Dr Sara Calvo Martinez

Professional biography

Dr. Sara Calvo (PhD) is a Senior Lecturer in Entrepreneurship at the Department of Public Leadership & Social Enterprise, where she brings academic experience from posts held in the UK and Spain. Prior to joining the Open University, she was a Senior Lecturer at Middlesex University. She  is a certified Social Enterprise Business Consultant and a certified Coach by the International Coaching Federation. She is the co-founder of the social enterprise, Minca Ventures, an organization that works to create impact and sustainability projects where they carry out consulting, coaching and training work. She has recently published a book with case studies of sustainable organisations she has visited and worked with from across 14 countries 'Leading with Purpose: Stories of Social Heroes'.

Research interests

Dr Sara Calvo research interests include entrepreneurship, sustainability, social enterprise and third sector organisation, video research, educational technology, impact evaluation methods and social innovation. Some of the topics she is currently researching are: circular economy; faith based social enterprises in Africa; methods for the evaluation of sustainable business related MOOS; social innovation processes in the Global North and South. Her research has been funded by the British Council and the Newton Fund. 

Teaching interests

Dr Sara Calvo teaching interests centre around the areas of entrepreneurship and sustainability. In the past she has taught undergraduate and postgraduate modules on leadership and management, international development, Human Resources, Entrepreneurship and Social Enterprises. 

Impact and engagement

She has travelled to more than 40 countries and visited more than 200 social enterprises across the globe. She has worked as a consultant and advisor with more than 100 sustainable organizations and social enterprises in around 40 countries in Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America. 

Since 2016, she is the coordinator of five educational programs at FutureLearn on social entrepreneurship, upcycling and social innovation with which she has had more than 100,000 students from 180 countries. She has published numerous books and articles in high impact magazines as well as she has created a YouTube channel (Impact Story Channel) with a podcast where she shares information about agents of social change and sustainable projects and social innovation. 

She organizes workshops and conferences to support social entrepreneurship, sustainability, and people's development. More information: www.mincaventures.com 

External collaborations

She collaborates with the following research network:

EMES (International Research Network);

GEM (Global Entrepreneurship Network);