Ray has always had a curiosity which spans ideas, organizations and disciplines, and feels his undergraduate degree from Trent University – where he studied biology, philosophy, anthropology and environmental studies – was a perfect foundation for his lifelong interest in the organizational side of social and community development. His master’s degree was in Environmental Studies, and his doctoral degree was in Organizational Behaviour at the Schulich School of Business at York University. His thesis research focused on entrepreneurship and commercialization in nonprofit sector organizations.
Ray’s current research interests are diverse, and broadly centre on ‘social enterprise’, ‘social entrepreneurship’ and other organizational settings of social change environmental organizations and the environmental sector logic models, effectiveness and strategy in nonprofit organizations community development.
At Trent, Prof. Dart teaches courses on ‘Contemporary Issues in Management and Organization’, entrepreneurship, market and managerial research, new venture planning and design. His favourite pedagogy is field-based research (‘getting students learning in settings relevant to what they are studying).
Dart, R., & Hill, S. (2010). Green matters?: An exploration of environmental performance in the nonprofit sector. Nonprofit Management and Leadership, V20, 3, pp 295-314.
Dart, R. (2010). A grounded qualitative study of the meanings of effectiveness in Canadian ‘results-focused’ environmental organizations. Voluntas. V. 21, 2, pp. 202-219.
Dart, R. (2008). "Piercing the bubble: Should management education "confront" poverty?” Journal of Management Education, 32(6), 35-43.
Dart, R., Clow, E., & Armstrong, A. (2008). “Not living up to their billing: A population survey of social purpose businesses in Ontario, Canada”. International Society for Third Sector Research (ISTR) Biennial Conference, Barcelona, Spain. pp. 1-23.
Grant, S., & Dart, R. (2008). “The emergence of social enterprise in New Zealand: A youth services case study”. International Society for Third Sector Research (ISTR) Biennial Conference, Barcelona, Spain. pp. 1-21
Clow, E., & Dart, R. (2008). “A holistic women centered approach to community economic development?: A case study of PARO in Thunder Bay, Ontario”. Proceedings of ANSER (Association for Nonprofit and Social Economy Research), Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences, Vancouver, B.C. pp. 1-29.
Dart, R. (2008). “Is there such a thing as a ‘social enterprise’?: Conceptual and technical issues in mapping the morass that is ‘social enterprise’ organizations”. Proceedings of ANSER(Association for Nonprofit and Social Economy Research), Congress of the
Dart, R. “’Effectiveness' as a problematic construct for Canadian community-based environmental organizations”. Paper presented at the Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action - Annual Conference, Atlanta, Ga., 26 pp.
Dart, R. (2006). ‘Blind spots in the nonprofit strategy process: The under-appreciated role of change models’. Paper presented at the Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action - Annual Conference, Chicago, Ill.
Dart, R. (2005). “Unintended consequences of social entrepreneurship: The complex structure and effects of radical service delivery improvement in a Canadian human services organization”. Paper published in the International Social Entrepreneurship Research Conference Proceedings, IESE, Barcelona, Catalunya, Spain, 28 pp.
Dart, R. (2004). ‘Governance issues in the greening of the nonprofit sector: An action research agenda’. Paper presented at the International Society for Third Sector Research (ISTR) – Biennial Conference, Toronto, Ontario.
Dart, R. (2004). Being Business-Like in a Nonprofit Organization: A Grounded and Inductive Typology. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly. V. 33, No. 2.
Dart, R. (2004). Charities in business, Business in charities, Charities and business - Mapping and understanding the complex nonprofit/business interface. The Philanthropist. V. 18, No. 4.
Dart, R. (2004). The Legitimacy of Social Enterprise. Nonprofit Management and Leadership. V14, No. 2.
Dart, R., & Zimmerman, B. (2000). ‘After Government Cuts: Insights from Two Ontario Case Studies of 'Enterprising Nonprofits'. In K. Banting (Ed.), The Nonprofit Sector in Canada: Roles and Relationships. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, pp. 107-148.