2025 ARNOVA Conference Award Winners
ARNOVA is excited to announce the winners for the 2025 ARNOVA Conference Awards. You can find the winners' information below as well as a citation for each award.
Congratulations to all the winners!
Ram Cnaan
University of Pennsylvania
Biography
Dr. Ram A. Cnaan is Professor of Social Welfare and Director of the Program for Religion and Social Policy Research at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Social Policy & Practice. He is the founding faculty director of the Goldring Reentry Initiative, which works to reduce recidivism, and he currently chairs the Doctorate in Nonprofit Administration (DNPA), the first practice doctorate of its kind in the field and a major innovation in nonprofit education. In addition, he serves as Global Eminent Scholar at Kyung Hee University’s Graduate Institute of Peace in South Korea.
Dr. Cnaan earned his B.S.W. and M.S.W. from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and his Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh School of Social Work. A prolific scholar, he has published extensively on a wide range of social issues, serves on the editorial boards of ten academic journals, and is the author or editor of ten books.
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Award Citation
ARNOVA is pleased to present the 2025 award for Distinguished Achievement and Leadership in Nonprofit and Voluntary Action Research to Ram Cnaan.
Dr. Cnaan is a Professor in the School of Social Policy and Practice at the University of Pennsylvania and a Global Eminent Scholar at Kyung Hee University in South Korea. He is a prolific scholar, with more than 260 journal articles and book chapters and nine books.
In his research, Dr. Cnaan has deepened our understanding of nonprofit activities, with a special focus on volunteerism and the activities of faith-based institutions. As two experts put it in their nomination letter, “Dr. Cnaan’s work not only introduced methodological innovations but also redefined congregations as vital civic institutions and cultural anchors.” For example, one important study highlights the role of urban congregations in local economies through their employment of staff, use of volunteers, purchases of local goods and services, and their attraction of visitors who then spend their own money locally. Dr. Cnaan and colleagues conducted the first census of congregations in a major U.S. city, Philadelphia, and explored the effectiveness of faith-based service provision, an important policy initiative during the George W. Bush administration. According to colleagues, “Dr. Cnaan’s studies remain foundational sources for researchers and practitioners seeking to understand the scope and scale of congregational involvement in social services. Together, the studies reshaped nonprofit practice and informed policy considerations about the role of religious institutions in local safety nets.”
With regard to his leadership role, Dr. Cnaan has been active in ARNOVA for quite some time, including as a long-time mentor of younger scholars. As one long-time ARNOVA colleague put it, “Ram is simply a very nice guy who makes everyone comfortable and who feels it is his responsibility to be present and available for younger scholars.” He is also, of course, a friend to many senior scholars as well, with a big heart and a great sense of humor.
Within ARNOVA, Dr. Cnaan was a founder of the Community and Grassroots Associations section, served as section chair in 2002-2004, and played a critical role in raising the visibility of research on grassroots organizations. Beyond his section activities in ARNOVA, Dr. Cnaan has served as annual conference organizer, a committee member, a board member, and as ARNOVA’s President in 2009-2010. Impressively, he has served on nineteen journal editorial boards and received three “best reviewer” awards.
On another dimension, one of Dr. Cnaan’s nominators observed that “he has an extraordinary record of international collaboration, having co-authored with more than 50 authors from around the world, studying voluntary sector activity in many non-American settings. This contribution serves one of ARNOVA’s primary missions of supporting a truly global community of voluntary sector scholars and of helping scholars to apply concepts like ‘volunteerism’ correctly in their appropriate cultural contexts.”
The same ARNOVA colleague remarked that in his research, “Dr. Cnaan puts the subjects of observation in the driver’s seat – for example, by building an often-cited definition of ‘volunteering’ from interviews of volunteers themselves. This effort represents an ethic of respect for those we study and honesty about where our ideas are generated.” Recognizing Dr. Canaan, whose degrees are in social work, reminds us that a strength of ARNOVA is its diversity and inclusiveness, not only in terms of race, ethnicity, and gender but also with regard to academic discipline. Like our country, ARNOVA could certainly improve on all dimensions, but, through the efforts of Dr. Cnaan and many others, we are trying to do better.
