2015

On Monday 28th September the conference ‘Challenges and Opportunities in the Not-for-profit and Public Sectors’ took place at Riddel Hall, heralding the launch of the new Centre for Not-for-profit and Public-sector Research at Queen’s Management School. The conference, attended by 93 people from an array of charities, credit unions and public sector bodies, explored a range of issues relevant to organisations that are very different from businesses. These organisations are not-for-profit and have wide social and cultural goals that are central to what they do. Therefore: how their performance is measured, how one accounts for them, how they discharge their accountability, how one manages them and how one regulate them, may be very different from what might happen in a business. 

Major national and international speakers spoke at the event: From the charity sector, Professor Andrew Hind CB (former Chief Executive of the Charity Commission for England and Wales and Chair of the Fundraising Standards Board) and Frances McCandless (Chief Executive, Charity Commission for Northern Ireland) provided input, particularly highlighting public expectations of mission focus and transparency. Bill Hampel (Chief Economist, CUNA Mutual from the USA) and Brian McCrory (President, Irish League of Credit Unions) reflected on the growth of the sector and the regulatory challenges faced as a consequence of the recent financial and regulatory crisis. With respect to the public sector, Paul Wickens (Chief Executive, Enterprise Shared Services, Northern Ireland Civil Service) and David Cartmill (Executive Director, Chief Executives’ Forum) made the case for increased digitalisation as a basis for improving communication, facilitating greater engagement with citizens and increasing openness and transparency. The presentations were followed by a lively question and answer panel session. Input from Queen’s academic staff was provided by Professors Matthias Beck, Noel Hyndman and Donal McKillop.

Top of Page