Dr Shima Barakat

Shima is broadly interested in critically studying management and entrepreneurship practice to explore the implications on people and the planet. She has a particular interest in exploring how and why people do or don’t do things. Her recent work focuses on global food, agri and environmental challenges, and the nature, rate, focus, location, activities, team choices, networks and education/training needs of entrepreneurs and their ventures in providing solutions to such big challenges. Shima has held an appointment at the University of Cambridge for more than 10 years, and prior to joining the Office for Postdoctoral Affairs was the Head of Entrepreneurial Learning Programmes at the Entrepreneurship Centre of the Judge Business School.

Shima’s experience is in how the environment is understood as a strategic issue and integrated into organisational strategy. She has spent the last 20 years helping companies (SMEs and MNEs), governments and international funding agencies to improve their performance in an environmentally and socially sensitive manner. She is founder and Managing Director of Value in Enterprise, the responsible business consultancy company.  She has also been among the founders of several charities that aim to engage communities in their own development in Egypt (Nahdet El Mahrousa and Egyptian Junior Business Association) and the US (Global Communities Initiative), and is on the Board of Trustees of the Institute of Small Business and Entrepreneurship in the UK.  She recently set up the Impact Women’s Network to raise the visibility of enterprising women and enable the creation of greater impact through the power of the collective.