Nonprofit Studies Commons^™

“I Have A Voice”: Bridging The Communication And Sensemaking Gap Between Restorative Justice Practice And Program Implementation, Stefan Cocorelis

Dissertations

Restorative justice (RJ), a philosophy, practice, and movement inspired by local, largely Indigenous traditions, has increasingly been introduced in modern criminal justice systems as an alternative process to more comprehensively address harmful incidents, heal harms, and meet victim’s needs. While RJ implementation growth is encouraging for its advocates, there remain significant questions around formalized RJ practice. Specifically, little is known about the decision-making process in implementing and administering RJ programming within criminal justice. This dissertation aimed to contribute to the understanding of RJ practice and implementation efforts within criminal justice systems by putting emphasis on practitioners already working directly in …

Burning Out: A Narrative Exploration Of The Adaptive Challenge And Scaffolds Built Toward Sustenance Among Immigrant Rights Activists In San Diego County, Anna C. Runion

Dissertations

Activist burnout has been identified as one of the greatest threats to social movement sustainability, and the lived experience of paid immigrant rights activists remains undertheorized. This narrative inquiry explored activist burnout among 10 San Diego County immigrant rights activists, revealing how this community understands burnout, what factors contribute to its production, and how activists sustain themselves within it. Using Clandinin and Connelly’s (2000) narrative inquiry methodology, the researcher conducted in-depth individual interviews with ten activists representing a range of intersectional identities and roles. Narrative profiles were analyzed through holistic narrative reading, narrative reporting, structural and emergent coding, and cross-narrative …

Constructing Effectiveness: Culture, Legitimacy, And Strategic Planning In Zoos And Aquariums, Robin Keith

Dissertations

Zoos and aquariums are complex organizations operating with multiple mandates—saving species, providing exceptional care to animals, connecting communities with nature, and inspiring environmental action—making “effectiveness” difficult to define. What counts as success depends on who is asked and which goals are foregrounded. This study investigated how stakeholders in Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA)–accredited organizations conceptualize and operationalize effectiveness within strategic planning processes. Prior research on nonprofit and mission-driven organizations has shown effectiveness is multidimensional and often defined differently by various stakeholders. However, little has been known about how these definitions are negotiated through the practice of strategic planning, …

The Crucial Role Of Grassroots Social Organizations In Advancing Immigrant Legal Protections And Reshaping Immigration Policy, Isabella Reynolds

McNair Summer Research Program

This research project examines how grassroots social organizations contribute to the advancement of immigrant legal protections and shape immigration policy, with a particular focus on formerly incarcerated migrants in California. I focus on case studies and the personal experiences of organizers from Homies Unidos, Border Angels, and other organizations that operate near the San Diego–Tijuana border region. The study illustrates how these groups provide essential services, mental health support, and community-based initiatives for vulnerable and formerly incarcerated immigrants. By conducting oral histories and ethnography as methods for preserving emotional labor and shared memory, this research challenges prevailing narratives that criminalize …

Coming Back To Life: Inner Work, Intentional Containers And Feminine Leadership For Social Change — A Phenomenological Case Study Of A Social Change-Oriented Organization And The Self, Maria Trias Arraut

Dissertations

This qualitative study explores the phenomenon of inner work within social change organizations through an in-depth case study of a nonprofit organization dedicated to women’s empowerment and transformation. Using a phenomenological approach and ethnographic methods, the research combines intensive 7-month fieldwork in 2016 with reflective analysis years later, shaped by my own evolving relationship with inner work practices, providing a unique perspective on how inner work lived experience shapes individuals, organizational culture, and social change efforts.

The findings reveal that the social change organization (SCO) operated through three distinct yet interconnected levels of inner work practice: tending to the personal …

Becoming A Leader “On The Job”: An Exploratory Study Examining How Internal Interim Leaders Build Their Leadership Capacity While Nonprofit Executive Directors Are On Sabbatical, Michelle Schneider

Dissertations

Nonprofit organizations have long underinvested in leadership development, potentially hindering their ability to fulfill their missions effectively. This study examined the use of nonprofit organization sabbaticals that give executive directors time away while building the leadership capabilities of the interim leader. This research explored the on-the-job leadership development of six individuals who served as interim leaders in southern California nonprofit organizations during their executive directors' participation in a 3-month, foundation-funded sabbatical program.

