✨ Happy holidays from The People Lab! ✨ As we head into 2026, we wanted to share a few highlights from our work this past year in support of our government partners and the communities they serve. 🧵👇

We’re beyond thrilled to introduce Yunus Berndt as a Fellow at The People Lab! Yunus is a PhD candidate the University of Wollongong, using AI and computational tools to support research and evidence use in policy. Welcome Yunus! peoplelab.hks.harvard.edu/team/yunus-b...

Thank you to an incredible group of researchers and practitioners who joined us in Cambridge to talk about evidence adoption, and to the @rad-institute.bsky.social for hosting and making it possible.

We’re feeling extra thankful this week — for our partners, our team, and the public servants who make government work every day. Wishing you a warm and restful Thanksgiving!

It’s the final day of #APPAM2025! Here’s where to catch The People Lab team this morning...

#APPAM2025 day two! Here is where you can find The People Lab today...

Great conversations, thoughtful sessions, and RCT tattoos—what more could you want from a day on evidence-informed policymaking? Thanks to @j-palna.bsky.social, LEO, and King County for hosting the Evidence Matters Convening and for bringing so many good ideas together.

Headed to #APPAM2025 this week? Catch The People Lab team presenting new work on public management, behavioral science, and evidence use in government. If you’re attending, come find us and say hello! Coming up today...

Such a pleasure to join so many brilliant colleagues at #BIGdifferenceBC 2025! @elizabethlinos.bsky.social shared research on building governments that work by supporting the workforce, improving resident interactions, and making evidence useful and used. Thanks to #UBCdibs, #BCbig & #WorkSafeBC!

Join The People Lab! We’re hiring a Research Associate Fellow to run RCTs, design survey experiments, & study evidence use in gov’t. 2+ yrs of post-grad experience in applied behavioral science or public management research required. 👉 Apply: peoplelab.hks.harvard.edu/careers/

We’re thrilled to welcome two new visiting fellows to The People Lab this year! Meet Florian Keppeler and Josephine Arnfred, whose research is shaping the future of public management and leadership.

Really looking forward to talking about the work of @thepeoplelab.bsky.social and thinking together about what comes next!

The rhetoric around public service matters. Our new @harvardkennedy.bsky.social funded project will study whether shifting narratives about public servants can increase trust, support for government, and interest in public sector work. Read more here 👉 www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...

Thank you for the warm welcome during Elizabeth Linos’s visit to 🇪🇪 Estonia, where she joined great conversations with Estonian, Latvian, and Finish public servants about digital service excellence, data-informed practices, administrative burden, and making evidence part of everyday policymaking.

New in @pnas.org! Light-touch government outreach boosted take-up of the Child Tax Credit & stimulus payments among very low-income families—while higher-touch strategies added little. By: @elizabethlinos.bsky.social, J. Lasky-Fink, V. Dorie, @jrothst.bsky.social 🔗 www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

🚨 We’re excited to share The People Lab’s 2025 Annual Report! Link 👉 peoplelab.hks.harvard.edu/wp-content/u... Here’s some of what you’ll find inside:

Don’t miss our next newsletter—coming soon! 📩 We only send a couple each year, with our biggest updates + findings. 👉 Sign up here: harvard.us9.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=...

🚨 ICYMI: The People Lab is growing — and we’re hiring! We’ve got two exciting opportunities: 🔹 Research Associate Fellow (rolling review) 🔹 Senior Project Manager (first review Sept 2, 2025) Learn more + apply here 👉 peoplelab.hks.harvard.edu/careers/

🚨 We’re hiring a Senior Project Manager! We are looking for an experienced project leader to manage complex, high-impact projects from start to finish—aligning research, operations, and strategy to improve how government serves the public. Apply here: careers.harvard.edu/job/senior-p...

Shoutout to our talented Du Bois Scholar, Jonora, for an outstanding final presentation! Her thoughtful lit review is already helping guide a new research venture at The People Lab. Grateful for your summer with us and excited for what’s next! 🙌

We're getting hundreds and hundreds of applications for this RA fellows position so if you're planning on applying, applying before August 14th is a great idea. Also, you got this! Take the leap and apply!

What an ulti-mutt honor to have Wilma sniff out our research! #Wilmasreview 🐶

We're so excited that you're excited about this position! We can't respond to the many many emails we're getting so here is a FAQ -> peoplelab.hks.harvard.edu/wp-content/u...

🚨 TPL is hiring a Research Associate Fellow! Are you passionate about using evidence to improve how government serves the public? Do you want to use your research & analytical skills for both social impact and cutting edge research? Apply here -> peoplelab.hks.harvard.edu/careers/

Ending programs like PMF means fewer skilled young professionals in government just when we need them most. Read @elizabethlinos.bsky.social‬'s interview with @harvardkennedy.bsky.social on how fellowships build a stronger public sector workforce: www.hks.harvard.edu/faculty-rese...

We’re so excited to share that Giovanny Martinez Rodriguez, who was one of our wonderful undergraduate fellows, has started a new role as TPL’s very first pre-doctoral fellow! Congratulations, Giovanny—we are thrilled to have you on our team! peoplelab.hks.harvard.edu/team/giovann...

