Dr. David Harkins is a social scientist who helps leaders make sense of culture and change across complex human systems.
My story.
I work at the intersection of people, culture, and systems, specifically helping leaders and organizations make sense of change when familiar frameworks no longer hold the same truths. My work focuses on how meaning, identity, and shared understanding shape what is possible in complex social systems, particularly in moments of uncertainty, transition, and fragmentation. I am especially interested in this moment in our history because inherited models of leadership, organization, and progress are increasingly mismatched with the complexity of the challenges we face.
I explore these questions through teaching, research, writing, and advisory work. I am an assistant professor of social entrepreneurship at Belmont University, where I teach social entrepreneurship, entrepreneurship, systems-thinking approaches and other related topics. I’m also the founder and Managing Partner of David Harkins Company, my advisory practice where I help guide mission-driven and cross-sector leaders through sensemaking and strategic clarity around culture, complexity, and change.
My research and writing explore the human experience within systems and culture, whether in companies, institutions, or communities. I am particularly interested in organizational culture, collective empathy, entrepreneurial thinking, leadership for sustainable change, and creativity in complex problem-solving. Across these areas, my work examines why thoughtful change efforts often stall and what becomes possible when deeper human and cultural dynamics are brought into view.
At the core of my work is a belief that entrepreneurial thinking, which is understood not simply as venture creation, but as a way of seeing and acting, can unlock new possibilities for positive social impact. I am especially drawn to contexts where demographic shifts, cultural change, economic disruption, and access barriers challenge communities’ ability to adapt and thrive.
My academic training includes a Doctorate in Organization Development and Change from Bowling Green State University, a Master of Entrepreneurship from Western Carolina University, and a BBA in Entrepreneurial and Small Business Management from American Public University. I am also Certified Professional Coach.
Beyond formal roles and credentials, my work is shaped by both successes and failures. I bring a strong drive to create, a desire to build and nourish people and ideas, and a deep curiosity about what makes change possible when situations feel intractable. These experiences inform my conviction that perspective shapes outcomes, that possibility exists even in constraint, and that meaningful change begins with better sensemaking.
