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Faculty & Staff

Areas of Expertise

Sustainability indicators, corporate social responsibility, environmental and occupational health, cleaner/sustainable production

Degrees

ScD, Cleaner Production and Pollution Prevention, University of Massachusetts Lowell
MSc, Pollution and Environmental Control, University of Manchester, UK
BS, Electrical Engineering, Technical University of Varna, Bulgaria

Professional Publications & Contributions

• Veleva V., Parker S., Lee A. and C. Pinney, “Measuring the business impact of community involvement: The case of volunteering at UL”, Business & Society Review, Vol. 117, Issue 1, pp. 123-142, Spring 2012.
• Veleva V., “Toward Developing a New Framework for Measuring the Business Value of Corporate Community Involvement Initiatives”, Applied Journal of Quality of Life, Fall 2010, Vol. 5, No. 4, pp: 309-324, DOI: 1007/s11482-010-9112-8.
• Veleva V., “Managing Corporate Citizenship: A New Tool for Companies”, Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management (2009), DOI: 10.1002/csr.206, http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/110497535/issue.
• Veleva V. “The State of Corporate Citizenship 2009: The Recession Test”, Corporate Finance Review, January/February 2010, Vol. 14, No. 4, pp. 17-25.
• Veleva V., “New Balance: Developing an Integrated CSR Strategy”, Case 9B10M011W, Richard Ivey School of Business, The University of Western Ontario, Canada, Jan. 2010.
• Veleva V., “Product Stewardship in the U.S.: The Changing Policy Landscape and the Role of Business”, Sustainability: Science, Practice and Policy, Vol. 4, Issue 2, Fall/Winter 2008, http://ejournal.nbii.org/archives/vol4iss2/communityessay.veleva.html.

Additional Information

Background

Vesela’s research focuses on the drivers and process for integrating sustainability into an organization’s strategy and management, evaluating and benchmarking sustainability practices, and developing the business case for greater environmental and social responsibility. Her recent research focused on developing qualitative and quantitative measures to evaluate the business benefits of intangibles such as improved company reputation, community support, employee engagement, and health and productivity among others. Vesela’s work has been published in peer reviewed journals such as the Journal of Cleaner Production, Greener Management International, Corporate Environmental Strategy, and New Solutions: Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health Policy. She has a doctorate in Cleaner Production and Pollution Prevention from the Department of Work Environment, UMASS Lowell, and previously has worked as Research Manager at the Center for Corporate Citizenship, Boston College, Social Research Analyst for Citizens Socially Responsible Mutual Funds, and a sustainability consultant for Pure Strategies Inc. and Sustainable Measures, Inc.

Courses Taught

Business Environments and Public Policy, Green Innovation and Eco-efficiency Strategies for Business, Corporate Social Responsibility, Managing in a Diverse and Changing World, International Environmental Science and Policy

Research Interests

Toxics use reduction and clean production; barriers and drivers for greater adoption of clean technology; the social and environmental impacts of emerging technology (e.g., nanotechnology); business models for dematerialization and reduced resource consumption; the impacts of socially responsible investing.

Personal Activities

Hiking, biking, yoga, healthy food and nutrition

Honors/Awards

• 2001 George P. and Cynthia Mitchell International Young Scholar Award for Sustainable Development (USA) (2001)
• Work Environment Scholarship Award, UMASS Lowell (June 2001)
• Open Society Foundation Grant (Bulgaria) and UMASS Lowell research assistantship to attend Sc.D. program at UMASS Lowell (1997)
• SOROS Foundation/University of Manchester Scholarship to attend the M.Sc. course at the University of Manchester, 1993-94 (1993)