Elite Business Schools join forces to strengthen leadership development for the voluntary sector

The Open University Business School (OUBS) and Cass Business School (Cass), University of London, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to work collaboratively to further expand the provision of online leadership development for the voluntary sector.

Both Business Schools are among the global elite of schools that hold the gold standard of triple accreditation from the Association of Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), the Association of MBAs (AMBA) and the European Quality Improvement System (EQUIS). A further strength of the partnership is a result of the School’s two Centres of excellence; the Centre of Voluntary Sector Leadership at OUBS and the Centre for Charity Effectiveness at Cass.

The collaboration will bring together relevant academic research and expertise from both Centres, the postgraduate and management education expertise from Cass and the digital experience of The Open University, to support the development of leadership knowledge and skills across the voluntary sector. It will include the development of joint online modules, including Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) with a focus on financial leadership capabilities, leadership in managing volunteers and trustee governance.

Through sharing best practice on digital expertise and innovation, the collaboration will further spread the impact of the expertise of both Centres for the benefit of voluntary sector leaders.

We have a long and proud history of offering innovative solutions to meet the needs of students and businesses, harnessing the latest technology and approaches to educate the leaders of tomorrow. We are pleased to be working in partnership with Cass Business School to bring together our expertise and experience to support practitioners within the voluntary sector. We are excited to see what the future holds for both centres and the partnership.

Professor Rebecca Taylor
Executive Dean of The Open University Business School

For over a decade our Centre for Charity Effectiveness has provided significant support for the nonprofit sector through its research excellence, post graduate and management education programmes and knowledge sharing. By working with the OUBS we will be able to extend our reach to many more organisations and those who work within the sector. The collective impact of our two organisations will enable the nonprofit sector to ensure that their leaders are amongst the best, fuelling and sustaining high performance within their organisations.

Professor Marianne Lewis
Dean of Cass Business School

Links:
The Centre of Voluntary Sector Leadership at OUBS
The Centre for Charity Effectiveness at Cass