Our Team

Kelly Peters is the CEO and Co-Founder of BEworks. She is passionate about bringing scientific thinking to business strategy, marketing, and operations.

Kelly has overseen the launch of several new business ventures that capitalized on insights into consumer behavior. Her interest in behavioral science stems back to the late 90s when working on behavioral scoring models in credit risk and online distribution models, evolved through behavioral finance, and finally culminated in 2008 when she embraced behavioral economics as the most reliable approach to executing strategy. She launched what might be the world’s first commercial application of behavioral field experiments while at RBC to help drive adoption of online service channels. Among the first to see the commercial potential of the Web in 1993, Kelly spent several years in the dot-com industry before focusing on financial services, where she spent 12 years leading complex innovation projects providing her with a rich background in innovation, technology, and human behavior. Kelly is a Faculty Lecturer of Applied Behavioral Science at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management, and regularly lectures at Cornell, Harvard, and other academies. She is a sought-after keynote speaker, has conducted three TEDx talks, and has been featured in the New York Times & Forbes. After studying philosophy and technology, Kelly earned an MBA from Dalhousie University and is a Fellow of the Institute of Canadian Bankers.

Dan Ariely is the Professor of Behavioral Economics at Fuqua School of Business, Duke University and Founding Partner at BEworks.

Dan Ariely’s groundbreaking experimental research and prolific writing has made him one of the most prominent leaders in the field of Behavioral Economics; an interdisciplinary science combining psychology, and economics to understand human behavior and decision-making.

Dan’s writing on irrational decision-making in the marketplace has been featured in the most prominent academic journals and in a variety of popular media outlets such as the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and the Boston Globe, among many others. He has also written three New York Times best-selling books that have become recognized standards in the field: Predictably Irrational, The Upside of Irrationality, and The Honest Truth About Dishonesty.

A behavioral scientist, Nina has been named as one of “The 40 Most Outstanding B-School Profs Under 40 In The World” by the business education website Poets&Quants in 2014. With her focus on behavioral economics, Nina investigates consumer behavior and how it deviates from standard economic assumptions. In addition, she studies moral decision-making and its implications for policy. Her research topics range from irrational attraction to free products, the paradoxes of green behavior to temptations to be dishonest. Nina was nominated for the SSHRC Aurora Prize for “Outstanding New Researcher,” and she is the recipient of several teaching and research awards, including the Rotman Dean’s Award for Excellence in Research and the William F. O’Dell Award of AMA’s Journal of Marketing Research (for having made the most significant, long-term contribution to marketing theory, methodology, and/or practice with her 2008 JMR paper on Dishonesty).

Nina has published her research in leading academic journals like the Journal of Marketing Research, Psychological Sciences, Review of Economic Studies, and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Popular accounts of her work have appeared among others on NPR, BBC, in the New York Times, Financial Times, Wired, and her research has been featured in Harvard Business Review’s Breakthrough Ideas. Nina is a Professor of Marketing at Questrom School of Business, Boston University; specialization in marketing, behavioral economics, and economic policy; she has a doctorate in Business Administration, from Johannes Gutenberg-University.

David Lewis is the President of Research Institute at BEworks. He earned his PhD in Marketing (Consumer Behavior) from the Lazaridis School of Business and Economics at Wilfrid Laurier University. He completed his MBA in Finance and Strategy at the Schulich School of Business at York University, and is also a Chartered Financial Analyst. Prior to joining BEworks, he was an Assistant Professor at the Ted Rogers School of Retail Management at Ryerson University. David has held numerous senior positions including Head of Technology, Head of Marketing, President, CEO, and Chairman of the Board, at global financial institutions including Barclays Wealth USA, UBS Bank USA, UBS Financial Services Americas, ING DIRECT USA, and Bank of Nova Scotia. Ad Age magazine has also recognized him as being one of the Top 50 marketers in the United States.

David enjoys applying the latest scientific insights to solve real-world problems.

