Stefaan G. Verhulst is Co-Founder and Chief Research and Development Officer of the Governance Laboratory @NYU (GovLab) where he is responsible for building a research foundation on how to transform governance using advances in science and technology. Verhulst’s latest scholarship centers on how technology can improve people’s lives and the creation of more effective and collaborative forms of governance. Specifically, he is interested in the perils and promise of collaborative technologies and how to harness the unprecedented volume of information to advance the public good.
Andrew Young is the Knowledge Director at The GovLab, where he leads research efforts focusing on the impact of technology on public institutions. Among the grant-funded projects he has directed are a global assessment of the impact of open government data; comparative benchmarking of government innovation efforts against those of other countries; and crafting the experimental design for testing the adoption of technology innovations in federal agencies.
Amanda DeSantis is a Senior Advisor at The GovLab, where she focuses on the development of strategy and initiatives to further efforts of leveraging open data, insights, and innovation to benefit the public good.
Andrew J. Zahuranec is Research Fellow at The GovLab, where he is responsible for studying how advances in science and technology can improve governance. In previous positions at the NATO Parliamentary Assembly and National Governors Association, he worked on issues as far-ranging as election security, the commercial space industry, and the opioid epidemic. He has a Master of Arts in Security Policy Studies from the George Washington University and a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Intelligence from Mercyhurst University.
Michelle is a Graduate Research Assistant at The GovLab, currently pursuing a Master's degree in Public Policy at NYU Wagner on a Fulbright scholarship. She holds a Bachelor's degree in International Relations from Universitas Pelita Harapan. Previously, she worked in the nonprofit sector in Indonesia where she developed and implemented a number of projects focusing on diversity, equality, inclusion, and conflict resolution.
Mark Adkins-Hastings is a software developer with diverse expertise in both technology and design. He joins GovLab's development and design team to build civic technologies that help institutions work more openly and collaboratively. Previously, Mark worked on citizen-centric technology projects for the United States federal government, including the Department of Justice and the Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). At USTPO, he developed the Office's electronic patent application filing system as part of a team promoting the adoption of more agile and modern design practices, including the use of citizen ethnography to ensure that government websites serve the public better.
Claudio Mendonca is the Creative Director at the GovLab where he is responsible for branding and interaction design of the digital projects. Working as a visual communicator for more than 10 years, he earned his Bachelor’s degree in Graphic Design in 2005. He has extensive experience in branding and interaction design, including 3 years developing graphical material for several government institutions in Brazil, publications and interface design for startups.
The site reflects the accumulation of all the insights and input we received from many over the last few years for which we are grateful. In particular, we would like to thank: