Prof. Dr. Carolin Waldner

PATH4Well-being (https://www.paradox-thinking.org/) explores how social purpose leaders’ skills of navigating complexity can help innovate and thrive while creating impact. From poverty to climate change, social purpose leaders are on the frontlines of today’s biggest challenges—often facing relentless pressure, caught between caring for others and caring for themselves. Our goal is to empower social purpose leaders and innovators with the best tools to lead effectively.

The MAT*SIE project addresses the growing relevance of social innovation by tackling a key gap in understanding how organizations—especially nonprofits—can intentionally shape work environments that foster social innovation. It aims at delivering original theoretical and practical contributions through an integrated, multi-study research program.

Waldner et al. (2025). Enabling Local Solutions to Global Challenges: The interplay between paradox knots and paradox salience in an NGO working in Uganda. https://doi.org/10.1177/01708406251314586

Waldner, C. J. (2023). In the centre of attention: how social entrepreneurs influence organisational reputation. https://doi.org/10.1080/19420676.2020.1823456