Adam Saifer

Adam Saifer

Title or Function

  • Researcher

Expertise

  • critical philanthropy studies; nonprofit organizations; sustainable community development; critical management studies; national identity;

Institution/Organization

  • University of British Columbia - Faculty of Management Okanagan

Regional Center

  • Ouest (Regina)

Email Address

Websites

Telephone

  • (475) 287-9103

Biography

Adam is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Management at the University of British Columbia – Okanagan. Prior to joining the Faculty in January 2023, he was a postdoctoral fellow with PhiLab, as well as the Director of PhiLab Quebec. Adam is an interdisciplinary scholar whose research draws on theories of capitalism, nation, and race to critically explore organizational phenomena in the nonprofit and philanthropic sector. His research is oriented around themes of social and economic justice, as well as research partnerships with community-led organizations.

Publications

Refereed Journal Articles

Saifer, A., Sidorovska, I., Litalien, M., & Fontan, J-M. (2021). Examining the COVID-19 response of Canadian grantmaking foundations: Possibilities, tensions, and long-term implications. Canadian Journal of Nonprofit and Social Economy Research, (12)1, 14-30.

Saifer, A & Dacin, M. T. (2021). Data and organization studies: Aesthetics, emotions, discourse and our everyday encounters with data. Organization Studies. Online First. 

Saifer, A. (2021). Philanthropic nation Branding, ideology, and accumulation: Insights from the Canadian context. Journal of Business Ethics, (173)3, 559-576.

Saifer, A. (2020). Racial neoliberal philanthropy and the arts for social change. Organization. Online First. 

Saifer, A. (2019). Imagining the exceptional Canada: Nation, art, and social change in Canada’s charitable sector. Journal of Canadian Studies, (53)1, 95-122.

Saifer, A. & Gaztambide-Fernández, R. (2017). Choosing the arts: The moral regulation of parents in the educational marketplace. British Journal of Sociology of Education, (8), 1190-1202.

Gaztambide-Fenández, R., Saifer, A., & Desai, C. (2013). “Talent” and the misrecognition of social advantage in specialized arts education. The Roeper Review – A Journal on Gifted Education, (3), 124-135.

Book Chapters

Saifer, A. (In Press). Cities for people or for elites?: Placed-based urban innovation through the McConnell Foundation’s Cities for People initiative. In Fontan, JM., Newton, J., Pue, K., & Rabinowitz Bussell, M. (Eds.), Prolegomena of Place-Based Philanthropy (pp: 251-262).

Saifer, A; Kumar, A. (2023). Nation-building and its exclusions: Elite philanthropy and the limits of social reform. In Eds Mitchell, K, & Pallister-Wilkins, The Routledge International Handbook of Critical Philanthropy and Humanitarianism. (pp. 271-280). Routledge.

Popular Writings and Editorials

Saifer, A. (2022). Philanthropy abroad. [Editorial]. Edition: Philanthropy Abroad. PhiLab.

Elson, P., Saifer, A. & Khovrenkov, I. (2022). Canadian philanthropy and the war in Ukraine. [Editorial]. Special Edition: War in Ukraine: The Role of Canadian Philanthropy. PhiLab.

Saifer, A. (2022). The many entanglements of philanthropy and animal welfare. [Editorial]. Edition: Philanthropy for the Animals. PhiLab.

Glass, J. & Saifer, A. (2021). Practices that shift power in philanthropy. [Editorial]. The PhiLanthropic Year. (Vol 3).

Saifer, A. (2021). Review of the book Winners take all: The elite charade of changing the world, by A. Ghiridharadas. The Philanthropic Year.

Saifer, A. (2021). Charitable tax law and a fair and just COVID-19 recovery. [Editorial]. Edition: Philanthropy and Charity Tax Law. PhiLab.

Saifer, A. (2020). Invisible causes and philanthropy. [Editorial]. Edition: Philanthropy and Invisible Causes. PhiLab.

Saifer, A. (2020). Interview with Meghan Joy: Philanthropy and seniors’ care. Edition: Philanthropy and Invisible Causes. PhiLab.

Saifer, A. (2020). COVID-19 has exposed the limits of philanthropy. The Conversation Canada.

Saifer, A. (2020). Philanthropy during COVID-19: The urgency of a diversity, equity, and inclusion lens. Alliance Magazine.

Saifer, A. (2020). Philanthropic nation branding. Edition: Philanthropy and Sense of Place.

Saifer, A. (2019). The role of national identity in Canadian philanthropy. [Guest Contribution] PhiLab, Montreal.

Saifer, A. (2018). Reimagining the creative economy through the lens of multiple colonialisms. Reviews in Cultural Theory, (8)1, 23-38.

Prix et distinctions

  • “Best Paper” Academy of Management – Critical Management Studies Division, 2019
  • “Best Paper” Academy of Management – Critical Management Studies Division, 2019
  • William H. Newman Award Nominee – Academy of Management  (Best paper based on a dissertation), 2019
  • Queen’s Post-Doctoral Travel Award, 2019
  • Monieson Centre Post-Doctoral Fellowship, 2018-2019
  • Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Grant, 2015-2018
  • Ontario Graduate Scholarship, 2014-2015
  • R.S. McLaughlin Fellowship, 2013-2014
  • Queen’s Graduate Award , 2013
  • OISE Funding Grant, 2011

Divers

Adam is an avid guitarist and enjoys hiking with his two dogs.