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Always kind, respectful, and approachable.
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About Catherine
Dr. Catherine Pearl is an Associate Professor of Social Innovation at Mount Royal University's Bissett School of Business, marking her as the institution's inaugural tenure-track professor in this discipline. She possesses a PhD in Social Enterprise from the University of Calgary, an MBA in Management from Concordia University, and a BBA in Marketing from Bishop's University. Prior to academia, she garnered almost two decades in the private sector across corporate planning, finance, and marketing for national and multinational firms, alongside substantial nonprofit involvement as volunteer, consultant, and President/CEO of a social enterprise charity.
Dr. Pearl actively contributes to Mount Royal University through service on the Professional Development, Library Selections, and Business and Communication Studies’ Research Committees, as well as hiring committees and as Career Services Liaison for social innovation co-op placements. A prominent community figure, she co-founded the Calgary Chamber of Voluntary Organizations, governed boards for Propellus, YWCA Calgary, Lycée Louis Pasteur, Developmental Disabilities Resource Centre, and Lunchbox Theatre, and currently leads as President of ANSER-ARES. In departmental leadership, she chaired Entrepreneurship, Marketing & Social Innovation (2023-2024) and holds interim Chair for International Business, Supply Chain Management & Aviation (2024). Her research spans social innovation, social entrepreneurship, social finance, philanthropic engagement, scholarship of teaching and learning, transdisciplinary learning, and stigma in helping professions. She designs social innovation curricula and coaches for the Alberta Nonprofit Case Competition. Key works include the 2024 article "Catalyzing Social Entrepreneurship through Islamic Finance," 2023's "Understanding Lived Experiences of Stigma for People Living with HIV," 2020 case "Windmill Microlending," her 2013 PhD dissertation on social enterprises in Alberta, and the 2018 book "Social Innovation You."