Ashley Whillans, PhD

Ashley Whillans is a Distinguished Principal Research Fellow for Human Capital with The Conference Board. She is a Volpert Family Associate Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School, where she teaches the Motivation and Incentives course. Her research and teaching focus on using data-driven insights to attract, retain, and motivate top talent. 

Ashley currently serves as a Research Advisor for Gallup and Senior Scientist for Edelman. Whillans collaborates with several market-leading technology companies and consulting firms to conduct solutions-oriented research. Previously, she served on the UN Global Mental Health Council, Lancet Global Mental Health Task Force, and was a Senior Researcher for the Public Service Agency in the British Columbia Provincial Government, where she used data-driven insights to save money, time, and lives.

She holds a PhD, Master of Arts (MA), and BA (Hons) in psychology from the University of British Columbia. Her PhD thesis won the CAGS Dissertation Award and was named the single best PhD thesis across the Fine Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences in Canada in 2018.