🌟 It’s been a privilege to have @karlemilbendtsen.bsky.social as a visiting fellow at The People Lab. We’ve enjoyed engaging with your research on administrative errors, policy complexity, and more. Thank you, Karl-Emil, for your time and expertise! peoplelab.hks.harvard.edu/team/karl-em...

Our latest n=9 field test involved waffle cones. Results: instantly raised happiness scores by 200%. 🍦 #SweetIncentives #NudgeAndFudge #ConeformityBias

Exciting news! @elizabethlinos.bsky.social is presenting our latest working paper, "Interventions to Bolster Benefits Take-Up: Assessing Framing, Targeting, and Intensity," at the @pmra-1991.bsky.social conference in Seoul this week. Co-authors: Lasky-Fink, Dorie, and @jrothst.bsky.social. #PMRC

Still smiling, still researching! @thepeoplelab.bsky.social doing its thing.

🎉 We are thrilled to welcome three exceptional undergraduate research fellows to The People Lab for the summer! Please join us in saying hello to Manuel José Gonzalez, Jonora Calixte, and Elliott Serna. 👋

What does it take to build a truly functional public sector? @elizabethlinos.bsky.social recently explored this question with @harvardkennedy.bsky.social alumni and shared three key pillars:

We’re thrilled to celebrate Jessica and @elizabethlinos.bsky.social‬, whose article, “Improving Delivery of the Social Safety Net: The Role of Stigma,” just won the 2025 Beryl Radin Award for best article in @jpart1991.bsky.social 🎉

It’s Public Service Recognition Week! Take a moment to thank a public servant for all the work they do to provide the services and infrastructure that keep our communities running. #PublicServiceRecognitionWeek

New TPL Research! Attracting talent to government is hard — but not impossible. We found that government fellowship programs like the PMF program, Govern for America, Public Rights Project, and Foster America are powerful career launchpads into public service, with long-lasting effects 📊

We are SO EXCITED to have Yuki Chen join us as an undergraduate research fellow! Yuki is a junior at Harvard College and is focusing her research on public service programs. Learn more about her here -> peoplelab.hks.harvard.edu/team/yuki-ch...

Who works for the government and why does their work matter? Tune in to @c-span.bsky.social on 3/21 at 8 PM ET to catch @elizabethlinos.bsky.social talk with Michael Lewis about his new book! 📖 More airing times here -> www.c-span.org/event/book-t...

📄New working paper by @elizabethlinos.bsky.social, Lasky-Fink, Dorie, and @jrothst.bsky.social on ways to boost the take-up of anti-poverty benefits in CA! Light-touch outreach proved effective and had a high ROI, but findings on higher-touch outreach were mixed. www.hks.harvard.edu/publications...

How big is the US federal workforce really? @likeapple.bsky.social's latest @npr.org article adds excellent context to @elizabethlinos.bsky.social's recent conversation with @nprfreshair.bsky.social. Read here: www.npr.org/2025/03/06/n...

ICYMI: Terrance Smith joined us last week to discuss trust-building in government. Read the key takeaways here: www.hks.harvard.edu/faculty-rese...

A huge thank you to Terrance Smith for joining us and the Bloomberg Center for Cities at Harvard University to share his insights on trust and innovation in local government!

🎧Listen to TPL Faculty Director, @elizabethlinos.bsky.social on @nprfreshair.bsky.social! open.spotify.com/episode/0NRI... Learn more about our work on strengthening the government workforce here 👉 peoplelab.hks.harvard.edu/about/

"The past few weeks have made it clear: DOGE is not about fixing inefficiencies—it is about dismantling government itself." - @elizabethlinos.bsky.social Read more: bit.ly/3Qn1hRv

Join The People Lab as a 2025 Summer Research Fellow! Ideal for undergrads eager for hands-on research experience on public sector challenges. ⏰ Full-time, 12-week paid role. 📅 Apply by 3/5: peoplelab.hks.harvard.edu/careers/

The federal workforce isn't "bloated" - as @elizabethlinos.bsky.social explains, the real crisis is critical staffing shortages. Read more here: www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-f...

"The reality is this: if we want the federal government to efficiently and effectively deliver for Americans, we need to invest in strengthening it, not break it." Read this op-ed from Octavia Abell and @elizabethlinos.bsky.social for @govexec.bsky.social www.govexec.com/workforce/20...

ICYMI: Have you read TPL PhD student @nadiabell.bsky.social's recent op-ed in The Harvard Crimson? Read it here -> www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...

"The best advice I have for applying behavioral insights at an organization or system level is to start with the problem, the experience, and the people navigating it every day. The behavioral nudge should come last." @elizabethlinos.bsky.social chibe.upenn.edu/blog/how-to-...

🔔Thrilled to co-designed an RCT just launched by @au.dk @flokeppeler.bsky.social and Copenhagen Capacity! They are testing digital message strategies with 110,000 European nurses, using community-led designs to recruit healthcare workers to Denmark.

Please join us officially welcome Stella Kwon to The People Lab as an undergrad fellow! Stella recently returned from studying Urban Planning in Copenhagen and is majoring in Social Studies and Economics at Harvard. We’re thrilled to have her on board! peoplelab.hks.harvard.edu/team/stella-...