"Racial Disparities in Nonprofit Funding: Bringing BIPOC Nonprofits into Focus"
Shuyi Deng, Indiana University
Biography
Shuyi Deng is an Assistant Professor at O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Indiana University Bloomington. Her research focuses on the racial dynamics in the nonprofit sector and the distributional consequences of nonprofits and philanthropy along racial lines. She is particularly interested in applying critical perspectives and quantitative methods to examine nonprofit management and policy for BIPOC nonprofits. Shuyi received her doctoral degree in Public Affairs from the University of Minnesota.
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Award Citation
This year's dissertation award nominees were exceptionally competitive, making it challenging to select just one due to the high quality of the submissions. The distinctions among the finalists were notably subtle, and the decision was tough. The committee evaluated the dissertations based on criteria including: i) Quality of the scholarly work, ii) Contribution to discipline, iii) Quality of writing, iv) Imagination and originality of thought, and v) Ability to draw reasoned conclusions from a body of knowledge.
Racial Disparities in Nonprofit Funding: Bringing BIPOC Nonprofits into Focus
Shuyi Deng, PhD
This dissertation stands out for its originality, methodological rigor, and deep commitment to advancing racial equity in the nonprofit sector. It sheds light on critical issues facing BIPOC nonprofits and challenges us to rethink long-held assumptions in funding practices. The dissertation addresses the widely neglected topic of differences in the funding of nonprofits with race-conscious mission and those with race-neutral mission. In its theoretical parts, the dissertation builds on the foundational theories of the nonprofit sector to analyze possible reasons for such disparity. This is the first comprehensive and systematic theoretical analysis of why such racial disparities in funding exist. This analysis will provide a solid basis for future theoretical and empirical work on racial disparities in the nonprofit sector and greatly contributes to the advancement of theory, conceptualization, research and practice related to nonprofit organizations and voluntary action.
Most notably, the dissertation does not only provide sound theoretical analysis but also quantitative empirical evidence on racial disparities in the funding of nonprofits. As an important step for enabling quantitative empirical analysis, the dissertation clarifies the theoretical concept of nonprofit with race-conscious mission and it provides a useful approach for measuring this concept, including its differentiation into the subcategories of nonprofits serving different racial groups. Most importantly, it provides valuable empirical evidence not only for disparities between organizations with race conscious mission and those with race neutral mission, but also for disparities within the analyzed sample of organizations with race conscious mission. In particular, clear evidence is provided for funding disparities between nonprofits serving Asian and Latinx, as well as nonprofits serving Black and Latinx groups.
This dissertation bridges theory and practice, offering both theoretical insights and practical implications. It generates knowledge that will enrich scholarly debates, guide policy makers, and inform organizational leaders in their decision-making. The work is both timely and impactful and is truly deserving of this year’s dissertation award.
The Muslim Social: Neoliberalism, Charity, and Poverty in Turkey
Gizem Zencirci, Providence College
Biography
Gizem Zencirci, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Providence College where she also directs the Middle East Studies program. In 2024, she was a research fellow at the InHerit-Heritage in Transformation Käte Hamburger Research Center, Humboldt University. She received her PhD in Political Science from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst (2013). Her research interests include neoliberalism, Islamic charity, civil society, welfare policy and civilizational politics. Her first book, titled The Muslim Social: Neoliberalism, Charity, and Poverty in Turkey was published by Syracuse University Press (2024).
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Award Citation
The Muslim Social: Neoliberalism, Charity, and Poverty in Turkey by Gizem Zencirci is an outstanding ethnographic achievement and incisive contribution to the study of the intersections between neoliberalism, faith, and charity. The depth and quality of the research are excellent, and the book combines the topics in a way that is both original and illuminating. While grounded in the Turkish context, the analysis offers important broader lessons for understanding global dynamics of how (not) to respond to the challenges of poverty and humanitarian emergencies.