Dhushan Thevarajah is the Chief Strategy Officer at BEworks. He joined BEworks in 2010 and is a founding member of the team. In his current role, Dhushan oversees business development operations to drive the strategic vision, scale, and growth of the business. His blended interest in behavioral science and data analytics brings a more evidence-based and metric-driven approach to these business functions. Prior to this, Dhushan led multiple projects at BEworks in the banking, loyalty, and software industry, tackling diverse problems such as customer service & operations, customer engagement, accounts receivable management, and employee wellbeing & productivity. He holds an M.Sc. from Queen’s University, where he studied what happens in our brains when making strategic decisions, and an MBA from the Rotman School of Business.

What Dhushan enjoys most about BEworks is the people and culture – “I feel lucky because I work with people that teach me something new every day, and that is expected!”

David is a Professor from Cornell University, and Chief Science Officer at BEworks. David is renowned for his work in understanding the impact of emotions on decision-making, particularly the impact the emotion disgust has on moral judgments. He is also interested in the influence of emotional states on thinking and deciding. More specifically on how emotions (anger, disgust, fear, etc.) impact how people process information, how they remember events, and how these emotions impact their judgments of others.

David is a featured TED talk presenter, and hosts a podcast on the nature of human morality called Very Bad Wizards.

Wardah has spent her professional career helping companies better understand their consumers and develop impactful strategies to change their behavior. She joined BEworks as one of the founding team members in 2012 and has led the large scale application of BE in the financial services, energy, retail, and government sectors. Wardah is responsible for leading BEworks’ growth portfolio, marketing, and client relationship management. She is passionate about helping organizations make evidence-based decisions that better serve their customers or constituents.

Prior to joining BEworks, Wardah worked for LoyaltyOne (Air Miles), where she specialized in conducting consumer research to better inform strategic corporate decisions. She was also part of the core team to author “The Loyalty Leap,” a New York Times best selling book on the intersection of big data and consumer loyalty. She has a BSc in Psychology (Hons.) from the University of Toronto, where she specialized in cognitive neuroscience. While at U of T, Wardah led experiments in behavioral economics for Professor Nina Mazar, and studied human vision and decision-making with Professor Jay Pratt.

Wardah’s favorite thing about BEworks is exposing new clients to behavioral economics and bringing them on the journey to solve society’s biggest challenges with creativity and evidence.

Michelle holds a PhD in psychology from the University of Toronto where she also earned an MA and BSc. In the past 11 years, Michelle has studied numerous topics, including: decision-making, belief bias, emotion, communications, consumer and user experience, and organizational behavior. Prior to joining BEworks, Michelle worked as a Research Associate at Cortex, a governance consulting firm that provides advisory services to institutional investors. In this capacity, Michelle completed projects related to board governance, group decision-making, and strategic planning. At BEworks, Michelle supports clients in a number of sectors, and is particularly interested in issues that fall under the umbrella of Behavioral finance.

Office pets aside, Michelle’s favourite thing about BEworks is our smart and inspiring team, and the fact that we tackle meaningful real-world challenges using science every step of the way.

David earned his PhD in Experimental Cognitive Psychology from McMaster University in 2012. He worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Waterloo as well as a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Visiting Fellow in the Socio-Cognitive Systems section at Defence Research & Development Canada. Dave was also a Canadian Institutes for Health Research Banting postdoctoral fellow at the University of Toronto. Prior to this, he earned his B.A. (Hons.) in Psychology and Political Science from McMaster University. Dave has worked on many different research projects focusing primarily on human memory, attention, and perception. This research is published in numerous high-impact peer reviewed academic journals. At BEworks, Dave leads exciting projects in the financial and energy sectors.

Conducting rigorous scientific research and witnessing first-hand the impacts of that research in the real world is what Dave loves most about working at BEworks.

