Strategies Outside the Formal Classroom: Nonprofit Management Education in Transparency and Accountability

Abstract

A demand for nonprofit management training and organizational capacity building exists in Latin America. However, few nonprofit management education (NME) programs in Latin America exist, and there is limited content related to ethics, transparency, and accountability. Using the case of Ecuador, we identify three strategies implemented by nonprofit leaders to cope with limited NME. We find that first, organizations engage in a process of collectivity that seeks to explore and give meaning to civil society in Ecuador. Second, this process leads to the production of knowledge about civil society in Ecuador. And third, based on both the process of collectivity and knowledge production, nonprofit leaders in Ecuador take ownership in the training of nonprofit leaders through several pilot courses related to transparency and accountability. The case of Ecuador reminds public affairs educators that organizations themselves can be successful producers of knowledge that can and should create and inform curricular content.

Keywords:

• nonprofit management education
• accountability
• transparency
• Ecuador

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Susan Appe

Susan Appe ([email protected]) is an assistant professor of Public Administration at the College of Community and Public Affairs at Binghamton University, SUNY. Her research centers on government-nonprofit relations and the evolution of the nonprofit sector in developed and developing countries.

Daniel Barragán

Daniel Barragán ([email protected]) is a commercial engineer from the Army Polytechnic School in Ecuador. He received an MBA with specialization in project management from the National Polytechnic School and later a specialization in Environmental Management and Sustainability at the Tecnológico de Monterrey. He specializes in development projects management, management of nonprofit organizations, social responsibility, transparency, and civil society issues. In 2008 he joined the World Resources Institute as a Cynthia Helms Fellow. He currently serves as executive director of the Ecuadorian Center for Environmental Law (CEDA).