Intersectional Advocacy: Redrawing Policy Boundaries Around Gender, Race, and Class
Margaret Perez Brower, University of Washington
Biography
Margaret Perez Brower is an assistant professor in political science at the University of Washington with an affiliation in both the Gender, Women and Sexuality Studies and Law and Social Justice departments. Her book is based on her dissertation she wrote at the University of Chicago that won the Harold D. Lasswell Award for Best Dissertation in Public Policy from the Association of Political Science. She has over a decade of direct experience working with nonprofit advocacy organizations and sitting on advisory boards. She also leads a class/ training that guides leaders in applying the practices she discusses in her book Intersectional Advocacy. She has led this training several times with leaders in Chicago as part of a class with the Civic Leadership Academy at the University of Chicago. In Seattle, she has cultivated partnerships with over ten nonprofit organizations that she frequently brings directly into her classroom as guest speakers and through collaborative projects. She currently is the President of the South Renton Connection, a community-based organization in Washington.
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Award Citation
Intersectional Advocacy: Redrawing Policy Boundaries Around Gender, Race, and Class by Margaret Perez Brower is recognized for its rigorous and original contributions at a moment of critical urgency surrounding gender, race and class. The book is both theoretically rich and policy-relevant, introducing a new theory of intersectional advocacy with clear contributions to nonprofit studies and political advocacy alike. The argumentation is persuasive, and the narrative both engaging and deeply analytical. By illuminating the intersectionality of problems and potential solutions, Brower advances scholarship while issuing an important call to action for more inclusive, equitable, and effective policy.
“Philanthropic Redlining: Examining How Structural Racism Shapes Foundation Giving”
Brad Fulton, Indiana University
Biography
Brad R. Fulton is an associate professor of management, data science, and philanthropy at Indiana University. His research draws on organizational theory and network analysis to examine the social, political, and economic impact of private foundations and community-based organizations. Fulton directs The Philanthropy Lab, which is analyzing IRS Form 990 data on 250,000 foundations, 1 million nonprofits, and 10 million grants to construct a foundation-grantee network of the entire U.S. nonprofit sector. This first-of-its-kind, longitudinal network dataset spanning the past 10 years is helping researchers, practitioners, and policymakers track the sources and distribution of philanthropic funding and assess its impact. Fulton’s collaborators include the Federal Reserve Bank and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. He has also served as a fellow with the Aspen Institute, an academic research partner for GivingTuesday, and an academic ambassador for Tableau.
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Award Citation
The RGK ARNOVA President’s Award Committee is very pleased to select “Philanthropic Redlining: Examining How Structural Racism Shapes Foundation Giving” as the 2025 award winner. The proposal was submitted by Brad Fulton.
This project aims to reveal racial disparities within the distribution of charitable resources helping researchers, practitioners, and policymakers better understand how structural racism shapes philanthropic funding, creates philanthropy deserts, and constrains community flourishing. In making its decision, the committee noted the innovation in the research design, which pairs grant distribution data with U.S. Census data on racial composition and community conditions. By systematically identifying power and resource imbalances in philanthropy, Fulton will shed light on inequitable grantmaking that perpetuates community disparities, particularly racial and geographic inequities. Offering concrete, evidence-based strategies to identify biased philanthropic patterns can foster equitable opportunities for communities to thrive.
“Contextualization Approach: Reframing Nonprofit and Philanthropy Research with Insights from Asia”
Tamaki Onishi, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Bok Gyo Jeong, Kean University
Seongho An, University of Central Florida
Dana R.H. Doan, Indiana University
Dipendra K.C., Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University
Biographies
Tamaki Onishi
Tamaki is an associate professor of political science at University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Her main research areas include social investment and entrepreneurship, philanthropy, and fundraising through comparative perspectives. She co-founded the Advancing Research on Civil Society and Philanthropy in Asia (ARCSPA) as an ARNOVA’s common interest group with Chao Guo, Helen Liu, and the late Naoto Yamauchi as well as 13 other founding members specialized in Central, East, South, Southeast, or West Asia nonprofit research. Tamaki currently serves on the ARNOVA board.
