Skip to main content

Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin

Menu Search


Trinity College Dublin By using this website you consent to the use of cookies in accordance with the Trinity cookie policy. For more information on cookies see our cookie policy.

      
Profile Photo

Dr. Sheila Cannon

Assistant Professor (Trinity Business School)
BUSINESS SCHOOL (INTERIM)

 cannonsh@tcd.ie

 3531896 3850


Biography

Sheila Cannon is Assistant Professor in Social Entrepreneurship at Trinity Business School. She conducts research on and teaches about the third sector, including social enterprises, nonprofits, and civil society organisations. Her research contributes to knowledge on how organisations influence and respond to socio-cultural change. So far, she has studied contexts including peacebuilding, LGBTQ rights, reproductive rights, digital disruption, just transition, and sustainability. Sheila has published in top journals in her field, such as Human Relations, 4-star and ranked 10th by the Financial Times (FT50), as well as the highest ranked nonprofit journal, Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly (ABS3). Her doctoral research, "Surviving the Peace: Processes of organisational identity work in response to deinstitutionalisation of Irish Peacebuilding," received the 2015 Rudney Memorial Award for Outstanding Dissertation in Nonprofit and Voluntary Research. She subsequently served as Chair of said committee in 2016 and 2020. She won Research and Teaching Excellence awards from TBS in 2018. She disseminates her research through The Conversation, Council on Business and Society, World Economic Forum, Newsweek, and others, making academic research accessible to a wider audience. Sheila teaches social entrepreneurship to undergraduates and graduate students. She runs the Social Enterprise company project on the Trinity MBA; 14 social enterprises work with teams of MBA students each year on a project that is beneficial to the organisation, and provides applied learning experiences for the students. She uses learner-centred methods to help students engage with new ways of understanding often challenging contexts. She supervises student research at Masters and Doctoral levels, including funded research by Canadian Mitacs Global Link Award. Sheila contributes to the Trinity community as well as the wider community in several ways. In 2021 she won the Trinity Civic Engagement Award for her work with Social Enterprises. She is Director of the Global Business Undergraduate degree programme, as well as Chair of Business Student of the Year Committee, and Foundation Scholarship Examiner. Sheila helped to design and create the Centre for Social Innovation, a TBS centre of expertise, and was appointed Associate Director responsible for engagement with practitioners in 2019. She connects research and teaching with practitioners in the third sector. For example, she has organised workshops on social impact in February 2021 and May 2019. She was part of the VIBE project (Vietnam-Ireland Bilateral Exchange) and created a case book comparing social enterprises in Vietnam and Ireland. She served as advisor on a project to measure Social Return on Investment for a nonprofit providing mobility services. She is member of Academic societies in her field of research, and participates in international research conferences by presenting papers, chairing sessions, and advising doctoral candidates in her field. She also provides policy advice to government on social enterprise as well as business and human rights. As well as research and teaching, Sheila has expertise in project development and management, grant writing, and facilitating groups of practitioners. Before returning to academia, Sheila worked in the nonprofit sector in peacebuilding organisations for over 12 years, in the Balkans and in Ireland. She was Director of Development at the Glencree Centre for Peace and Reconciliation, and Programme Director at the Centre for Democracy and Reconciliation in Southeast Europe. She was Research Assistant in the Centre for Nonprofit Management at TCD from 2011 to 2015. She has a Bachelor's degree in The Classics from Vassar College.

Research Tags

  Innovation in Nonprofit Organisations and Systems   Nonprofit organisations   Peacebuilding   Social Enterprise & Social Entrepreneurship   Social Movements

Research Projects

 Value-Oriented Organising: Legitimising Social Change for Climate Adaptation
 Viet Nam Ireland Bilateral Exchange (VIBE)
 New Forms of Civic Engagement
 Preparation Support for H2020 Grant proposal

Representations

Details Date
Member of Policy Advisory Committee on Social Enterprise to the Department of Rural and Community Affairs 2019
Member of Project Advisory Group for Vantastic Mobility Services Social Return on Investment Analysis June 2018
Faculty Advisor to Enactus Ireland, supporting student social entrepreneurship 2020, ongoing
TCD representative to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, United Nations Implementation Group for Business and Human Rights. 2019

