Assistant Professor, Department of Human Resources & Organizational Behaviour

Associate Faculty / Special Advisor on Community Engaged Scholarship, School of Environment & Sustainability

Research Associate, Community-University Institute for Social Research

Dr. Willness's research focuses on how organizations' environmental practices and community involvement (e.g., CSR) impact reputation, which in turn affects attracting and retaining talent, employee engagement, consumer behaviour -- and people's skeptical reactions to some of those CSR claims. She holds two national research grants (SSHRC) for her work on these topics, and has presented her research locally, nationally, and internationally. She has also co-authored two recent book chapters on CSR and reputation, and corporate environmental sustainability.

Chelsea also studies topics such as decision making during job search, strategic human resource management, and community engagement partnerships. She is a collaborator on a $2.5 million SSHRC Partnership grant examining Community First: Impacts of Community Engagement. In 2012, Chelsea was awarded an Innovation in Teaching Award from the Academy of Management for her design and implementation of HR courses that integrate community involvement and experiential learning.

Prior to completing her graduate degrees, Dr. Willness enjoyed a 10-year career with the tourism HR sector council where she was heavily involved in training and education for the industry. She holds the national designation of certified Industry Trainer, with both consulting and occupational experience in seminar facilitation.

Highlights of Dr. Willness's research interests and expertise:

Check out Dr. Willness's latest column in the Financial Post Executive: http://business.financialpost.com/author/cwillness/

http://www.financialpost.com/executive/video/index.html?embedCode=93bjBlMjr0OSaQvCM7hfNXR2aizop6zP#Financial%20P