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 Cassandra Chapman
Principal Research Fellow, ARC Fund
c.chapman@business.uq.edu.au
Associate Professor Jay Weerawardena
Associate Professor
j.weerawardena@business.uq.edu.au
Co-Leads
Associate 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 – 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