Kelly Zhang

Research Affiliate

Kelly is a Research Scientist at the Busara Center for Behavioral Economics and a Research Affiliate at MIT GOV/LAB. She is working with Busara and MIT GOV/LAB to build out an online experiments research agenda for the Global South. Her research focuses on the impact of information on voter attitudes and behavior. This includes working with partners to design and implement projects that examined how information and technology can shape political discourse and civic engagement. At MIT GOV/LAB, she worked with Busara to co-launch the Behavioral Science in the Field Course in Nairobi, Kenya. Previously, Kelly was a computational social scientist for ACRONYM and data scientist at Social Capital and Crowdpac. During her graduate studies, she worked with various civil society and international organizations including Twaweza, the National Taxpayers Association, USAID, and the World Bank on initiatives aimed at improving governance. She earned her BA/BS in Political Science/Biology from University of California, San Diego and her PhD/MA in Political Science/Economics from Stanford University.