Jennifer holds a PhD and MA in cognitive psychology from the University of Toronto and a B.Sc. (Hons) in Behavioral neuroscience from McMaster University. Her doctoral research into the effect of aging on attention and memory has been published in peer-reviewed journals and earned her a prestigious Alexander Graham Bell Canada Graduate Scholarship from the federal government. She believes in using an empirical approach to develop and test solutions to society’s most pressing issues, including environmental and public health concerns. At BEworks, she supports clients with projects in the energy and technology sectors.

Jennifer loves the helpful and collaborative spirit of her BEworks teammates and is continually amazed by their seemingly limitless ability to generate creative ideas every single day!

Ada holds a PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience from the University of Toronto, and was previously a postdoctoral research fellow at York University. Prior to joining BEworks, Ada’s primary research focused on using neuroimaging techniques to examine how the human brain integrates complex dynamic information in a way that ultimately affects people’s decision making and Behavior. Ada’s award-winning academic research is published in top-tier scientific journals. Her past research background helps inform the work she does at BEworks. For instance, how do consumers process and integrate various marketing and product information into their existing knowledge about the world, and what impact does that have on their Behavior? At BEworks, Ada leads innovative projects primarily in the retail and financial space.

What Ada enjoys most about BEworks is the tight-knit collaborative team, and the team’s love of science.

Miles joined BEworks in September 2019, as a Business and Corporate Strategist on the Operations team. He originally hails from Ann Arbor, Michigan. There, he spent the last ten years as an Operation Director for a technology startup and provided portfolio company consulting in the venture capital space. Miles has also spent the last eleven years as member of the US Army Reserve, where his career specialty is Psychological Operations. He is veteran of Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan).

He earned both his BSc in Finance, and MBA with a concentration in Financial Accounting from Wayne State University, in Detroit, Michigan.

Wayne is a solution-focused professional with a passion for delivering strategic messaging to engaged audiences. He has extensive experience in strategy design and development, key message construction, as well as determining the optimal channels for solution delivery in order to maximize the desired impact. Prior to joining BEworks, Wayne enjoyed a successful career at the Royal Bank of Canada, working across a number of segments including investor & treasury services, finance, and corporate citizenship. Wayne holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree and has also completed the requirements of the CFA Charterholder program.

Shannon earned her PhD in Cognitive Psychology at the University of Waterloo where she studied the role of attention and visual processing. She has held two post-doctoral positions, one at the University of Montreal and one at McMaster University, and has published her academic work in several top-tier scientific journals. At BEworks, Shannon applies her expertise in experiment design and advanced statistical analysis to evaluate solutions to various client challenges. So far, she has worked on projects in financial services, marketing, and transit, where she has combined the above approach with insights from the behavioral sciences to guide marketing initiatives. 

What Shannon loves most about BEworks is designing and running experiments that measure behavior in the real world.

Kazunaga completed his Ph.D. in Cognitive Psychology at the University of Western Ontario, and post-doctoral fellowship at McMaster University. Prior to this, he earned his B.Sc. in Psychology from University of Wisconsin- Madison. Throughout his academic career, Kazunaga used behavioral and neuroimaging methodologies to study how people understand the meaning of sentences as well as how people read sentences differently depending on their cognitive abilities and reading experience. Kazunaga’s academic research has been published in several top-tier scientific journals.

At BEworks, Kazunaga utilizes his expertise in statistical analysis and research methods to help solve challenges in financial, energy, and commercial sectors. Kazunaga has led the development of BEworks Japan in 2018 and has maintained a portfolio of several exciting BEworks Japan projects in multiple sectors.

What Kazunaga enjoys most about BEworks is its innovative, collaborative, and diverse culture.

Angela holds a PhD in Linguistics from Northwestern University in Chicago, which was supported by a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Doctoral Fellowship. Prior to this, Angela obtained her BA and MA in Linguistics from Simon Fraser University. She worked as a post-doctoral fellow in the Department of Psychology at the University of Toronto – Mississauga. Angela has conducted research on speech perception and learning in children and adults, and the cognitive mechanisms that underpin our ability to adapt to variation in our environment. Her academic research has been published in numerous academic journals and has received coverage in national media outlets, including CBC and CTV News.  

