Micaela Mazzei

Dr. Micaela Mazzei  is a Senior Lecturer at the Yunus Centre for Social Business and Health, Glasgow Caledonian University.

She has studied Political Science and Sociology at the University of Florence. She holds a Master Degree in Applied Social Research from the University of Manchester and a PhD in human geography from Durham University.

Dr Mazzei’s interest in social innovation and the social economy is threefold: understanding the contextual determinants of social innovation and social enterprise development and performance; understanding the dynamics of local (and regional) economies – through the lens of a diverse economy approach; and the involvement of voluntary and community organisations in delivery of public services.

Dr Mazzei is currently the RSA (Regional Studies Association) Scotland Section Chair. She has extensively researched the social economies of northern English city regions (Greater Manchester and Tyne and Wear) both as an academic and a consultant. She was the principal researcher for the national team of the EFESEIIS (Enabling the Flourishing and Evolution of Social Entrepreneurship for Innovation and Inclusive Societies) project (FP7). She was work package coordinator for the Common Good First project (Erasmus Plus) to support and grow the emerging South African social innovation sector, capturing and showcasing social impact projects in South Africa.

Dr Mazzei has also led the assessment of the progress to-date of the Strategic Public Social Partnership model in Scotland (Scottish Government funded) and the consultation with key stakeholders on social enterprise business support awareness and perceptions (Scottish Enterprise/Social Value Lab). Dr Mazzei was also a supervisor/advisor on the research teams of the Common Health Project (MRC/ESRC funded) on the role of social enterprise as a public health initiative; and more recently on the project developing and evaluating an economic and ethico-legal framework for priority setting in health and social care (Chief Scientist Office funded).

Dr Mazzei is Programme Leader for the MSc SocialInnovation and MSc Social Innovation with Professional Practice at GCU and leads the module on Social Innovation and Alternative Economic Forms.

Prior to joining the Centre, Dr Mazzei participated in a number of national projects focusing on measuring and evaluating the impact of socio-economic development programmes and projects on behalf of central government departments, local authorities and local regeneration partnership (while working at the Centre for Urban Policy Studies, University of Manchester). She has contributed to mapping social enterprise activity; developing and evaluating developing regional social enterprise support mechanisms; evaluating business support programmes and supporting organisational development (while working as a consultant for the Centre for Local Economic Strategies – CLES).