Languages

Language Skill Reading Skill Writing Skill Speaking
English Fluent Fluent Fluent
Greek Medium Medium Fluent

Memberships

Membership of Professional Institutions, Associations, Societies

Details Date From Date To
Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action (ARNOVA) 2010 ongoing
European Group for Organizational Studies (EGOS) 2010 ongoing
International Society for Third Sector Research (ISTR) 2009 ongoing
Social Economy Research Network of Ireland (SERNI) 2019 ongoing
Emergence of Social Entrepreneurship in Europe (EMES) 2019 ongoing
Cannon Sheila, Byrne Danielle, Donnelly-Cox Gemma, and Rhodes Mary-Lee , Institutional influences on social enterprise types in the Republic of Ireland, The Irish Journal of Management, 2023, p1-16 , Journal Article, PUBLISHED  TARA - Full Text  DOI
Sheila M. Cannon; Gemma Donnelly-Cox; Richard Hazenberg, Teaching Social Innovation through University Projects: The role of double agents in creating collaborative value, 38th Colloquium, European Group for Organization Studies (EGOS), Vienna, Austria, 7 July 2022, 2022, pp25 , Conference Paper, PUBLISHED
Eline Roomer; Sheila M. Cannon, Corporate Climate Adaptation Discourses: A systematic literature review and future agenda, 38th Colloquium, European Group for Organizational Studies (EGOS), Vienna, Austria, 7 July 2022, edited by Zlatko Bodrozic; Ana Maria Peredo; Christopher Wright , 38, EGOS, 2022, pp11 , Conference Paper, PUBLISHED
Sheila M. Cannon; Raymond Dart, The Emergence and Evolution of Digital Social Ventures in Dublin, Ireland, Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 2022, p19 , Journal Article, PUBLISHED  DOI  URL
SP Murphy, Cannon, S, Walsh, L, Just Transition Frames: Recognition, representation, and distribution in Irish beef farming, Journal of Rural Studies, 94, 2022, p150 - 160, Journal Article, PUBLISHED  TARA - Full Text  DOI  URL
Páramo Ortiz, Sergio; Cannon, Sheila M., Social Innovation Framework for Social Enterprises, Emergence of Social Enterprise in Europe Conference, EMES 8th International Research Conference, University of Zaragoza, Teruel, Spain, October 2021, 8, 2021, pp1 - 22, Conference Paper, PUBLISHED
McQuaid, Siobhan; Esmee D. Kooijman; Mary-Lee Rhodes; Sheila M. Cannon, Innovating with Nature: Factors Influencing the Success of Nature-Based Enterprises, Sustainability, 13, (22), 2021, p25 , Journal Article, PUBLISHED  URL  URL
Foreword: The Opportunity of Global Social Entrepreneurship in, editor(s)Tom Gamble; Guragam Singh , Social Enterprise: A focus on entrepreneurship for the common good, Paris, France, Council on Business and Society, 2020, pp6 - 6, [Sheila M.Cannon; Conception Galdon], Book Chapter, PUBLISHED  URL
Cannon, Sheila M.; Alexandra Lamb, Paloma Raggo, Storytelling, Strategies, and Success: The Irish Reproductive Rights Movement, International Society for Third Sector Research (ISTR) 14th International Conference, Montreal, Canada, July 2020, 2020, pp1-20 , Conference Paper, ACCEPTED
Cannon, Sheila M. and Raymond Dart, Dramaturgy of technology: The start-up pitch, International Society for Third Sector Research (ISTR) 14th International Conference, Montreal, Canada, July 2020, 2020, pp1-18 , Conference Paper, ACCEPTED
  

