The Rockefeller Foundation and ideas42 Announce Collaboration to Advance Knowledge on Human Behavior

Thirteen leading academics, practitioners, and artists will come together at The Rockefeller Foundation’s Bellagio Center to work on a diverse range of projects focusing on human behavior.

New York, July 7, 2016 – The Rockefeller Foundation and ideas42 are pleased to announce a collaboration to advance the discourse on human behavior during a special themed residency month at the Foundation’s Bellagio Center in Bellagio, Italy. Leading academics, artists, and practitioners will gather on the shore of Lake Como to engage in a dialogue about how human behavior can inform and advance efforts to build resilience and more inclusive economies, as well as in their own work.

The Rockefeller Foundation is hosting this first-ever themed residency at the Bellagio Center this summer in conjunction with its grantee ideas42, a non-profit organization that uses behavioral science to drive solutions to tough social issues.

The unique setting of the Bellagio Center residency provides an opportunity for participants to forge connections with thought leaders from around the world, engage in fruitful discussion, and exchange ideas with experts outside their particular sphere of influence.

The 13 residents were selected based on their record of accomplishment within their field, compelling individual work, and unique approach to human behavior to advance social good. While at the Bellagio Center, they will advance their own individual work and will also collectively explore how a better understanding of human behavior can enhance resilience-building efforts and create more inclusive economies that work for everyone, particularly the poor and vulnerable.

Residents’ original work will focus on issues ranging from economic scarcity as a barrier to work performance; to South East Asian perspectives on resilience and disaster recovery; to fostering inclusiveness and civic participation by engaging Kenyan youth through a graphic novelization of the country’s constitution.

“The science and application of behavioral change approaches has much advanced in recent years as people look for ways to make better choices when it comes to our health, finances, and educations—predicated on the idea that simple ‘nudges’ can yield significant successes,” said Claudia Juech, associate vice president and managing director at The Rockefeller Foundation. “The Bellagio Center is thrilled to bring together leading thinkers from a range of backgrounds to explore the topic of behavior change, and to accelerate this interest and momentum for social good.”

“Behavioral science is creating change and driving impact across a broad range of issues,” said Piyush Tantia, executive director at ideas42. “We look forward to working with the world-class cohort assembled at the Bellagio Center to advance our collective goal of building resilience and creating more inclusive economies that are designed with all people in mind.”

The resident fellows for this thematic residency include:

  • Juan-Camilo Cardenas, Academic Writing Resident, Universidad de Los Andes
  • Paul J. Ferraro, Academic Writing Resident, Johns Hopkins University
  • Vibha Galhotra, Arts & Literary Arts Resident, Conceptual Artist
  • Christopher J. Graves, Practitioner Resident, Ogilvy Public Relations
  • Ma Regina Hechanova Alampay, Academic Writing Resident, Ateneo de Manila University
  • Tahir Hemphill, Arts & Literary Arts Resident, TH Media Inc.
  • Eric J. Johnson, Academic Writing Resident, Columbia University
  • Vishwajeet Kumar, Practitioner Resident, Community Empowerment Lab
  • Carrie R. Leana, Academic Writing Resident, University of Pittsburgh
  • Godfrey Gado Mwampembwa, Practitioner Resident, Buni Media
  • Ruby Rumié, Arts & Literary Arts Resident, Visual Artist
  • Kathleen M. Sutcliffe, Academic Writing Resident, Johns Hopkins University
  • Kim Thuy Seelinger, Academic Writing Resident, University of California-Berkeley

 

 

About The Rockefeller Foundation & Bellagio Center
For more than 100 years, The Rockefeller Foundation’s mission has been to promote the well-being of humanity throughout the world. Today, The Rockefeller Foundation pursues this mission through dual goals: advancing inclusive economies that expand opportunities for more broadly shared prosperity, and building resilience by helping people, communities and institutions prepare for, withstand, and emerge stronger from acute shocks and chronic stresses.

The Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center, through a combination of conferences and residency programs, supports the work of scholars, artists, thought leaders, policymakers, and practitioners who share in the Foundation’s pioneering mission. Today, the Bellagio Center has a heightened focus on enabling individuals and organizations that are shaping thinking and catalyzing action around the Foundation’s strategic goals of building resilience and advancing more inclusive economies. Convening prominent experts, influencers, and other key stakeholders to advance knowledge, and form new partnerships, financial commitments, and initiatives that support these goals, enables the Bellagio Center to advance the mission of the Foundation as a complement to its grantmaking efforts

About ideas42
ideas42 has a clear mission: to use our unique experience as a nonprofit at the forefront of behavioral science to change millions of lives. We create innovative solutions to tough problems in economic mobility, health, education, consumer finance, energy efficiency and international development. Our approach is based on a deep understanding of human behavior and why people make the decisions they do. Working closely with our partners from government, foundations, NGOs and companies, we have more than 60 active projects in the United States and around the world.

 

Media Contact:

Andy Plews, andy@ideas42.org

Mitra Salasel, mitra@ideas42.org