Portrait of Dr Michael Plant, Founder and Director at the Happier Lives Institute

Dr Michael Plant

Whilst studying for his PhD in moral philosophy at the University of Oxford, Michael realised there was a pressing need for more research on the most cost-effective, evidence-based ways to improve global happiness – he founded the in 2019 as a result. As well as directing HLI, Michael is also a Research […]

Headshot of Alexandra Shearn, Chief Operating Officer at the Happier Lives Institute

Alexandra Shearn

Alexandra, a Law graduate from the University of Bristol, has a diverse, decade-long career spanning humanitarian operations in Africa and the Middle East. Shea has worked in internal audit for a major donor and programme management for international charities, the UN, and the UK Government. Whilst living in Senegal, Alex co-founded a small business producing […]

Portrait of Julie Dickin

Julie Dickin

Julie has a corporate background in marketing leadership across the UK and Middle East, including the successful launch of LEGOLAND to the Gulf region. After earning her BA in Marketing from the University of Greenwich, she built a career developing brands in the leisure and tourism industry. Now focused on the non-profit sector, she helps […]

Headshot of Martina Dei, Marketing Manager at the Happier Lives Institute

Martina Dei

Martina has a background of over eight years in advertising strategy and creativity. After leaving her position to pursue a Master’s degree in Sustainable Communication, she is now focusing on using her expertise to craft and deliver content that resonates with broad audiences to advance the mission of HLI. Her top professional priority is creating […]

Portrait of Úna Harty

Úna Harty

Úna looks after content creation for socials and the website for HLI. Her eight years of digital marketing experience has focussed on telling the stories of purpose-led organisations. Her aim is to make the mission of HLI known to all, in as digestible a manner as possible. Outside of HLI, Úna hosts a podcast and […]

Portrait of Joel McGuire, Lead Researcher at the Happier Lives Institute

Joel McGuire

Joel’s work focuses on analysing the cost-effectiveness of different ways that charities can help people. His meta-analysis of the impact of cash transfers on subjective wellbeing and mental health (coauthored with Kaiser and Bach-Mortensen) was published in Nature Human Behaviour. Joel has a Masters in Economics and Data Science from the University of Oklahoma, graduating […]

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