Page 1 of 3
Páramo Ortiz, Sergio; Cannon, Sheila M., Dimensions of Social Innovation: Radical versus Instrumental Approaches in Social Entrepreneurship, Centre for Social Innovation, Research Seminar, Trinity College Dublin, 17 November 2021, Trinity Business School, 2021, pp25 , Conference Paper, PUBLISHED
Cannon, Sheila M., Civic Engagement: The MBA Social Enterprise Projects, Trinity Business School, Trinity Centre for Social Innovation, Trinity College Dublin, November 2021, 2021, pp20 , Conference Paper, PUBLISHED
Cannon, Sheila M., The MBA Social Enterprise Projects: Supporting Social Enterprises through Teaching, Regions for Social Economy Business Development - RESET, Support to Social Economy Business Development Workshop, Dublin, Ireland and online, 2 November 2021, European Union, 2021, pp20 , Conference Paper, PUBLISHED
Cannon, Sheila M., Teaching and Learning the Process of Social Entrepreneurship, National Forum for Teaching and Learning, National Forum Seminar Series, Carlow Institute of Technology, Ireland, 23 April 2021, 2021, pp20 , Conference Paper, PUBLISHED
Conception Galdon; Sheila M. Cannon; Edgard Barki; Adrian Zicari; Paula Cardenau, The Paradox of Our Times and a Key Role for Social Enterprise, Council on Business and Society, 2020, Journal Article, PUBLISHED
Sheila M.Cannon; Kreutzer, Karin, Version 2.0: Are Nonprofits Allowed to Reinvent Themselves?, Global Voice, Council on Business and Society, 12, 2020, p35 - 38, Journal Article, PUBLISHED
Sheila M.Cannon, Fair Supply Chains and Business Education, Council on Business and Society Insights, 23 October 2020, 2020, p2 , Journal Article, PUBLISHED
Cannon, Sheila M., Climate Strikes: Greta Thunberg calls for 'system change not climate change' - here's what that could look like, The Conversation UK, 2019, Journal Article, PUBLISHED
Cannon, Sheila M. and Anne Shelly-Lacey, Submission on Social Enterprise to Oireachtas Joint Committee on Key Issues Affecting the Traveller Community, Dublin, Government of Ireland, December, 2019, Notes: [This submission will influence the forthcoming public policy on Traveller Employment and will contribute to policy alignment with the National Policy on Social Enterprise], Report, PUBLISHED
Blanco Sanchez, Azucena; Sheila M. Cannon (supervisor), Green Demarketing Taking Off: A new environmental CSR approach for airlines, Trinity College Dublin, 2019, Thesis, PUBLISHED

  

Page 1 of 2

Awards and Honours

Award Date
Trinity Civic Engagement Award 2021
Gabriel G. Rudney Memorial Award for Outstanding Dissertation in Nonprofit and Voluntary Action Research October 2015
Mitacs Globalink Research Award 2019
Research Excellence Award, Trinity Business School 2018
Financial Times, Research Impact Award, Honorable Mention 2023
Teaching Excellence Award, Trinity Business School 2018
Enterprise Ireland. H2020 proposal grant awarded 2014
European Commission EUFORI project grant awarded 2013

Research Interests

Description Of Research Interests

Sheila is a social scientist, who uses qualitative methods to contribute to organisational theory. Sheila's research focuses on the third sector: social enterprises, nonprofits, and civil society organisations. Her research contributes to knowledge and literature on neo-institutional theory, organisational theory, and organisational identity work. She focuses on how organisations influence and respond to social change, particularly in the social change associated with responding to the climate crisis. So far, she has studied contexts including peacebuilding, LGBTQ rights, reproductive rights, digital disruption, sustainability, and corporate activism. Sheila has published in top journals in her field, such as Human Relations, 4-star and ranked 10th by the Financial Times (FT50), as well as the highest ranked nonprofit journal, Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly (3-star). Her doctoral research, "Surviving the Peace: Processes of organisational identity work in response to deinstitutionalisation of Irish Peacebuilding," received the 2015 Rudney Memorial Award for Outstanding Dissertation in Nonprofit and Voluntary Research. She subsequently served as Chair of said committee in 2016 and 2020. She achieved a Research Excellence award from TCD in 2018. She presents research at international conferences. She publishes in The Conversation, making academic research accessible to a wider audience.