Alyson Gounden Rock is an Innovations in Government Research Fellow at the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at the Harvard Kennedy School.
Alyson’s research interest lies at the intersection of public value, gender and discrimination across the life course. Her current research relates to mechanisms of discrimination at career reentry. She is particularly interested in how innovative public policies, social entrepreneurship and social movements could contribute to structural and institutional change for greater gender equality. She brings entrepreneurial and consulting experience in the public, private and social sectors to her research.
At Harvard she is developing pedagogy that links social entrepreneurship theory to field work and coaching aspiring entrepreneurs on how to start and scale social enterprises.
Alyson was previously a Research Fellow in the Women and Public Policy Program (WAPPP) and Center for Public Leadership (CPL) at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, with a focus on gender, negotiation, decision making and leadership across differences.
Before pivoting to a career in academic research, Alyson’s professional experience included starting and running entrepreneurial ventures.
Her work with Bain and Company and PwC included strategic planning and organizational design in the public and private sectors. Her pro-bono consulting work has included research on global board diversity and gender policies for Catalyst, the leading business and gender think tank, and strategic planning for a leading Early Childhood Education policy and program organization
in MA.
Alyson holds a Bachelor of Arts from Oxford University in French Literature and Language, a Master of Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School, and a Master in Business from Audencia Business School, France.
Bilingual English/ French, she is on the board of the New England French American Chamber of Commerce.
Alyson writes about new policies and practices that support gender equality through structural change.
She is a WBUR Cognoscenti contributor and a Huffington Post contributor, and tweets actively on gender equality research
@alyson_gr.
http://www.wbur.org/cognoscenti/2017/05/11/mothers-day-career-alyson-gounden-rock