Alnoor Ebrahim

Associate Professor in Government and International Affairs and Urban Affairs and Planning

Alnoor Ebarhim

Dr. Alnoor Ebrahim is an Associate Professor with joint appointments in Government and International Affairs and Urban Affairs and Planning. He holds a Ph.D. from Stanford University (1999) where he studied organizational behavior and environmental planning and management, and a Bachelor's degree from M.I.T. (1991).

Professor Ebrahim is based in Alexandria, Virginia, where he co-directs Virginia Tech's Institute for Governance and Accountabilities. His areas of research include accountability, organizational learning, and capacity building in nonprofit and civil society organizations. Ebrahim is the author of NGOs and Organizational Change: Discourse, Reporting, and Learning (Cambridge University Press, 2003), and he is also the recipient of the 2003 outstanding article award from the Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly. 

His professional experience includes projects with the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank to improve accountability and partnerships with civil society organizations.  He has also worked with a number of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) over the past decade, such as the World Resources Institute in Washington, D.C., the Tata Energy Research Institute in New Delhi, and the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme in western India.

More locally, Alnoor Ebrahim works with poverty-oriented nonprofit organizations in the greater Washington, D.C. area on research to better use evaluation and reporting for mission achievement.  He also works with Virginia Tech's Service-Learning Center to identify opportunities for students to conduct practical and applied research in collaboration with local nonprofit organizations.

Dr. Ebrahim may be contacted at aebrahim@vt.edu

Publications

Books

  • Ebrahim, A. 2003.  NGOs and Organizational Change: Discourse, Reporting and Learning. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, U.K.
  • Ebrahim, A. and Edward Weisband (under preparation) Global Accountabilities and Civil Society expected 2005.

Peer Reviewed Journal Articles

  • Ebrahim, A. (forthcoming). "Accountability Myopia: Losing Sight of Organizational Learning," Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly.  Also published in D.H. Nagao (ed), Proceedings of the Sixty-third Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management (CD, "Best Papers" selection), Seattle, Washington, August  2003.
  • Ebrahim, A. 2004. "Institutional Preconditions to Collaboration:  Indian Forest and Irrigation Policy in Historical Perspective," Administration and Society, 36(2): 208-242.
  • Ebrahim, A. 2003. "Accountability in Practice: Mechanisms for NGOs," World Development 31(5): 813-829.
  • Ebrahim, A. 2003. "Making Sense of Accountability:  Conceptual Perspectives for Northern and Southern Nonprofits," Nonprofit Management and Leadership 14(2): 191-212.
  • Ebrahim, A. 2002. "Information Struggles:  The Role of Information in the Reproduction of NGO-Funder Relationships," Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly 31(1): 85-113. (Recipient of 2003 Outstanding Article Award)
  • Ebrahim, A. and L. Ortolano.  2001 . "Learning Processes in Development Planning:  A Theoretical Overview and Case Study,"  Journal of Planning Education and Research 20(4): 448-63.
  • Ebrahim, A. 2001. "NGO Behavior and Development Discourse," Voluntas: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations 12(2): 79-101.
  • Ebrahim, A.  2000. "Agricultural Cooperatives in Gujarat, India: Agents of Equity or Differentiation?" Development in Practice 10(2): 178-188.
  • Mohanty, S. and A. Ebrahim. 1995.  "Energy Pricing and Groundwater Use," Natural Resources Forum, 19(4): 321-330.

Other Papers, Contributions, and Professional Reports

  • Ebrahim, A. 2004. "Seeking NGO-Donor Partnership for Greater Effectiveness and Accountability. " Report for Workshop held on May 12-13, 2004 in Washington D.C. at the  Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF) & Sustainable Development Department (SDS), Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).
  • Ebrahim, A. 2003. "Effectiveness of Stakeholder Participation Processes: Yacyretá Hydroelectric Project, Paraguay and Argentina (LAC Region)." Consultancy Report prepared for the Latin America and Caribbean Region, World Bank, Washington, D.C.
  • Suri, L.R., S. Dutta, A. Ebrahim, G.K. Girisha, S. Kamal, S. Mohanty, and G. Sethi. 1994. Comanagement of Power and Groundwater Resources:  Issues in Sustainability and Equity in Groundwater Scarce Areas  Tata Energy Research Institute, New Delhi.
  • Contributions to: Ortolano, L. 1997. "Public Participation and Environmental Dispute Resolution" in Environmental Regulation and Impact Assessment,  New York: John Wiley and Sons, 402-421.

Book Reviews

  • Ebrahim, A. 2002. “Managing for Change: Leadership, Strategy and Management in Asian NGOs” by Ian Smillie and John Hailey. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 31(3): 442-445.

Faculty & Staff