Femida Handy is Professor of Social Policy at the School of Social Policy & Practice at University of Pennsylvania and the former Director of the PhD Program. Her research and teaching focus on the economics of the nonprofit sector, volunteering, philanthropy, nonprofit management, environmental issues, entrepreneurship, and microfinance.
Dr. Handy served as the Editor-in-Chief of Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly from 2010 to 2016, the primer journal in the field, and serves on the editorial board of several academic journals. Professor Handy has published widely in a variety scientific journals on a variety of nonprofit-related topics, and her work has garnered many awards. Her most recent co-authored book is Ethical–Decision Making for Social Impact and examines the ethical dilemmas arising in nonprofits. One area of prominence is her scholarship on volunteering and philanthropy, in an international context. Her recent co-authored books on philanthropy are The Practice and Promise of Philanthropy in India (2016) and as well the award-winning book, The Palgrave Research Companion to Global Philanthropy (2015), which she co-edited.