A BIG Difference for BC 2018: Victoria
Speakers Bios
Keynote Address
Elizabeth Linos, University of California Berkeley
Elizabeth Linos is a behavioral economist and public management scholar. Her research focuses on how to improve government by focusing on its people. Specifically, her studies consider how we can improve diversity in recruitment and selection, and how different work environments affect performance and motivation in government. As the former VP and Head of Research and Evaluation at the Behavioral Insights Team in North America, she worked with city governments across the US to improve programs using behavioral science and to build capacity around rigorous evaluation. Prior to this role, Elizabeth was a policy advisor to the Greek Prime Minister, George Papandreou, focusing on social innovation and public sector reform. She has also worked for the Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL), evaluating and designing innovative social programs in Bangladesh, Morocco, and France. Dr. Linos holds a PhD in Public Policy from Harvard University, where she also completed her A.B. in Government and Economics, magna cum laude with highest honors.
Morning Featured Panel
Heather Devine, Behavioural Insights Group
Heather Devine is Head of the BC Behavioural Insights Group (BIG). Passionate about making government services better and improving the lives of British Columbians, Heather and her team use insights and methods from the behavioural sciences to solve problems across a variety of policy domains. In its first year, BIG ran trials in hiring, charitable giving, and tax collection. Launching BIG was a full-circle opportunity for Heather who began her public service career in an applied judgment and decision-making lab at Defence Research and Development Canada (DRDC-Toronto). Her current appreciation for ‘serving the greater good’ stems from this early experience seeing innovation, experimentation and evidence-based policymaking translate into meaningful change.
Tobin Postma, City of Vancouver
As the Director of Strategic Initiatives at the City of Vancouver, Tobin Postma works across City departments and with external stakeholders and partners to identify opportunities and figure out ways to quickly implement or trial any project, initiative or idea that could help the City’s efforts to manage and improve street-level or downstream impacts of systemic social challenges such as street homelessness, mental illness and addiction – no matter how big or how small. In addition to this, Tobin is passionate about promoting and supporting innovation within and outside of the municipal government in order to drive sustainable change.
Kerri Buschel, WorkSafe BC
Kerri Buschel is the Director of Marketing, Insights and Experience at WorkSafeBC. Using behavioural research and insights to better understand the people we serve, Kerri and her team work with internal partners to build experiences, services and products that help WorkSafeBC connect with people to achieve awareness as well as shifts in behaviour around health and safety at work. From correspondence and shifts in how we communicate to the development of initiatives for workers and employers in high risk industries – behavioural insights enable better results. With a career in public sector roles, Kerri has a passion for connecting with people - and is a guest speaker and facilitator on brand, culture, knowing your audience, and presenter on nudge and behavioural insights within the public sector.
David Hardisty, University of British Columbia
David Hardisty is Assistant Professor of Marketing & Behavioural Science at UBC Sauder School of Business. His research focuses on decisions about the future, including sustainability, financial planning, and impulsivity. He also studies attribute framing and social dilemmas. At UBC Sauder, he teaches Ethics & Sustainability and Consumer Behaviour. His ultimate goal is to develop tools to improve long-term decision making. He received his PhD in Psychology from Columbia University in 2011.
Kate White, University of British Columbia
Kate White is currently Professor of Marketing and Behavioural Science at the UBC-Sauder School of Business. She holds a professorship in Consumer Insights, Prosocial Consumption, and Sustainability and is Academic Director of the Dhillon Centre for Business Ethics. Kate’s research focuses on how to encourage ethical, prosocial, and sustainable consumer behaviours. Kate has consulted on various behaviour-change projects with industry collaborators such as The City of Calgary, Health Canada, BC Women’s Hospital, My Sustainable Canada, BC Hydro, Big Rock Brewery, The United Way, and Celgene Health Care.
Moderator: Ashley Whillans, Harvard Business School & Behavioural Insights Group
Ashley Whillans is an assistant professor in the Negotiation, Organizations & Markets Unit at Harvard Business School. Broadly, she studies how people navigate trade-offs between time and money. In both 2015 and 2018, she was named a Rising Star of Behavioral Science by the International Behavioral Exchange and the Behavioral Science and Policy Association. In 2016, she co-founded the Department of Behavioral Science in the Policy, Innovation, and Engagement Division of the British Columbia Public Service. Professor Whillans earned her BA, MA, and PhD in Social Psychology from the University of British Columbia. Prior to joining HBS, she was a visiting scholar and guest lecturer at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
Afternoon Workshop Panel
Dale Griffin, University of British Columbia
Dale Griffin is a professor of Marketing and Behavioural Sciences and was the interim Academic Director of the Dhillon Centre for Business Ethics at the University of British Columbia’s Sauder School of Business. He has taught at leading universities in Canada, Great Britain, and the United States, most recently at the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University. Professor Griffin teaches courses in Responsible Business, Marketing Research, and Strategic Decision Making at the undergraduate, MBA and PhD levels, and lectures on strategy and decision-making for executive audiences, and provides legal consulting on consumer behaviour and risk perception. He is the co-editor, along with Thomas Gilovich and Daniel Kahneman, of Heuristics and Biases: The Psychology of Intuitive Judgment. He received his PhD from Stanford University.
Sasha Tregebov, BIT Canada
Sasha Tregebov is a Principal Advisor at the Behavioural Insights Team (BIT) and Head of BIT Canada. In addition to his role leading BIT's Canadian practice, Sasha oversees BIT's work with US municipalities through the What Works Cities initiative. Prior to joining BIT, Sasha was a management consultant at Deloitte, leading Deloitte's behavioural insights capabilities and working with public sector organizations across Canada on strategy, innovation, and the application of human-centred design. He began his career as a policy advisor with the Government of Ontario. Sasha holds a Master’s degree in Public Policy and Administration from Ryerson University and undergraduate degree in Philosophy from UBC.
Kirstin Appelt, University of British Columbia & Behavioural Insights Group
Kirstin Appelt is Adjunct Professor of Marketing and Behavioural Science at UBC Sauder School of Business. Kirstin’s research explores why people struggle with important decisions about the future and how to use choice architecture to help them make the best decisions for themselves and for society. Kirstin is a behavioural science consultant for clients including the Behavioural Insights Group (BIG), the California Health Benefit Exchange (Covered California), Columbia University’s Center for Decision Sciences, Google, the Pacific Business Group on Health (PBGH), Temple University, and WorkSafeBC. She received her Ph.D. in Psychology from Columbia University and her B.A. magna cum laude in Economics from Dartmouth College.
Heather Devine, Behavioural Insights Group
Heather Devine is Head of the BC Behavioural Insights Group (BIG). Passionate about making government services better and improving the lives of British Columbians, Heather and her team use insights and methods from the behavioural sciences to solve problems across a variety of policy domains. In its first year, BIG ran trials in hiring, charitable giving, and tax collection. Launching BIG was a full-circle opportunity for Heather who began her public service career in an applied judgment and decision-making lab at Defence Research and Development Canada (DRDC-Toronto). Her current appreciation for ‘serving the greater good’ stems from this early experience seeing innovation, experimentation and evidence-based policymaking translate into meaningful change.
