Dr Farah Al Taji
Lecturer in Entrepreneurship and Strategy

Summary

Farah believes entrepreneurship is at its most meaningful when it is rooted in local cultures, strengthens communities, and contributes to more resilient, self-determined, inclusive, and sustainable economies. This belief underpins her research, teaching, and engagement with policymakers, practitioners, and grassroots initiatives.

She is a Lecturer in Entrepreneurship and Strategy at Brunel University of London. As a researcher, educator, and academic leader, Farah seeks to advance entrepreneurship as a catalyst for social and economic systems change. Her research focuses on social and impact entrepreneurship, hybrid organisations, social entrepreneurship education, and entrepreneurial ecosystems. She is particularly interested in how entrepreneurship can address complex societal challenges and generate lasting social and economic impact. Her work also explores the intersection of gender, forced displacement, and entrepreneurship, with a particular focus on solidarity economies, inclusive innovation, and entrepreneurial ecosystems in the Global South.

Farah completed her PhD in Management at Politecnico di Milano, Italy, in 2019. Following her doctorate, she was a postdoctoral researcher on a British Academy-funded project based at the University of Birmingham in collaboration with Al-Balqa Applied University in Jordan. This research examined entrepreneurship in contexts of forced migration and gender inequality.

She is the Principal Investigator of a British Academy-funded international research project, Doing Good, Growing Strong: Catalysing Economic and Social Impact in Jordan through Sustainable Social Enterprises, which brings together academic and practitioner partners from the UK, Jordan, and Sweden. The project seeks to strengthen the social entrepreneurship ecosystem in Jordan through research, capacity building, policy engagement, and knowledge exchange.

Farah's research is characterised by close collaboration with grassroots initiatives, policymakers, practitioners, civil society organisations, and entrepreneurial support organisations, with a strong emphasis on generating real-world impact through co-produced knowledge, capacity building, and evidence-informed policy. Beyond academia, she has co-founded several social initiatives that promote community engagement and social innovation.

In addition to her research, Farah has developed leadership in higher education through leading the MSc Management programme at Brunel Business School and establishing the annual Brunel Business Expo in 2024. The Expo provides students with the opportunity to showcase their business ideas, engage with industry professionals, and develop entrepreneurial and professional skills through experiential learning, while strengthening links between the University and the wider business community.

As an educator, she has extensive experience teaching undergraduate, postgraduate, executive education, and professional development programmes in the UK, Jordan, the UAE, and Italy. Her teaching spans entrepreneurship, social innovation, sustainability, and management and is underpinned by a philosophy of experiential learning. She believes education should encourage students to move beyond their comfort zone into their learning zone, where they embrace uncertainty, take informed risks, and learn by doing.

Qualifications

• 2019: PhD, Management Engineering, Politecnico di Milano University, Milan, Italy.
• 2011: MSc Engineering Management, Brunel University, United Kingdom.
• 2009: BSc Mechatronics Engineering, University of Jordan, Jordan.

Responsibility

- PI of the British Academy Funded Project: Doing good, growing strong: Catalysing economic and social impact in Jordan

- Programme Leader of MSc Management Management MSc | Brunel University of London