Peter Elson is Adjunct Assistant Professor, School of Public Administration, University of Victoria, and Senior Research Fellow in the Institute for Community Prosperity at Mount Royal University. Peter received his MSc in Voluntary Sector Organization from LSE and his PhD in Adult Education and Community Development from University of Toronto.
Between 2010 and 2016 Peter worked with Peter Hall (SFU) and community partners across Canada to conduct the first comprehensive national profile of social enterprises in Canada.
Peter was co-lead with Jean-Marc Fontan (UQAM) of a SSHRC Research Partnership Development Grant (2014-2017) that focused on the societal impact of grantmaking foundations in Canada; and is currently co-lead with Jean-Marc of a stage two SSHRC Partnership Research application.
Peter’s specific research interests include the engagement of grant-making foundations in public policy and in Indigenous communities; and the analysis of an enabling policy environment for the charitable and voluntary sector, both in Canada and as part of an independent G20 working group.
He is author of High Ideals and Noble Intentions: Voluntary Sector-Government Relations in Canada (2011) and editor of Funding Policies and the Nonprofit Sector in Western Canada (2016), both published by the University of Toronto Press.