Advisory Board

Neela is the executive director at the Yale Research Initiative on Innovation and Scale (Y-RISE) at Yale University, which focuses on developing the science around scaling policy interventions. Neela is a behavioral scientist by training with phenomenal experience in multiple areas such as consulting, teaching, researching, and writing. Prior to joining Yale, among her many roles, she helped set up the Centre for Social and Behaviour Change (CSBC) at Ashoka University, where she also served as a director for a few years.

Carlos Scartascini is head of the development research group and leader of the IDB Behavioral Economics Group. He has published eight books and more than 60 articles in specialized journals and edited volumes. He is a member of the executive committee of the IDB's Gender and Diversity Lab, a member of the University of Pennsylvania’s Master of Behavioral and Decisions Sciences Advisory Board, an associate editor of the academic journal Economía, and a founding member of LACEA's Behavioral Insights Network (BRAIN).

Claire Hobden is a behavioral scientist and specialist on vulnerable workers at the International Labour Organization (ILO). In her current role, Claire applies behavioral science to advance the ILO’s agenda to achieve decent work for workers in vulnerable employment, and represents the ILO in the G20 Behavioural Insights Knowledge Network. In addition, she works with the UN Executive Office of the Secretary-General in the development of tools to build the capacity of UN Entities to apply behavioral science.

Jeff Kreisler is an author, speaker, comedian, and advocate for behavioral science. He uses humor and research to understand, explain, and change the world. Winner of the Bill Hicks Spirit Award for Thought Provoking Comedy, Jeff runs PeopleScience.com, is an executive humor coach for Stanford Business School, and shares insights on CNBC, CNN, FoxNews, MSNBC. Jeff is the author of Get Rich Cheating: The Crooked Path to Easy Street and co-author of Dollars And Sense: How We Misthink Money and How To Spend Smarter.

Chiara is the lead behavioral scientist at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD - OCDE). Prior to this role, she held several positions in government: she was the principal advisor of the Behavioural Insights Unit of the Victorian Government in Australia, senior executive advisor in behavioral economics to the Australian Federal Government, and a research fellow at the Behavioural Insights Team in London.

Allison is the founder and director of the Center for Utilizing Behavioral Insights for Children (CUBIC) at Save the Children International. Launched in April 2020, CUBIC is the world’s first applied behavioral science team focusing specifically on the most marginalized children’s rights and welfare.

Pavan is the director of the Centre for Social and Behaviour Change (CSBC) at Ashoka University. Prior to this role, he was the director of the Centre for Experimental Social Sciences (CESS) Nuffield – FLAME University, and he has held positions at IIM Bangalore, MIT (Sloan), the University of Michigan Law School, and Harvard Law School, where he is an affiliated faculty at the Center on the Legal Profession. Pavan holds an LLM from Harvard Law School and a DPhil in sociology from the University of Oxford.

Dr. Casper is a professor of biology and has served as undergraduate chair and chair of that department. Her research career in plant ecology has spanned plant reproductive systems and pollination biology, belowground plant competition, ecology of mycorrhizal fungi, and plant community response to climate change. She earned her PhD from the University of Utah in 1982, joined the Penn faculty that same year, and has trained numerous graduate and undergraduate students.