Femida Handy

Femida Handy serves as Professor of Social Policy at the University of Pennsylvania's School of Social Policy and Practice, where she directs the PhD program in Social Welfare. Her research has significantly influenced the nonprofit sector, with over 11,000 citations of her work, including her groundbreaking research on volunteer conceptualization and nonprofit wage differentials. As Editor-in-Chief of Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly (2010-2016), she shaped scholarly discourse in the field. Her recent works include the award-winning "Palgrave Handbook of Global Philanthropy" (2015) and "Philanthropy in India: Promise to Practice" (2016). Her current research spans multiple areas including intergenerational transmission of environmental behaviors, benefits of volunteering for autistic youth, and social innovations in nonprofits. Before joining Penn, she was Associate Professor at York University's Faculty of Environmental Studies, where she maintains the position of Senior Scholar. Her interdisciplinary approach combines perspectives from sociology, business, medicine, and engineering, focusing particularly on the economics of the nonprofit sector, volunteering, philanthropy, and microfinance. Her most recent work examines ethical decision-making in nonprofits and the impact of volunteering on health and wellbeing.