Stephanie Giamporcaro

Stephanie Giamporcaro is Associate Professor in Responsible and Sustainable Finance and is affiliated with the Accounting and Finance Department. Her research is rooted in sociology and organization theory and investigates broadly sustainable and innovative finance both in Europe and Africa as core ‘empirical contexts’. Her academic work has been published in academic journals such as Journal of Business Ethics Quarterly; Organization Studies and Journal of Business Ethics. In addition she authored award winning case studies dedicated to Sustainable Finance dilemmas in emerging market contexts. She has also published in The Conversation South Africa and UK. She is currently involved in a funded project around blockchain finance and investment in Africa.

She is the research coordinator for the Accounting and Finance department. She organises the internal and external research seminar program and coordinates the internal research review process for the Accounting and Finance department. She also oversees the Accounting and Finance monthly research reporting for the NBS Research Strategy Group (RSG), and she is also a member of the Accounting and Finance strategic research group. She is collaborating actively with other research centres and groups. She supervises NBS PHD, DBA and Mphil students. Stephanie teaches on Corporate Governance and Accountability for the MSc Finance Suite (Accounting, Finance, Investment Banking). Her teaching integrates fully the question of Sustainability and Sustainable Finance to the matter of Corporate Governance. She also teaches qualitative research methods for the MSc Finance Suite.

Stephanie is to this day an affiliated visiting associate professor with the University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business where she is involved with PhD, Mphil and MBA research projects. From 2013 to 2018, she was the director of publication for theBertha Centre Africa Investing for Impact Barometer. This impact research publication targeted the investment industry, policy makers, media and civil society to effect change and practices in the implementation of SRI and impact investment strategies in the African continent.

Stephanie presents regularly to internationally recognized academic conferences such as the European Group Organization Studies conference (EGOS) and the Academy of Management conference (AOM) but also academic practitioner conference such as the Principle for responsible investment conference. She is regularly invited to present her research work outside the UK. She is a member of the Principle for Responsible Investment Academic Network (PRI) and she is an academic member of the French Social Investment Forum which gathered practitioners and academics. She is also a member of the jury for the Academic French SIF prize whose she was the president in 2018.

Career overview

Prior joining NTU, Stephanie Giamporcaro was associate professor and the research director at the University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business. Besides being in charge of the academic research agenda, she directed the PhD modular research course, which covers areas of organization and management studies and research methods.

Prior to embrace fully an academic career, she was the head of SRI for the French think tank Novethic (2002/2008), subsidiary of the French Public Investment Group Caisse des Depots and was one of the leading experts on SRI management and strategies in France. Her industrial and practitioner experience has travelled with her across different continents and in 2013, she was nominated one of the 35 foreigners under 35-years-old making an impact on the continent of Africa.

Following her move to South Africa, she produced not only in top tier academic journals but also several policy papers and impact research notably during her post doc and research fellowship at the University of Cape Town School of Economics (2009/2011). In 2006, she obtained the highest honour and mention a PhD in Social Sciences at the University of Paris V France.

Research areas

Her research focuses, on applying the theoretical insights from the anthropology of markets, French pragmatist sociology, economic sociology and organizational theories to the study of sustainable and responsible investment (SRI) amongst others emerging and innovative social phenomena.

She has edited a book in French on Political Consumption and wrote several book chapters on sustainable and responsible investment. She has and a number of peer-reviewed research articles in top-tier academic and practitioner journals including: OrganizationStudies, Journalof Business Ethics, Journalof SustainableInvestmentandFinance, Investment Analyst Journal, and Development Southern Africa.

External activity

Associate Professor Stephanie is regularly invited to teach on MBAs and executive education courses around sustainable, responsible and impact investment. She is a member of the Jury of the FIR prize that identifies the best European responsible and sustainable academic research of the year.

Sponsors and collaborators

In collaboration and funded by the acclaimed Bertha Centre for Social and Entrepreneurship she is the director of publication of the Africa Investing for Impact Barometer. This impact research publication targets the investment industry, policy makers, media and civil society to effect change and practices in the implementation of SRI and impact investment strategies in the African continent. As one of few experts in the field, investment industry researchers and practitioners and the media often consult her expertise of SRI in Africa. This has led to awarded grants and projects with NGO, governments, and industries.