ISR Visiting Professors and Fellows
Dr Tom Bryer (University of Central Florida)
Dr Bryer is highly published and conducts extensive research in the areas of public participation and collaboration across segments of society, including government, nonprofit, private, faith-based, and voluntary sectors. He has won multiple awards for his research, teaching, and service. In 2015, he was granted a Fulbright Core Scholar award to conduct research in Lithuania from 2015-2017, and he is currently a Fulbright Specialist, which will include work in Russia. He maintains an affiliation at Kaunas University of Technology in Lithuania as Project Chief Researcher, leading research on non-economic factors of emigration. He is the author or editor of four books: Higher education beyond Job Creation: Universities, Citizenship, and Community (2014); National Service and Volunteerism: Achieving Impact in Our Communities (2015); Social Media for Government: Theory and Practice (2016); Poor Participation: Fighting the Wars on Poverty and Impoverished Citizenship (2018). Visit Tom’s profile page at the University of Central Florida.
Rev. John Davis
On leaving home in St Helens, John started his working career in production management and research at Wedgwood in Stoke later getting ordained as an Anglican priest in 1979. During his ministry in the West Midlands, John started several innovative projects and led the award-winning ‘Crossing at St. Paul’s, Walsall’ development, a multi-million project to transform a large Grade 2 listed Victorian church building to a multi-use social enterprise.
John was a visiting lecturer in Theology at Walsall College and worked in Anglican and Catholic Colleges. He chaired a number of boards including Walsall’s SRB Regeneration Partnership Board, the Business in the Community Neighbourhood Partnership, School Governors and was a trustee of the New Art Gallery Development Trust. He was later the Regional Development Manager for the Princes Trust in the West Midlands moving on to become the Hospice Development Manager in Walsall for the NHS.
John is a Christian social entrepreneur, a Home Office consultant, a trustee of the John Moores Foundation and a former local Councillor in West Lancs. Having previously been the lead on the anti-poverty strategies for Liverpool Diocese he is now a Missional priest in Knowsley Deanery working mainly with St. Gabriel’s Church in Huyton.
Dr Sergej Ljubownikow (Sheffield University Management School)
Sergej is a Lecturer in Strategic Management at Sheffield University Management School. He completed his MSc and PhD at Aston Business School where he was awarded lifetime membership of Beta Gamma Sigma. He worked as a lecturer at Nottingham Business School for four years before joining Sheffield University Management School. His research focuses on the broad areas of business and society and transitioning and emerging economies. In particular he focuses on the activities and strategies of non-profit non-governmental organisations, the activities and strategies of firms’ vis-à-vis societal issues and related practices of strategy including corporate social responsibility. Visit Sergje’s profile page at Sheffield University Management School.
Dr Katy Goldstraw (Staffordshire University)
Dr Katy Goldstraw is passionate about creative and participatory approaches to learning. Katy specialises in participatory arts-based research methods to include and empower the voices of previously unheard communities within her research.
Katy is a senior lecturer in Health and Social Care at Staffordshire University and works in an independent capacity with the APLE Collective, an anti-poverty collective led by people with lived experience. Katy has worked with members of the voluntary and community sector to co-produce a Sustainable Livelihoods Resource Book. This resource book is a toolkit that VCS organisations can use to facilitate an assets based organisational evaluation. She has worked in higher education and the Voluntary Sector throughout her career. A fellow of the higher education Academy and the Royal Society of Arts; Katy has published extensively on topics including VCS assets, citizens voice, and anti-poverty participatory approaches.
Dr Joy Tweed (University of Westminster)
Joy is a course leader (designate) for an MSc Social Enterprise at the University of Westminster. Her academic role is informed both by her research interests and nearly 20 years’ experience as a non-executive director on healthcare-related boards. She has spent over 15 years developing and running training and short courses in the health and public sector, most recently a leadership course for safeguarding professionals. Joy originally trained as a nurse before working in the voluntary sector and then gaining an MA in community development. With a strong interest in patient and public involvement, as well as all aspects of health and social care, Joy was a member of the Health Scrutiny Support Programme, Centre for Public Scrutiny (2004 – 2010), providing consultancy support to health overview and scrutiny committees. She then continued in a freelance capacity to offer training and support to organisations such as Healthwatch and CCGs. Joy’s PhD is in public sector governance and she continues to research governance and leadership in the public/social enterprise sectors.