Effectual Reasoning: How Women Entrepreneurs Start Sport for Development Organizations

While the Sport for Development and Peace field has attracted significant scholarly attention, existing research has focused on established organizations rather than the formative stages of organizational development. This study is the first to explore the experiences of women launching their own Sport for Development and Peace organizations ( n = 21). Building on previous knowledge regarding the additional barriers that women often experience in both sport and entrepreneurship, we intentionally focused on female founders. We draw on effectuation theory to analyze how women entrepreneurs make decisions while creating nonprofit ventures. Founders engaged in effectual reasoning, acting with existing resources to shape the future, rather than planning, and predicting what may happen. Yet our findings challenge the assumption of maintaining control over uncertainty by employing effectuation. We demonstrate the need for a more contextualized model of effectual reasoning in resource-constrained and fragmented ecosystems, such as Sport for Development and Peace, accounting for the systemic constraints women entrepreneurs must navigate.