In this study, data were collected through in-depth interviews with interim leaders. A formative influences timeline technique was employed to center the participant's voice rather than the interviewer's …

Measuring Inclusive Leadership In Nonprofit Performing Arts Organizations, Thomas Abruzzo

Dissertations

Inclusive leadership is undoubtedly a practice to strive for, and few would argue against the value of leading inclusively. Yet, empirically, little is known about what constitutes effective inclusive leadership, especially in the context of nonprofit performing arts organizations. This sector is a particularly apt place to study and practice inclusive leadership because, in addition to the many benefits it provides, the nonprofit arts sector has problematic roots in terms of privileging a dominant social class by prioritizing certain art forms over others. For example, the popularity of the nonprofit form in the arts sector, when compared to for-profit or …

Nonprofit Leader Experiences In Sector-Bending After Lean Six Sigma Training: Tension, Concepts, And Changed Behaviors, Beverly Codallos

Dissertations

Government, business, and nonprofit represent three distinct types of organizations governed by different legal frameworks designed to facilitate collective action (DiMaggio & Anheier, 1990). The emergence of hybrid forms and increasing isomorphic pressures in the nonprofit sector (Bromley & Meyer, 2017; McCambridge, 2014) have challenged the traditional separation of organizational forms. This study explored the phenomenon popularized as sector-bending, “a wide variety of approaches, activities, and relationships that are blurring the distinctions between nonprofit and for-profit organizations, either because they are behaving more similarly, operating in the same realms, or both” (Dees & Anderson, 2003, pg. 16). This qualitative study …

Advocating For Social Change: How A Human Service Nonprofit Organization Makes Sense Of Its Advocacy Successes And Failures, Megan Pontes

Dissertations

Nonprofit organizations (NPOs) are uniquely positioned to play a vital role in social change, and many integrate advocacy in their efforts. This dissertation examined how one human service nonprofit organization working to help the unhoused engaged in advocacy and advocacy evaluation using formal and informal methods. Through an in-depth case study of Think Dignity, a San Diego-based NPO engaged in the day-to-day work of social change, this research revealed how it developed its advocacy efforts, collaborated with partners, and assessed its successes and failures. Informed by the framework of social change leadership, the researcher conducted semi-structured interviews with Think Dignity. …

Advocacy On Facebook: A Content Analysis Of How Small Los Angeles- Based Npos Use Social Media To Engage Audiences, Wen Chen Denq

Dissertations

This dissertation examined the Facebook activities of seven small nonprofits in Los Angeles to understand their social media use and audience responses. Prior research has distinguished three broader engagement strategies used by Nonprofit Organizations (NPOs), including information provision (awareness-raising), action-related messaging (mobilizing), and community-building efforts (organizing). These strategies can play essential roles in drawing in audiences, but also in moving individual supporters toward greater levels of engagement by increasing donations or becoming more engaged champions for the cause. A qualitative and quantitative analysis of organizational Facebook messages and audience responses was conducted over 3 months. The NPOs included in this …

Utilizing New Technologies To Measure Therapy Effectiveness For Mental And Physical Health, Jonathan Ossie

Dissertations

Mental health is quickly becoming a major policy concern, with recent data reporting increasing and disproportionately worse mental health outcomes, including anxiety, depression, increased substance abuse, and elevated suicidal ideation. One specific population that is especially high risk for these issues is the military community because military conflict, deployment stressors, and combat exposure contribute to the risk of mental health problems.

Although several pharmacological approaches have been employed to combat this epidemic, their efficacy is mixed at best, which has led to novel nonpharmacological approaches. One such approach is Operation Surf, a nonprofit that provides nature-based programs advocating the restorative …

Safeguarding From Scrutiny: Toward A Critical Consciousness Of Organizational Culture In Humanitarian Ngos, Andrew Henck

Dissertations

Humanitarian nongovernmental organizations (HNGOs) face a moment of reckoning brought on by decades of operational complexity and conceptual tensions between self-espoused values and external pressures as social change movements like #MeToo and Black Lives Matter demand organizational accountability. Humanitarian aid is being questioned systematically as most HNGOs continue reconciling with their colonialist origin stories from the Global North. Alongside a shrinking British foreign aid budget, and mounting pressures for proving value for money, HNGOs face a record number of natural disasters, energy crises, armed conflicts, and other major emergencies to respond to across the globe.

As the British aid sector …