Google's Maya Shankar Delivers Keynote at at Velocity 2019, UCLA Anderson's Women's Summit

The final keynote of the February 1, 2019 Velocity Conference, UCLA Anderson's annual Women's Leadership Summit was Maya Shankar, Google’s global head of behavioral science. Shankar is the founder and former chair of the White House Social and Behavioral Sciences Team. The team (which included UCLA Anderson’s Craig Fox, founding president of the Behavioral Science and Policy Association) was assembled in 2013 to apply scientific data and research to government programs so Americans — especially veterans, the disabled, children and their parents — would have better understanding of and access to them.

Joined on stage by UCLA Anderson’s assistant dean of equity, diversity and inclusion, Heather Caruso, Shankar described the many unexpected pivots in her career, remarking that “It’s easy when you hear others’ bios to think that the plan unfolded seamlessly.” For Shankar, cold-calling likely connections — many of whom would become her mentors, like renowned Harvard behaviorist Cass Sunstein, who had also served the White House — made the crucial difference. She said her M.O. was to pursue convictions and ideas before it was altogether apparent how they would manifest. “If I waited for clarity,” she said, “it would have been too late.” Caruso, who has long championed Shankar’s team-building, added, “You were earnest about what could happen, (though) you didn’t know you could do what you set out to.”

Now, Shankar is working to assemble a similar team of social and behavioral science at Google, where she sees potential for practical application in the company’s work with the Equal Justice Initiative.

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