Team

Founder & Director

prof. Dr. Paul Smeets

Paul is the founder and director of Impact Lab Amsterdam. He is a professor of philanthropy and sustainable finance at the University of Amsterdam

PhD student

Robin Aarts

Robin conducts field experiments and mainly focuses on the effectiveness of various charitable projects. She has a background in Development Economics.

Statistician

Dr. matt berkowitz

Matt oversees statistical design and methodological rigour for Impact Lab's research projects. He holds a PhD in statistics and his doctoral work focused on the crossroads of biostatistics and machine learning.

PhD student

Samara Cooper

Samara studies the motivations of donors to give effectively. She has a background in Education and Economics.

Associate consultant

Eric Korsten

Eric has extensive experience in assessing and enhancing performance of development organizations and programs. He addresses scalability and sustainability of results.

Grant support volunteer

Dr. linda rikkert

Linda brings a biomedical PhD and extensive grant and project management experience in international research networks to support Impact Lab Amsterdam.

PhD student

Andy Li

Andy studies the effectiveness of impact investments and Development Finance Institutions. He has a background in Econometrics and Finance.

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Post-doc

Dr. Janek Kretschmer

Studies the motivations of donors to give effectively. He has a background in Economics and Philosophy.

Executive assistant

Anna zwart

Anna is the backbone of the research group. She ensures everything runs smoothly, manages our schedules and supports the team with administrative tasks and organizational assistance.