Bok Gyo Jeong
Dr. Bok Gyo Jeong is an Associate Professor of Public Administration at Kean University in New Jersey, United States, and a former Research Fellow at the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development. His research focuses on comparative civil society, international development, collaborations between international organizations and civil society, and social entrepreneurship. He serves on the board of ARNOVA, is the current President of the Korean Nonprofit and Philanthropy Researchers Network (KNPRN), and represents the Global Civil Society Group. Dr. Jeong is also Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Nonprofit Education and Leadership.
Seongho An
Assistant Professor in the School of Public Administration at the University of Central Florida, where he teaches the Master of Nonprofit Management program. His research is to examine the role of nonprofit organizations in communication and coordination between the government and the citizens in the events of policy advocacy, disaster response, and social movement.
Dana R.H. Doan
Dr. Doan is the Director of the Global Philanthropy Indices at Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy and a 2025-2026 Global Philanthropy Fellow, supported by the Giving USA Foundation. Before completing her Ph.D. with the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, Dana worked with social purpose organizations in the U.S.A., Southeast Asia, and Latin America as a founder, researcher, advisor, and trainer. Dana’s research interests include global philanthropy, community philanthropy, community-led development, and the evaluation of nonprofit performance and effectiveness. Dana is a member and volunteer with the International Society for Third Sector Research (ISTR), the Association for Research on Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Organizations (ARNOVA), and the global #ShiftThePower and #MeasuringWhatMatters movements.
Dipendra K.C.
Dipendra is an Associate Professor at Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University in Japan, where he teaches civil society and development. His research focuses on evolution, and governance of NGOs in Nepal and Thailand. Dipendra has served on the International Society for Third Sector Research (ISTR) board.
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Award Citation
The committee is pleased to present the 2025 UMD Do Good Institute & ARNOVA Global Philanthropy and Nonprofit Leadership Award to Dr. Tamaki Onishi and her colleagues for their project, “Contextualization Approach: Reframing Nonprofit and Philanthropy Research with Insights from Asia.”
This project introduces “contextualization” as a systematic approach to reshape comparative nonprofit research. The committee applauds the project’s ambitious scope and collaborative nature, engaging a multilingual team of scholars from many Asian countries and regions. Methodologically, we are impressed by the innovative research design that analyzes local-language scholarship to uncover distinct research topics and theories and develops a grounded typology of local nonprofit concepts in Asia. By centering local knowledge and challenging dominant Western-based scholarly paradigms, this research project promises to make a significant contribution to developing more inclusive and globally relevant theories of civil society.
“Beyond Stakeholder Management: Organizational Listening for Nonprofit Stakeholder Engagement”
Jiawei Sophia Fu, Rutgers University
Katherine R. Cooper, DePaul University
DaJung Woo, Rutgers University
Melanie Kwestel, Rutgers University
Biographies
Jiawei Sophia Fu
Jiawei Sophia Fu (Ph.D., Northwestern University) is an associate professor of communication at the Rutgers University. Fu’s research advances theoretical understandings of hybrid organizing—specifically, how organizational and social actors navigate and integrate multiple, often competing elements such as goals, identities, media platforms, stakeholders, and institutional logics in their communication practices. Fu’s research has been recognized across multiple disciplines and academic associations, including the International Communication Association, National Communication Association, Academy of Management, and Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action.
Katherine R. Cooper
Katherine R. Cooper (Ph.D., University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign) is an associate professor in the College of Communication at DePaul University. Her main research interests include nonprofit organizations, interorganizational collaboration, and organization-community coordination in response to social challenges. Kate is the co-author of the books Networks for Social Impact (2022) and The Power of Hybridity (forthcoming). Her research has appeared in leading journals focused on communication (Communication Research, Communication Monographs, Journal of Communication), business and management (Business & Society, Journal of Business Ethics), and nonprofits (Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, Nonprofit Management and Leadership).