At BEworks, Angela loves being part of such a passionate and supportive team, from the scientists to office pups, who are all committed to leveraging scientific insights to affect real-world change.

Erick holds an MA and PhD in psychology from Central Michigan University, and BA in psychology from York University, Toronto. Early-career experiences in disaster-response and the treatment of trauma in military veterans and first-responders gave Erick a strong appreciation of the behavioral sciences’ potential to help prevent and resolve crises, guide policy, and build strong individuals and communities. Throughout his career, Erick has been interested in translating research in psychology to achieve concrete positive changes, and has worked with hospitals, community health agencies and private organizations to develop programs and policies that support mental health and wellness. He has been heavily involved in public speaking throughout his career and has taught at the college and university level in the U.S. and Canada. Outside of work, Erick enjoys drawing, sculpting, music and woodworking. His most treasured role is as parent to three wonderful girls age 5 to 13.

Juan Salcedo is an Associate and Head of Growth LATAM at BEworks. Juan holds a Masters and PhD in experimental social psychology from the Universidad de los Andes and a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Bryant University. Juan has worked applying principles and insights from the behavioral sciences to drive innovative solutions in the telecommunications, banking and transportation sectors. Prior to joining BEworks, Juan was head of AdCity at Havas Colombia. He also worked in logistics consulting in China. Juan’s research focuses on signalling and moral reasoning, and he has conducted studies on third party punishment and investor signalling.

“I’m deeply passionate about embedding scientific thinking in our client’s strategy to improve decision-making with empirical evidence.”

Leigh completed a Ph.D. in neuroscience at the University of Toronto, where she used brain imaging to study changes in dopamine and cognitive function in Parkinson’s disease. She then completed a postdoc at Stanford University, where she was supported by a CIHR fellowship to study genetics and cognitive decline in Alzheimer’s disease. Leigh is interested in decision-making and understanding complex human behavior. She is also passionate about using technology and data-driven decision-making to solve problems.

Matthew holds a Ph.D. and M.Sc. in Social Psychology from Queen’s University. His research is within the area of attitudes and persuasion. His work examines how the representation of information influences belief formation and change, as well as how working knowledge influences attitudes. He has previously served as a lecturer at the Royal Military College of Canada, where he taught statistics, psychology, and organizational behaviour. Outside of work, Matthew enjoys playing basketball, golf, and board games.

Matthew’s favourite part about BEworks is its culture of collaboration, scientific rigour, and fun!

Nathaniel Barr, PhD, is a Scientific Advisor at BEworks. In addition, Nathaniel is a Professor of Creativity and Creative Thinking at Sheridan College. Prior to these roles, Nathaniel earned his PhD and held a postdoctoral research fellow in the Psychology Department at the University of Waterloo.

An award-winning lecturer and researcher, Nathaniel has published on a wide variety of topics within the cognitive and behavioral sciences including creativity, the intersection of thinking and technology, pseudo-profound bullshit, how best to align human and artificial intelligence in the workforce, and the importance of behavioral science in the Anthropocene/Fourth Industrial Revolution. Nathaniel’s research has been covered extensively in the media, including Scientific American, The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal. He frequently acts as an expert commentator for print, radio, and television, and is recognized as a ‘“Global expert on the debunking of misinformation”‘ on the University of Bristol’s post-truth portal. 

Nathaniel brings this expertise to BEworks in a variety of capacities spanning strategy, practice, and thought leadership. His contributions range from interfacing with clients in diverse sectors, improving the BEworks Method, fostering partnerships with various academics and organizations, writing and speaking about the benefits of bringing Behavioral insights and the scientific method to business and policy, and envisioning how Behavioral science, and BEworks, can solve important challenges and drive innovation. He strives to help realize BEworks’ mandate to transform the economy and society through scientific thinking. 

