant workers navigate interactions in and beyond the platform economy

Yufan Liu – Destination Images and Place Identity: Understanding and Addressing Young Tourists' Risk-Taking Behaviour

Our Research

Collectively, Social Impact Hub researchers have particular expertise related to diverse forms of social impact, especially charities and nonprofits, social enterprises and social entrepreneurship, and socially-conscious business practices.

Charities and nonprofits

Social Impact Hub members research a broad range of topics relevant to the work of charities and nonprofits, both in Australia and around the world. Areas of expertise in this area include:

  • Nonprofit marketing
  • Fundraising
  • Nonprofit programs and evaluation
  • Nonprofit innovation
  • Voluntourism
  • Nonprofit branding

Social enterprises and social entrepreneurship

Social Impact Hub members research hybrid organisations and emerging business models that advance a dual focus on both financial and social profits. Researchers in the group are experts in:

  • Business models and dual value creation in social purpose organisations
  • Social entrepreneurship
  • Social partnerships

Socially-conscious business practices

Researchers in the Social Impact Hub also focus on a wide range of socially-conscious practices that may be embedded into the work of commercial organisations. These include:

  • Diversity and inclusion
  • Cause-related marketing
  • Social purpose branding
  • Social impact measurement
  • Corporate social responsibility
  • Social marketing
  • Employee wellbeing