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Elizabeth Benefield

“For over 30 years I have been combining a deep commitment to social justice with a passion for teaching young people how to become aspirational change leaders. Radiate Works is the culmination of a career dedicated to building strategic bridges across sectors and difference, and to creative problem solving. Through skilled facilitation, I love nothing more than uncovering the “a-has” and finding points of collaboration. Solid strategic thinking and building things from the ground up characterize ten years in the nonprofit sector and almost twenty years in higher education. In my previous role as Director of Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship at NC State, I led a campus wide effort to create and nurture an entrepreneurial ecosystem built on strong external partnerships and focused on embedding impact practices, with the goal of empowering students to become engaged citizens of the world.”   

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Background

After relocating to North Carolina from Ohio in 1988, Elizabeth worked for ten years as Director of Development then Assistant Dean for Advancement at the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Social Work where she raised over $20 million in capital and academic support. She secured private and public funds to build the school’s PhD program, establish five professorships and construct a new building. She developed and taught graduate level classes in nonprofit management, and co-authored a book on nonprofit fundraising. Passionate about blending the expertise of diverse sectors, she launched a social enterprise, the Rosie Group, to help nonprofits innovate in the areas of sustainability and social entrepreneurship. She spent fifteen years as a consultant to social sector and mission-driven businesses with a focus on high-level strategic work to help them embed innovative practices with the goal of creating sustainable impact. Elizabeth spent ten years at NC State University as Director of Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship, a position in which she was responsible for designing the campus-wide vision for social entrepreneurship. She established the university’s Social Entrepreneur in Residence program, its TEDx-style COMx series and Dinners With Purpose events. She designed and launched the NC State Social Innovation Fellows in fall 2017 and managed all operations. 


Elizabeth holds an MA from Duke University and a BA from the College of Wooster. She has two grown children, both of whom attended UNC system schools. She loves to travel, garden, practice yoga, and champion social justice, especially for women and girls.

Contact

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Radiate Works innovation impact design strategy consulting firm

about radiate works

Radiate Works is a boutique consultancy offering a customized process to enable organizations to reimagine impact. We bring to Radiate Works a commitment to results. Our human-centered approach is uniquely effective in helping our clients design new strategies and build creative solutions.

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