معرفی
Sera Linardi is an Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Pittsburgh's Graduate School of Public and International Affairs (GSPIA), with joint appointments in the Intelligent Systems Program (SCI) and Department of Economics. She serves as the Founding Director of the Center for Analytical Approaches to Social Innovation (CAASI), an incubator for community-engaged social justice projects that combines human-centered and quantitative approaches. Her interdisciplinary work bridges economics, computer science, and social work to address challenges faced by marginalized populations.
Linardi earned her Ph.D. in Social Science from the California Institute of Technology in 2010. Prior to her academic career, she worked as a computer scientist at Adobe Systems and as a math tutor for School on Wheels. Her educational background combines technical expertise with a commitment to social impact, which informs her current research and community engagement efforts.
Her research spans computational social science, behavioral economics, and mechanism design, focusing on prosocial behavior and services for marginalized populations including homeless shelters and reentry services. Linardi's work examines the behavioral 'supply chain' of public/social service provision, investigating determinants of voluntary contributions, mechanism design, and models of behavior among very low-income populations. She publishes across disciplinary boundaries in journals including Management Science, Journal of Politics, and Journal of Public Economics, as well as in ACM conference proceedings.
Her recent publications reveal a strong emphasis on community-engaged research, with projects like the Allegheny County Policing Project and 412Connect platform addressing social justice issues through data science and community collaboration. These works demonstrate her commitment to translating academic research into practical applications that serve community needs, particularly in equity-focused technology design.
- ACM EAAMO 2021 New Horizons Award
- James Caporaso Best Paper Award (2020)
- Midwest Political Science Association 2016 Award for best paper in comparative politics
- 2023 Chancellor's Distinguished Service Award
- ACPP Partnerships of Distinction Award
- Intel XPRIZE REA Competition win
- Pitt Seed Projects finalist selection (2022)
Linardi actively engages with community organizations through CAASI, which she founded in Fall 2019. Early during the pandemic and following George Floyd's murder, CAASI launched Grief to Action, an open working group that has channeled nearly 200 volunteers and over seven Pitt capstone courses into community collaborations. She serves on the Board of Reviewing Editors at PNAS Nexus and is active in the Mechanism Design for Social Good (MD4SG) research group. Her work has received funding from the National Science Foundation and the Ford Institute, among others.
Through CAASI, Linardi has established several significant initiatives including the Allegheny County Policing Project, 412Connect platform for supporting Black-owned businesses, and PIA 2250, a public interest technology/civic data class. Her team has developed innovative approaches to bridging academic research with community needs, creating spaces where the ultimate goal is being useful to the community rather than pursuing grants or publications.
