Pooja Gupta, Director, Research, Experimentation and M&E

Pooja is a our director, research, experimentation and M&E at MAGENTA supporting the Early Childhood Development portfolio in UAE. She is a behavioural scientist with over 5 years of experience using mixed-methods research to study how individual, interpersonal and social factors influence human decision-making and should be addressed to promote positive behavior-change. As an Engagement Director at the Busara Center, she has applied these tools to design better sexual and reproductive health programs, digital financial services and inclusive technology for natural resource management. Pooja has a strong focus on integrating a gender lens in her work, especially on understanding how gender shapes our thinking, beliefs and behaviors. She wants to apply behavioural science to women’s economic empowerment, especially to generate evidence and design programmes that improve the decision-making context of women by influencing individual and collective social norms and mental models.

Pooja has a Masters in Public Administration from the School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University, where she focused on economic development, behavioural development economics and gender.

Pooja speaks Hindi and English.