Elspeth Kirkman

Long-term secondment – Behavioural Insights Team

Elspeth leads on Nesta's response to COVID-19 alongside her remit of identifying opportunities to build behavioural science into Nesta's work.

Over the last seven years, Elspeth has worked across the policy spectrum, applying behavioural science to (among other things): help unemployed people find work faster; help social workers improve their decision-making under pressure; improve school attendance and attainment; and build behavioural insights into government toolkits around the world. From 2015–2018, she was the founder and managing director of BIT's North American office where she oversaw close to 100 randomised controlled trials with US city governments. On returning to the UK, she became the executive director of BIT's work on health, education and communities.