Speakers

Eleanor Carter is the Academic Co-Director for the Government Outcomes Lab (GO Lab) and is a UKRI Future Leaders Fellow.

Eleanor’s research investigates challenges in coordinating complex public service delivery networks and cross-sector partnerships. She is one of Apolitical’s 100 Most Influential Academics in Government. Eleanor’s work explores the ability of novel contracting arrangements – like social outcomes contracts and impact bonds – to facilitate purposeful partnerships and effective services that avoid perfunctory or cynical behaviour by contract holders.

Before moving to Oxford, Eleanor gained experience from the policy-maker perspective working as an advisor for the Social Investment and Finance Team in the UK’s Cabinet Office and through collaborative research projects with the Department for Work and Pensions.

Eleanor’s work has been published in a range of journals including Social Policy and Administration and Journal of Social Policy. Key research outputs have also been translated into policy submissions and she frequently advises on policy design and evaluation strategies for government departments and voluntary sector organisations.

Elaine is a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Government Outcomes Lab. Her research seeks to understand the role of innovative financing in improving social outcomes. Her role also includes leading the evaluation of the Life Chances Fund.

Elaine focuses on applied microeconomic and policy research within the fields of health and social policy. Her key research interests include innovative financing mechanisms, impact investment and public-private / cross-sector partnerships.

Elaine recently completed a PhD in 2023 at the Centre for Health Economics at Monash University, Australia, on charitable giving and private investment in public goods. Part of her thesis was the winner of the 2021 International Health Economics Association Student Paper Prize. Alongside her PhD, Elaine worked as a Research Assistant at the College of Business and Economics at the Australian National University, focusing on innovative financing in social policy.

Prior to undertaking her PhD, Elaine was a Senior Economist and Manager at EY’s Economics, Regulation and Policy practice, where she was seconded internationally (China, New Zealand) and to various Australian government departments. Elaine has also held various roles in the Australian public health system including research and service development.

Maria Patouna works as a Research Assistant at the Government Outcomes Lab of the Blavatnik School of Government. She supports a quantitative impact evaluation and cost effectiveness analysis for the Kirklees Better Outcomes Partnership project, a social impact bond commissioned under the Life Chances Fund. Her work focuses on employing quantitative quasi-experimental methodology to assess the effect of the outcome-based commissioning model on the time in employment, earnings and utilisation of housing support benefits of vulnerable adults.

Maria is currently completing her MSc in Data Science and Public Policy at the University College London and holds a BSc in Politics and International Relations also from UCL.

In the past, she has been a part of research and policy initiatives with the UCL Policy Lab, the Migration Cluster, the Law & Courts Cluster and the Department of Education, Practice and Society (IOE).

She has experience in leveraging big data, advanced quantitative methods and predictive modelling, focusing on delivering actionable evidence-based insights.