Ph.D., Antioch University, 2016, Leadership and Change

Climate change is one of the most significant dynamics of our time. The predominant contributor to climate change is combustion of fossil fuels by humans. This study deepened understanding of organizational leaders' role in enacting one approach to addressing climate change: institutional fossil fuel divestment. The study used a qualitative research design to explore U.S.-based foundation leaders' readiness to pursue fossil fuel divestment by their institutions. The study examined leaders' motivations and actions in pursuing divestment, while simultaneously exercising their fiduciary duty to steward institutional assets. Research questions focused on the divestment behavior change process and the outcomes of divestment on leaders and their organizations. Data collection and analysis were derived from two datasets: 34 foundation divestment commitment statements and semi-structured interviews with 18 foundation leaders. The study highlighted leaders' intentional actions, outside the norms of the philanthropic sector and corporate governance, to enact their values and beliefs through divestment, as a form of socially responsible investing. Leaders' pursuit of divestment constituted mission-aligned positive deviance. Findings suggested that leaders of mission-driven institutions can benefit by taking more direct responsibility for institutional investing in ways that are consistent with institutional mission. Doing so, they may unleash new energy that enhances the well-being of the organization and its members and sparks innovation in the financial services sector. They may also experience higher levels of satisfaction, pride, happiness, and engagement with their organizational roles. This study extends scholarship on divestment, foundations as change agents, leadership and positive deviance, psychology of climate change, pro-environmental behavior (PEB), socially responsible investing, and the Transtheoretical Model of Behavior Change (TTM). Implications fo (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Laura Morgan Roberts Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Carol Baron Ph.D. (Committee Member); Niki Harre Ph.D. (Committee Member); James Prochaska Ph.D. (Other) Subjects: Alternative Energy; Behavioral Psychology; Behavioral Sciences; Climate Change; Environmental Studies; Ethics; Petroleum Production; Social Research