Ivey is excited to welcome several new faculty members to campus this year! To get to know our new colleagues, we asked them some questions to learn about their interests inside and outside the classroom.
Get to know: Laurel Steinfield
Laurel Steinfield has over 15 years of experience working with social enterprises/entrepreneurs, and conducting research that examines market-based solutions to social inequities and environmental concerns. This includes women economic empowerment initiatives, entrepreneurial ventures with subsistence-level and small and medium sized enterprises in Eastern/Southern Africa, as well as refugees and Indigenous communities in various areas of the world, solutions to improve climate resilience among vulnerable communities, impact and gender-lens investing, and inclusive advertising.
Steinfield joined Ivey this past summer as an Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurship, focusing her teachings on exploring a design justice approach to social innovations. Steinfield created and teaches two new courses: Innovating for Impact (MSc), and The Art of Social Entrepreneurship (HBA). She also teaches Ivey’s New Venture Project, which is an entrepreneurial, team-based Ivey Field Project that takes students through the process of developing and refining an idea for a new venture.
Q&A with Laurel Steinfield
What is the most important thing business executives can learn from your research/area of expertise?
When I engage with executives and corporations and even entrepreneurs, I teach them how they can work with others in a mutually beneficial and respectful way to make a positive social impact. And particularly, it's not just about having an idea or thinking that you have good intentions, but actually ensuring that those intentions translate to meaningful innovations for the consumers or the groups of people with whom you're working.
Where did you grow up and what was it like there?
I grew up in Chatham, Ontario, and went to Queen’s University for my Honors degree. The idea of doing Corporate Social Responsibility work in the early 2000s was very new. Social entrepreneurship was basically nonexistent, and so I actually ended up getting an internship sponsored by the Canadian government. I went to work for a nonprofit in South Africa and worked with the South African government on their efforts at improving corporate governance as part of their commitment to the African Union. Although the internship ended, I remained in South Africa where I worked in a social enterprise, as well as a venture capital firm, and started to experience firsthand what it meant to launch a business and social innovations.
I went on to receive my Master’s and PhD from Said Business School, University of Oxford, U.K. Being homesick after nearly a decade abroad, I came back to North America, becoming an Associate Professor of Marketing at Bentley University in Boston. Although I was in marketing, I led classes that taught students how to do marketing in ways that promoted equity and inclusivity, as well as hands-on-experience that saw students work with nonprofits and social enterprises to help them grow. During COVID, I came back to Canada and started a family with my husband. I’m glad to be back home in Canada.
Who have been your strongest influences in life?
When I was very young, I had a family friend who had cancer as a young boy and had his leg amputated. That experience taught him to appreciate life and to see the good in people and in situations. He's always had a phenomenal influence on encouraging me to see the good in things and to recognize the beauty of the world from a young age.
When I went to South Africa, some of the people who had the most influential impact on me were people who work for the African National Congress and had struggled through apartheid. Learning about their experiences and their persistence and their resistance taught me to see the world not from an idealistic perspective and to recognize that these people have power and are incredibly resilient.
When I worked towards my doctorate, my supervisor, Linda Scott, was also very influential. She challenged a lot of preconceived ideas as to what entrepreneurship meant – reminding us that it is not some heroic act but often an activity that the majority of the world does every day to make a living. She involved me with a project she led on helping large corporations to help them think through how they might measure women economic empowerment. This opened many doors and networks into this space that I continue to draw upon. Linda continues to push for women’s rights around the world, doing incredible projects. She has taught me the power of research in bringing about change.
What led you to your career?
Academia was a decision I strategically made after having dabbled in a number of areas. I realized that academia allowed me not only to do research, but advocacy and teaching the next generation of students. When I went into the world of social entrepreneurship and innovation, there was no one telling me how to do what I was trying to figure out on the ground, and I made a lot of mistakes. So, one of the things I really wanted to do was come back and be able to teach the next generation how not to make those mistakes – practice in the classroom where it’s safe, make those mistakes in a place where you’re not hurting other people and you’re having a reflective experience.
What do you like to do when you’re not working?
I’m a mom of two young boys, so that keeps me busy. Before I became a mom, I ran marathons; I love running. I do hot yoga and CrossFit as well. I’m not very good at relaxing. I actually still don’t own a TV. In my limited free time I’m often doing some sort of activity, and I oddly find cleaning therapeutic.
What is the most played song on your playlist as of now?
It’s a tough choice between Raffi and “Shake my sillies out” – Aka. my boys’ go-to song — and an upbeat song with a fast tempo that can get me to pick up my running pace, like a song from Lizzo.
What book would you recommend to others? On the personal side? On the business side?
Five Little Indians by Michelle Good, and for non-fiction, I would recommend Truth Telling, also written by Michelle Good. Both books are good for anyone looking to better understand the indigenous people's experiences. Five Little Indians tells the story of why intergenerational trauma has occurred because of the residential schools and illuminates some ways that healing is occurring. It's a fascinating read, but also a very traumatic read, so I recommend that people practice self-care if they choose to read it. Truth Telling explains so much of the history that we are never taught. And it answered a lot of questions I had about how Canada has failed to uphold the treaties with Indigenous people.