DaJung Woo
DaJung (“DJ”) Woo (Ph.D., University of California, Santa Barbara) is an Associate Professor of Communication at Rutgers University. She studies employee socialization, interprofessional and interorganizational collaboration, and stakeholder engagement. Drawing on qualitative approaches, her research examines how communication practices enable or hinder collaboration and meaningful engagement in/around organizations. Her scholarship has received awards from the National Communication Association, International Communication Association, and Academy of Management.
Melanie Kwestel
Melanie Kwestel received her doctorate in organizational communication from Rutgers University School of Communication and Information. Her research investigates collaboration among community organizations to impact public policy and the impact that misinformation and disinformation has on the organizational processes.
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Award Citation
The article makes significant intellectual contributions by offering a conceptually rich
reinterpretation of commitment and quality relationships through the lens of “organizational
listening.” Rather than treating listening as merely an individual trait or value, the authors
position it as a matter of organizational capacity, emphasizing that it requires intentional
investment from leaders and funders alike. This framing provides a fresh perspective on
longstanding questions of stakeholder engagement, extending its relevance across both scholarly
debates and practical applications in the field. Importantly, the text is written with clarity and
accessibility, making its insights engaging and valuable even to readers with different
methodological or theoretical orientations.
Erica Harris, Florida International University
Biography
Erica E. Harris, PhD, CPA is an Associate Professor of accounting at Florida International University’s School of Accounting. She received her PhD from Temple University, MBA from the University of Miami, and BS from the University of Florida. Her research interests include nonprofit accounting and governance, with a specific focus on donor behaviors. She has published over 35 works in leading accounting and nonprofit journals and serves on multiple editorial boards. Erica was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to study Irish nonprofit organizations, is an active member of the American Accounting Association Government and Nonprofit Section, and provides pro-bono nonprofit accounting consulting services to the community through her organization: Accounting Angels.
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Award Citation
We are happy to express our sincere appreciation to all NVSQ reviewers. The reputation of the
journal reflects the time, attention, and expertise of our reviewers. As we continue to receive
expressions of gratitude from authors about the thoughtfulness, care, and value of our review
process, we thank all of you who have volunteered your time to provide reviews for NVSQ and
contribute to advancing the nonprofit and voluntary scholarship.
Any individual submitting a review between January 1st and December 31st, 2024 to NVSQ is
automatically a candidate for the NVSQ Best Reviewer Award. Our main criteria are: the quality
and quantity; the timeliness; and the constructiveness. While being rigorous, the best reviewers
are developmental in their approach and carefully review revisions to meet the high-quality
standards of NVSQ.
This year, we are pleased to present the Award to Dr. Erica Harris, an Associate Professor at
Florida International University’s School of Accounting.
Dr. Erica Harris brings her distinct expertise and practical experience as a CPA to offer
thoughtful and detailed reviews. Dr. Harris excels in each of our criteria. In addition to
conducting a substantial number of reviews in a timely manner, Dr. Harris takes a developmental
approach and thoroughly reviews even several revisions. Throughout the review process, she
offers detailed constructive comments, and she is always willing to help authors improve.
Congratulations, Dr. Erica Harris, on this well-deserved award and thank you for your support
and contributions to ensure NVSQ publishes high-quality and high-impact research.
“Funding the Mission by Funding the Back Office: Causal Evidence from the Paycheck Protection Program”
Minji Hong, Georgia State University
Biography
Minji Hong is a Ph.D. candidate at Georgia State University. She studies how nonprofit organizations and local governments navigate institutional and fiscal constraints to strengthen financial sustainability and effective service delivery. Her work has been published in Public Choice, Public Performance & Management Review, and Publius: The Journal of Federalism.
