Elena Gallitto, PhD

Elena’s work focuses on evidence, learning, and decision-making. Trained as an experimental psychologist and program evaluator, she studies how people make decisions, respond to challenges, and adapt within organizations and communities. She applies these insights to help organizations work more effectively.

Her work spans nonprofit, institutional, and policy settings, where she examines how emotions, context, and decision-making shape people’s experiences and outcomes. She uses a mixed-methods approach, combining quantitative and qualitative evidence to better understand how programs function in practice and what helps them remain effective over time.

Elena has led evaluations, designed studies, and conducted needs assessments to help organizations learn from their work and improve their programs. Her work draws on behavioural science to understand how people interpret information, make decisions, and work across different organizational and social systems.

Her perspective has been shaped by experience in sensitive, fast-changing environments, where ethics, relationships, and organizational realities influence progress that can be sustained over time. 

She brings a practical and reflective approach to her work, grounded in the belief that strong evidence can support better decisions, stronger programs, and more responsive organizations when it is used in ways that reflect real-world contexts.

Elena holds a PhD in Experimental Psychology from the University of Ottawa.