Three King's University College faculty members have secured more than $267,000 through the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council's latest Insight and Insight Development Grant competitions.
The funded work crosses a range of sectors and disciplines, reflecting a shared purpose of the research programs at King's. The projects seek to support effective leadership of nonprofits, to help adults with health conditions navigate the justice process, and to ensure accountability in sustainability reporting by pension funds. Their work, all underpinned by research excellence at King's, addresses social and economic challenges facing communities, institutions and society.
The federal Insight Grants are awarded to research projects that "deepen understanding of people, societies and the world", while Insight Development Grants support research in its initial stages. Industry Minister Mélanie Joly announced the grants in Edmonton, Alta. on July 21 as part of total of $289 million in support for 1,788 social sciences and humanities search projects across Canada.
Left to right: Dr. Trevor Hunter, Dr. Joshua Wyman, Dr Mehdi Rasteh
How Leader Character Shapes Nonprofit Board Decisions
Dr. Trevor Hunter, Professor of Governance and Management at King's School of Management, Economics and Mathematics (MEM), is working with Drs. Seemantini M. Pathak and Dusya Vera of Ivey Business School on a four-year study examining how leader character shapes governance and decision-making on nonprofit boards. The team received an Insight Grant of $100,418 to conduct their research, which focuses on the role qualities such as accountability, courage, collaboration, humility, integrity, justice and judgement play in how nonprofit boards operate. The team will survey and interview board members from across Canada to understand how leader character influences decisions including director recruitment, executive evaluation and other governance responsibilities.
Nonprofit organizations play a central role in delivering social services across Canada, making strong governance an important part of organizational performance and community impact and aligning well with King's mission and values. The researchers aim to translate their findings into practical, character-based guidance that nonprofit boards can use to strengthen governance and decision-making.
"Nonprofit boards are regularly asked to make difficult decisions that can have a direct impact on the organizations they serve and the communities that depend on them. We want to understand how character influences those decisions in practice, and then use that evidence to develop practical guidance that can help boards strengthen their governance, recruitment and oversight," said Dr. Hunter.
Supporting Justice-Involved Older Adults
Dr. Joshua Wyman, Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology, is collaborating with Dr. Kristina Kokorelias, (University of Toronto), and Dr. Lindsay Malloy, (Ontario Tech University), on research exploring the perspectives and experiences of older adults with stigmatized health conditions within the criminal justice system. This research, which received an Insight Grant of $79,575, aims to inform guidelines for law enforcement and correctional professionals when communicating with older adults about their health needs, including adapted rapport-building, ground rules, questions, and accessibility considerations.
"This work is particularly important because stigma surrounding certain health conditions may create additional barriers to disclosure, communication, and access to appropriate support during interactions with criminal justice professionals," shared Dr. Wyman.
"This research is also timely given that Canada's population continues to age rapidly, and law enforcement professionals have expressed concerns about their training and preparedness for supporting the diverse needs of older adults."
Protecting Canadian Pensions from Greenwashing
Dr. Mehdi Rasteh, Assistant Professor of Finance at King's School of MEM, is examining how investors can better distinguish sustainability progress from greenwashing in Canada's real estate sector. His research, supported by an $87,742 Insight Development Grant, focuses on the gap between what companies say about their environmental performance and what their actual investments reveal.
Corporate ESG disclosures can provide useful information, but they are often based on companies' own reporting and can be difficult for investors to independently verify. Rasteh's research uses real estate to test those claims more closely. Because buildings are physical assets with identifiable locations, ownership histories and measurable sustainability features, including green building certifications, researchers can compare public sustainability commitments with what companies actually own and invest in.
The work has particular relevance for institutional investors, including pension funds that invest retirement savings on behalf of Canadians. More reliable sustainability information can help investors assess risk, make better-informed decisions and strengthen confidence in sustainable finance. The project will also support student training in data-intensive research and help develop practical tools for investors, regulators and the public.
"This project will help develop evidence-based tools to distinguish credible sustainability progress from greenwashing. I hope it will contribute to more transparent sustainability evaluation and help investors, regulators and the public better understand when ESG commitments are backed by real action," said Dr. Rasteh.
Together, these awards show how research at King's reaches beyond the university and into the decisions, systems and institutions that shape people's lives. The three projects could help nonprofit boards govern more effectively, improve access to justice for vulnerable people, and give investors better tools to assess whether sustainability claims are backed by evidence.
The funding gives King's researchers the opportunity to build knowledge that can be used in practice, by community organizations, public institutions, investors and decision-makers across Canada.