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Award Citation
This paper was chosen for the ARNOVA Best Conference Paper Award because it exemplifies both theoretical innovation and methodological excellence. It tackles an important and underexplored issue regarding how unrestricted or overhead funding can lead to positive spillover effects on mission-related activities. The authors ground their analysis in conditional grant theory and use the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) as a natural experiment to assess whether funding allocated specifically for administrative costs, such as payroll, can indirectly enhance an organization’s mission delivery. Their findings challenge the "overhead myth" by providing strong empirical evidence that supporting operational functions can improve nonprofit performance. What further sets this paper apart is its use of advanced causal inference methods, including doubly robust difference-in-differences and synthetic control techniques. These sophisticated approaches are rarely applied in nonprofit research and significantly strengthen the credibility of the results. Overall, the paper was selected for its clear contribution to advancing both the theory and practice of nonprofit management, offering timely insights backed by rigorous analysis.
The winners of the Best Poster Award will be selected and announced at the 2025 ARNOVA conference in Indianapolis.
"Essays on the Social Impact of Philanthropic Grant-Making"
Jung Ho Choi, University of Pennsylvania
Biography
Jung Ho Choi is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Pennsylvania's School of Social Policy and Practice (SP2). His research examines the ways that government and philanthropic grants shape social impact. He draws on organizational theory and employs both traditional quantitative methods and computational social science, including large language models. Before joining SP2, he earned bachelor's and master's degrees in Public Administration from Korea University in Seoul, South Korea, and a Master of Public Policy from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. His work has been published in VOLUNTAS and other peer-reviewed journals.
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Award Citation
Jung Ho Choi’s dissertation proposal, “Essays on the Social Impact of Philanthropic Grant-Making,” embodies the spirit of Dr. Salamon’s legacy—rigorous, policy-relevant research that advances our understanding of how the nonprofit sector shape social outcomes. Choi’s work addresses a critical and timely question: how do philanthropic grantmaking organizations mobilize and distribute resources to generate meaningful social impact? Choi examines the dynamics between philanthropic grantmaking organizations, nonprofit performance, and the mechanisms through which grantmaking decisions translate into social outcomes.
Choi’s dissertation is positioned to make theoretical and practical contributions. Theoretically, it advances organizational theories by applying them in novel ways to the context of philanthropic grantmaking. Empirically, it employs a rich combination of longitudinal data analysis, machine learning-based text analysis, and a survey experiment. Practically, it offers nonprofit leaders and funders evidence-based insights into how their decisions shape the social value they create.
In the dissertation’s first essay, Choi investigates how the structures of philanthropic grant distribution relate to community-level poverty employing a novel county-level panel dataset to shift from individual nonprofits to the collective nonprofit environment and demonstrating how resource distribution patterns influence broader social capacity to alleviate poverty. The second paper explores the conditions under which corporate foundations support progressive
social movement organizations showing that industry peer pressures may override individual ideological preferences of CEOs. The third paper uses experimental methods to examine how community foundations can mobilize public support through practices of passive and active representation influence donor willingness across generational cohorts.
Choi’s dissertation advances organizational theories by applying them in novel ways to the context of philanthropic grantmaking, employs an empirically rich combination of longitudinal data analysis, machine learning-based text analysis, and a survey experiment, and offers nonprofit leaders and funders evidence-based insights into how their decisions shape the social value they create.
In line with Lester Salamon’s legacy, Jung Ho Choi’s dissertation is poised to making a lasting impact on nonprofit scholarship. It is conceptually ambitious, empirically rigorous, and socially relevant.
