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Dr Aastha Malhotra

Dr Aastha Malhotra
Name Aastha Malhotra
Pronoun She/Her/Hers
Position Senior Lecturer (Social Work and Human Services)
Section School of Psychology and Wellbeing
Office B343
Location Ipswich Campus
Phone +61 7 3812 6083
Extension 6083
Email
Qualifications MHumServ Qld , PhD Qld
Languages Hindi (accredited translator)
Homepage https://au.linkedin.com/in/aa5tha
The views expressed on staff homepages may not reflect the views of the University.

Biography

Dr Aastha Malhotra is a Senior Lecturer in Social Work and Human Services. She specialises in supporting human and community services agencies and social enterprises to navigate strategic change and enhance effectiveness in service delivery through meaningful integration of theory and practice. She brings 15+ years of experience of collaborating on innovative community-based initiatives, where along with awesome teams, she has helped managers and leaders to engage more meaningfully with stakeholders, capture and communicate impact and make (effective/solid) data-driven decisions to co-create positive strategic outcomes. She has also been invited to share her work through keynote presentations, panel discussions and creative and informative workshops for organisations such as UN WOMEN, Queensland Aboriginal and Islander Health Council, TAFE Qld, Ethnic Communities Council of Queensland, Community Services Industry Alliance and Ipswich City Council among many others. Prior to her current role, she was a Vice-Chancellor’s Research fellow in Organisational Resilience at the Institute of Resilient Regions, UniSQ and a Sessional Academic at UQ Business School. She has also managed a social enterprise in India where she worked on social inclusion issues facing rehabilitated prisoners in Asia's largest prison and developed and evaluated community engagement projects for marginalised individuals living with HIV in Canada. Aastha’s educational background includes a Bachelor with Honours from India and a Masters in Human Services (specialisation management and leadership) from University of Queensland where she graduated with a Dean’s commendation. She also holds a PhD in Management from UQ Business School for which she received a Social Innovation Scholarship from Suncorp and Youngcare Australia and an Executive Leadership Certification from Saïd Business School, Oxford University. Strengths & Experience • Driven by a desire to bring together knowledge of transformational values-based leadership, design thinking, strategic development, and impact evaluation with my personal & professional commitment to social justice • Managing and leading social-purpose academic and research programs to facilitate authentic learning, critical analysis, positive stakeholder experience and industry-friendly outcomes • Portfolio spanning strategic readiness projects in the areas of Disability Support, Inclusive Employment, Family Support Services, Refugee Settlement & innovative regional and international entrepreneurial programs aimed at equal participation of marginalised communities (funded by Queensland Government and Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade) • Recognised through selection for the Senior Women’s Leadership Program (2022), nomination to participate in the Women & Leadership Australia Symposium (2021) and funding support through the Office of Advancement of Learning and Teaching (2019) within UniSQ. • Experienced qualitative researcher (in thematic analysis & case study development) currently supervising PhD and other Higher Degree Research Students who are interested in undertaking study at the intersection of strategy, leadership and social justice Please reach out if you would like to have a chat about all things strategic change, effective service delivery and social purpose!

Research Career


  • Strategy ( 350799 )
  • Socio-Economic Development ( 440407 )
  • Social Program Evaluation ( 440903 )
  • Not-For-Profit Business And Management ( 350708 )
  • Strategy ( 350700 )
  • Social Work ( 440900 )
  • Development Studies ( 440400 )
  • Social Work not elsewhere classified ( 440999 )
  • Development Studies not elsewhere classified ( 440499 )

  • Institute for Resilient Regions (IRR)

Teaching


Program Director (Human Services)

Supervision


  • Strategy ( 350799 )
  • Socio-Economic Development ( 440407 )
  • Social Program Evaluation ( 440903 )
  • Not-For-Profit Business And Management ( 350708 )
  • Strategy ( 350700 )
  • Social Work ( 440900 )
  • Development Studies ( 440400 )
  • Social Work not elsewhere classified ( 440999 )
  • Development Studies not elsewhere classified ( 440499 )