Jessica Wattman
Social change and governance expert
Jessica Wattman works on new approaches to social change and on using technology to help public decision-makers understand local needs.
1 summary 16 min of listening
About Jessica Wattman
Jessica Wattman has a doctorate in Political Science from MIT and a public policy master's degree from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard. She has applied her training to practical problems in areas such as countering violent extremism, disaster relief, nonprofits built around athletics, and local causes. She has led work with Yowzit, a South African organization that gathers public feedback through crowdsourced sentiment analysis, citizen ratings and open reviews, aiming to improve public services. Her focus is on technology in governance, so that public decision-makers can learn about local attitudes and issues as they develop. Wattman's writing has appeared with groups including Mercy Corps and the Institute of Development Studies, and CBS News has featured her work.