“Does mission concreteness make a difference in nonprofit performance? Automated text analysis approach to the importance of concrete mission statements”
Young Min Baek, Yonsei University
Jennifer Ihm, Kwangwoon University
Chul Hee Kang, Yonsei University
Biographies
Young Min Baek
Young Min Baek is Professor in the Department of Communication at Yonsei University. He received his Ph.D. in Communication from the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania and previously served as Assistant Professor at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST). His research interests include quantitative research methods, statistical text analysis, political communication, and persuasion, with his work appearing in academic journals. He is the author and translator of numerous scholarly books on data science, research methodology, and media studies. (https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5101-6190; https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=V2xxsI4AAAAJ)
Jennifer Ihm
Jennifer Ihm is an Associate Professor in the College of Media and Communication at Korea University, South Korea. She earned her Ph.D. from the School of Communication at Northwestern University. Her research uniquely examines the dynamics of organization–stakeholder interdependencies and their outcomes. Specifically, she has investigated how online networks evolve into autonomous stakeholder communities and how communicative networks shape stakeholders’ participation in voluntary organizations, both online and offline. By integrating theories of organizational and strategic communication with diverse research methods—including network analysis, text analysis, structural equation modeling, and qualitative inquiry—she explores organization–stakeholder networks in the nonprofit context. (https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=ko&user=8y6_RFUAAAAJ; www.jenniferihm.com; ihmsy17@gmail.com)
Chul Hee Kang
Chulhee Kang is the dean of the School of Public Administration and a professor in the School of Social Welfare at Yonsei University. He earned his Ph.D. from the School of Social Policy & Practice at the University of Pennsylvania. He designed the Community Chest of Korea, which is now the second-largest United Way system in the world. In 2024, he served as Co-convener of ARNOVA-Asia in Seoul, Korea. His research interests include philanthropy, non-profit management, and extraordinary altruism. His work has been published in various academic journals. Currently, he is conducting a multi-year interdisciplinary research project on extraordinary altruists in collaboration with neuro-psychologists.
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Award Citation
The editors and editorial board of Nonprofit Management & Leadership are pleased to announce that the Editors' Prize for the Best Scholarly Paper for Volume 34 is awarded to Young Min Baek, Jennifer Ihm, and Chul Hee Kang for the article “Does mission concreteness make a difference in nonprofit performance? Automated text analysis approach to the importance of concrete mission statements” published in volume 34, issue 2 (Winter 2023). The award is made on behalf of Wiley and Nonprofit Management & Leadership and is sponsored by the School of Public Affairs at American University.
Baek, Y. M., Ihm, J., & Kang, C. H. (2023). Does mission concreteness make a difference in nonprofit performance? Automated text analysis approach to the importance of concrete mission statements. Nonprofit Management and Leadership, 34(2), 409-431.
Elizabeth Searing, University of Texas at Dallas
William A. Brown, Texas A&M University
Biographies
Elizabeth Searing
Dr. Elizabeth Searing is an Associate Professor of Public and Nonprofit Management at the University of Texas at Dallas and the Fellow of the Venise Stuart Professorship in Nonprofit Management and Leadership. Dr. Searing also serves as an Adjunct Research Professor at Carleton University, Canada. Dr. Searing’s primary research focus is the financial management of nonprofit and social enterprise organizations, but she also conducts work on resilience, charity data, and comparative social economy more broadly. She is an Associate Editor and editorial board member of Nonprofit Management & Leadership, and an editorial advisory board member at VOLUNTAS, the Journal of Civil Society, and the Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting and Financial Management (JPBAFM). Immediately prior to her time in Texas, she was an Assistant Professor of Public Administration and Policy at the Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy, University at Albany (SUNY) and the former Director of the Institute of Nonprofit Leadership and Community Development.
William A. Brown
William A. Brown is a professor in the Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University, holds the Mary Julia and George Jordan Professorship and serves as Director of the Center for Nonprofits & Philanthropy. He teaches Nonprofit Management, Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Human Resource Management, and Capstone courses. His research focuses on nonprofit governance, strategy, and organizational effectiveness. He has authored numerous research articles, technical reports, several practice-oriented publications, and books including a textbook on Strategic Management in Nonprofit Organizations published 2014 with Jones & Bartlett.
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Award Citation
In a year marked by substantial challenges, including reorganization and an executive transition without paid staff, the volunteer spirit demonstrated across our entire organization—from the Board and Committees to Task Forces, Section and CIG leaders, and general members—has been a constant source of inspiration for me. No one exemplifies this volunteer spirit more than Elizabeth and Will. As members of the Executive Transition Team, Elizabeth and Will have been leading ARNOVA’s internal operations, managing finances, communications, and member services. They have also been instrumental in implementing our new operating model, including the search for an Association Management Company (AMC) and a part-time Executive Director. Their exceptional service and leadership have been foundational to navigating this transition, making them profoundly deserving of this award.