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Simulating The Cause: How Grassroots Organizations Advance Their Credibility Through The Dramaturgical Curation Of Events, Theodore A. Khoury, Yuliya Shymko, Jacob Vermeire

Business Faculty Publications and Presentations

To survive, nascent grassroots organizations—and their respective causes—must earn the trust of various audiences that can impact credibility advancement. However, it can be quite difficult for grassroots organizations to access suitable settings, times, and collocated audiences. One context that can yield this type of access is an event, as it constitutes a rare opportunity for organizations to engage in practices that impact credibility advancement. We investigate how a volunteer-based grassroots organization orchestrates a high-profile event at the United Nations to promote African diaspora entrepreneurs as a valuable force in the mitigation of development challenges in their home countries. We employ …