Featured Speakers
Join us at the annual conference to hear from renowned speakers on topics of interest.
Sustainability in an Era of Polarization
Moderator: Karen Winterich, Pennsylvania State University
Location: Constitution A
Speakers:
Dror Etzion
University of Vermont
Dror Etzion is the Steven Grossman Endowed Chair of Sustainable Business at the University of Vermont, and a Research Fellow at Reichman University. His research program focuses on “grand challenges”: the unyielding, intractable problems that characterize the Anthropocene. Basically, he is trying to understand if — and how — organizations can be a force for good.
Talk Title: Robust action: The art and science of tackling grand challenges
Louis Leonard
Clark University
Lou Leonard, JD, is the inaugural D.J.A. Spencer Dean of the School of Climate, Environment, and Society which pairs Clark’s historic strengths in geography, economics, and global development with new interdisciplinary degrees and research. For over 25 years, Leonard has advanced energy, environment and climate action within government, private sector, civil society and higher education.
Talk Title: Better and Better, Worse and Worse, Faster and Faster: How public perception, private action, and political posturing are shaping the planet’s future
Impact of Local News and a Customer Service Orientation on How (Well) Government Works
Moderator: Manoj Thomas, Cornell University
Location: Constitution B
Speakers:
Amira Choueiki Boland
New Practice Lab
Amira Choueiki Boland is the Chief of Staff at the New Practice Lab. Prior to the Lab, Amira was the first-ever lead for Federal Customer Experience (CX) at the Office of Management and Budget in the Executive Office of the President. She received the 2024 Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Award for Management Excellence, the premier award recognizing Federal civil servants, for her work pioneering policies of the United States to improve customer experience and public service delivery. Amira joined the Federal government in 2015 as a founding member of the White House Social and Behavioral Sciences Team. She teaches at the McCourt School of Public Policy, is a Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School, serves on the Stanford Impact Lab’s Investment Council, and is a proud mom of two.
Talk Title: Consumer Research and the Public Sector: How behavioral science, customer experience, product development, and service design practices have and can make our government work better for all (and provides opportunities for researchers like you!)
Danny Hayes
George Washington University
Danny Hayes is professor of political science at George Washington University. He received his Ph.D. in Government from the University of Texas at Austin, where he also earned a master’s degree in Government and a bachelor’s degree in Journalism. A former journalist, Professor Hayes’ research focuses on the media, public opinion, and elections. He is an author of three books published by Cambridge University Press. The most recent, News Hole: The Demise of Local Journalism and Political Engagement (2021), was awarded the Goldsmith Book Prize from Harvard University’s Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics, and Public Policy. His work has been supported by the National Science Foundation and has appeared in the American Journal of Political Science, Journal of Politics, and other academic journals. He also serves as an editor of Good Authority and previously was an editor at The Monkey Cage at the Washington Post. He is the recipient of the Kenny Prize for Innovation in Teaching of Introductory Courses, and three times has been named George Washington University’s best professor by the student newspaper.
Talk Title: The local news crisis and what it means for American politics
Building Trust and Reputation in the Generation of A.I.
Panelist: Stefano Puntoni, University of Pennsylvania
Moderator: Cait Lamberton, University of Pennsylvania
Location: Constitution C+D+E
Speakers:
Michael Luca
Johns Hopkins University
Michael Luca is a professor and director of the Technology and Society Initiative at Johns Hopkins Carey Business School, and a research associate at NBER. His research explores the design of online platforms and how data can guide managerial and policy decisions. His research has been published in journals including the American Economic Review, Journal of Economic Perspectives, Management Science, Marketing Science, and PNAS. He teaches and develops courses on business analytics, technology, and behavioral economics, and has written extensively for outlets including the Wall Street Journal and Harvard Business Review. He has served in advisory roles with NABE, the Behavioural Insights Team, OECD, and CNBC’s Technology Executive Council.
Talk title: Designing Online Information Environments
Scott Stornetta
SureMark Digital
Considered by many to be the co-inventor of the blockchain (along with Dr. Stuart Haber), Dr. W. Scott Stornetta is an active investor, teacher, mentor, and the CEO of SureMark Digital. SureMark uses the same techniques that undergird the blockchain to create peer-to-peer unforgeable identities. Currently, he serves as a fellow at the Creative Destruction Lab at the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto.Bio
Talk Title: A Firm Foundation – Rebuilding producer/consumer trust in an AI world
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