Daniela Papi-Thorton

Biography

Daniela Papi-Thornton is an educator whose work focuses on systems-led social interventions. Daniela has served as a Lecturer at Yale School of Management, Watson Institute, and Oxford’s Saïd Business School where she was the Deputy Director of the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship. She continues to consult with Oxford’s Skoll Centre and other corporate and educational clients and she lectures globally on systems-led leadership. Her report and subsequent article, Tackling Heropreneurship, have been widely referenced. From that research she designed a tool called the Impact Gaps Canvas, used at universities around the world. At Oxford she launched educational programming designed to help incorporate systems thinking into social entrepreneurship education, including Map the System, a contest now running at ~40 global institutions. Daniela’s work in education design builds upon six years of emerging market entrepreneurial experience in Cambodia, running a hybrid social enterprise. She co-authored a book, Learning Service, focused on shifting mindsets and practices related to volunteer travel. Her 2018 Ashoka U Big Idea Talk and her TEDx talk on Reclaiming Social Entrepreneurship highlight some of her philosophies.