Hana Passen

Hana Passen is the Senior Strategy Advisor at Stanford Impact Labs. In partnership with the faculty and executive directors, she is responsible for the strategic development, design, and execution of new organizational priorities. These include Evidence for Policy, a fellowship program for local government practitioners, and a series of substantive areas of focus for the organization.

Most recently, Hana spent a summer building a data framework as a knowledge engineer at BrightHive, a startup providing the technical, business, and legal infrastructure that allows organizations to link data in service of the public good. Previously, Hana spent 7 years at New America, first as the special assistant to the president and CEO, then as the associate director for New America Local, working to build new models of policy development and implementation driven by local policymakers, community priorities, and best practices in service delivery.

She holds a Masters of Science in computational analysis and public policy — a program that builds bridges between computer science and social outcomes — from the University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in classics from Princeton with a focus on the relationship between ancient and modern political theory. When not working, Hana spends time doing as many outdoor activities as possible, ceramics, reading speculative fiction, and writing for her food blog.