Danbi Seo
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Mail code: 3720Campus: Dtphx
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Danbi Seo is an assistant professor in the School of Public Affairs at the Arizona State University. She earned her doctoral degree in public affairs from the University of Minnesota and a master’s degree in public administration from the Seoul National University, South Korea. She studies collaboration, strategic management, leadership, and innovation in the public and nonprofit sectors, using qualitative and process-oriented research approaches. Her work has been published in major journals and book chapters, including Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, Public Management Review, VOLUNTAS, Nonprofit Management & Leadership, Public Performance and Management Review, International Public Management Journal, and Policy & Politics.
Before joining ASU, she worked at various centers, including the Public and Nonprofit Leadership Center and the Shared Leadership Lab at the University of Minnesota, and the Asia Development Institute at the Seoul National University. She is currently a fellow at the Center for Organization Research and Design and serves as an academic faculty at the Lodestar Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Innovation. She has conducted external and developmental evaluation on various public and nonprofit programs and partnerships, including the NSF-funded Regional Innovation Engine initiatives and Catalyst nonprofit collaboration.
- PhD. University of Minnesota
- MPA. Seoul National University
- BA. Seoul National University
Peer-Reviewed Research Publications
- Seo, D., Bryson, J. M., Crosby, B. C., Williams, M., & Cheng, Y. (Forthcoming) “Achieving organizational transformation: Leadership and strategic planning as a structurational process,” International Public Management Journal. (DOI: 10.1080/10967494.2025.2559830)
- Seo, D., & Onishi, T. (2025) “The role and potential of grounded theory in advancing nonprofit research and theory development,” VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations (DOI: 10.1007/s11266-025-00757-9)
- Seo, D. (2025) “Hang in there: Capacity constraints and processes of sustaining collaboration over time,” Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 35(2), 199-215. (DOI: 10.1093/jopart/muaf003)
- Seo, D., Bryson, J. M., & Williams, M. (2025) “Nonprofit sector ambidexterity: A framework for understanding innovation and strategy change in nonprofit organizations,” Public Management Review, 1-23. (DOI: 10.1080/14719037.2025.2452880)
- Bryson, J. M., Seo, D., Cheng, Y., Crosby, B. C., & Wang, S. (2025) “Ongoing strategizing in practice: Examining CEO activities and a social enterprise’s pathways to growth and greater effectiveness,” Public Management Review, 1-34. (DOI: 10.1080/14719037.2025.2470409)
- Bryson, J. M., George, B., & Seo, D. (2024) “Understanding goal formation in strategic public management: A proposed theoretical framework,” Public Management Review, 26(2), 539-564. (DOI: 10.1080/14719037.2022.2103173)
- Seo, D., Bryson, J. M., & Crosby, B.C. (2023) “How can collaboration deliver? A structurational approach to understanding collaboration effectiveness,” Nonprofit Management and Leadership, 34(2), 345-370. (DOI: 10.1002/nml.21571)
- Seo, D. & Bryson, J. M. (2022) “Resource development and use in nonprofit collaboration,” Public Performance and Management Review. 45(5), 1181-1213. (DOI: 10.1080/15309576.2022.2075021)
- Bryson, J. M., Crosby, B. C., & Seo, D. (2022) “Strategizing on behalf of social enterprises: The case of the Metropolitan Economic Development Association and Catalyst,” Public Management Review, 24(1), 124-141. (DOI: 10.1080/14719037.2020.1798128)
- Page, S. B., Bryson, J. M., Crosby, B.C., Seo, D., & Stone, M. M. (2021) “Ambidexterity in cross-sector collaborations involving public organizations,” Public Performance and Management Review, 44(6), 1161-1190. (DOI: 10.1080/15309576.2021.1937243)
- Bryson, J. M., Crosby, B. C., & Seo, D. (2020) “The Development of collaborative governance: The role of the design and use of forums, arenas, and courts,” Policy and Politics, 48(1), 167-189. (DOI: 10.1332/030557319X15613696433190).
- Seo, D., & Koo, M. G. (2014) “The International Anti-Ocean Dumping Regimes and South Korea: Policy Diffusion, Policy Learning and the Ambiguity-Conflict Matrix.” Korean Policy Studies Review, 23(2),145-171. (in Korean)
Editor-Reviewed Book Chapters and Other Publications
- Bryson, J. M., Crosby, B. C., & Seo, D. (2023) “Using a design approach to create collaborative governance,” In Arwin van Buuren, Jenny M. Lewis, and B. Guy Peters, Eds., Policy-Making as Designing: The Added Value of Design Thinking for Public Administration and Public Policy. Bristol, England: Bristol University Press.
- Bryson, J. M., Crosby, B. C., & Seo, D. (2019) “Strategic thinking in support of intensive and extensive good,” In Elizabeth K. Minnich and Michael Quinn Patton, Eds., Thought Works: Thinking, Action, and the Fate of the World. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers.
- Bryson, J. M., & Seo, D. (2018) “A Guide to Strengthening and Sustaining Organizational Achievement.” Online Premium Teaching Content in J. M. Bryson, Strategic Planning for Public and Nonprofit Organizations. Hoboken, New Jersey: Wiley & Sons. (available at www.wiley.com/go/johnbryson5e)
Courses
2026 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| PAF 460 | Public Service Ethics |
2025 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| PAF 503 | Public Affairs |
2025 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| NLM 510 | The Nonprofit Sector |
| NLM 510 | The Nonprofit Sector |
| NLM 530 | Program Eval & Info Mgmt |
| NLM 530 | Program Eval & Info Mgmt |
2024 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| NLM 515 | Nonprofit Org Behavior & Mgmt |
| NLM 515 | Nonprofit Org Behavior & Mgmt |
| NLM 530 | Program Eval & Info Mgmt |
| NLM 530 | Program Eval & Info Mgmt |
2024 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| NLM 510 | The Nonprofit Sector |
| NLM 510 | The Nonprofit Sector |
| NLM 530 | Program Eval & Info Mgmt |
| NLM 530 | Program Eval & Info Mgmt |
2023 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| NLM 510 | The Nonprofit Sector |
| NLM 515 | Nonprofit Org Behavior & Mgmt |
| NLM 515 | Nonprofit Org Behavior & Mgmt |
| NLM 510 | The Nonprofit Sector |
2023 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| NLM 530 | Program Eval & Info Mgmt |
| NLM 530 | Program Eval & Info Mgmt |