“In an era defined by human impact, the most important questions to answer are ones about ourselves. We must learn about how we, as humans, think and act, and then use that knowledge to improve outcomes for people around the world. Behavioral science offers both insights and methods to accomplish these aims, and holds special promise in securing a safe and prosperous future for humanity.”

Olga holds a PhD in Behavioral and Neural Sciences from Rutgers University, a MSc in Neuroscience from the University of Tübingen, and a BSc in Psychology from the National Autonomous University of Mexico.

Prior to joining BEworks, her research focused on the neurobiology of fear and anxiety. She used a variety of electrophysiological techniques as well as neuroanatomical and Behavioral approaches to understand how fear and anxiety is encoded in the brain. Olga is enthusiastic about using the scientific method to help solve real-world problems while having a good time with her fellow BEworkers.

Pierre-Jean holds a MSc and a PhD in evolutionary biology from the University of Toulouse in France. He conducted his postdoctoral research at the University of Toronto, the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University, and the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Germany.

“My field of expertise focuses on cooperation and conflicts, alignment of interests between partners, and strategies to prevent and counteract cheating. It turns out that the best way to have a long-lasting and mutually beneficial relationship is to be part of a complex interaction network and share common trade partners. During my latest project, I studied long-term cooperation between species from the Peruvian Amazon. It was the occasion for me to combine work and fun by doing treks in the jungle and the mountains, and by making several short documentaries.”

His role on our Experimentation and Choice Architecture Team involves designing and implementing rigorous empirical tests of Behavioral interventions to quantify Behavior change and translate experimental findings into actionable, scalable solutions for our clients’ toughest challenges.

Sarah holds a MA and PhD in cognitive neuroscience from the Department of Psychology at the University of Toronto, and BA in psychology from Queen’s University. Her PhD work was nominated for the Governor General’s Gold Medal. Her academic research was multi-disciplinary, with a focus on brain network dynamics and cognition, exploring topics such as how experience and training change brain activity, how information is represented in brain signals, and the neuroscience of music enjoyment. She has particular expertise in research methods and statistics, and she has instructed undergraduate and graduate-level university courses on these topics. She has multiple peer-reviewed publications and has presented her work to scientific communities in 6 different countries.

The thing she loves most about working at BEworks is the high level of scientific rigour and the culture of collaboration with so many other excellent scientists.

Shelbie is a developmental scientist who has 12 years of experience investigating the development of cognitive abilities and biases. She is particularly interested in how cognitive abilities and biases work together to affect the ways people interpret information. At BEworks, Shelbie has applied her expertise to help increase financially healthy behaviors in diverse populations.

Shelbie holds a PhD in development psychology from the University of Illinois and completed a Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Toronto. She also earned an MA in psychology (University of Illinois), an MASc in developmental communication sciences (University of Waterloo), and a BA in psychology (University of Waterloo).

Bart is a Registered Nurse. He holds a B.Sc. in Psychology, Neuroscience, and Behaviour; a B.Sc. in Nursing from McMaster University, with a certification in nephrology from Mohawk College.

Mona is a cognitive scientist and holds a PhD and MA in Cognitive Psychology from the University of Waterloo, both supported by fellowships and scholarships from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada as well as the Government of Ontario. Prior to this, Mona obtained their BSc in Biopsychology from the University of British Columbia. Mona’s graduate research examined how the arrangement of physical environments influenced human cognition using wide-ranging tools and methodology, such as psychometrics, experiments, and observational studies. Aside from research methods, Mona has strong interest in statistics and has taught tutorials to undergraduate statistics classes as well as statistical workshops to fellow graduate students.

Mona is passionate about tackling real-world problems with creative methodology and rigorous analytics. When Mona is not occupied with research or data, they spend their free time picking up new skills, be it digital art, longboarding, or playing the drumkit.

Tirth completed his MA in Economics at the University of Toronto in 2020. During the program, he applied econometric techniques to address policy issues ranging from voter turnout to the relationship between police and crime. Prior to this, Tirth earned his BA in Economics at the University of Waterloo. During his BA, he was a part of the University of Waterloo’s Economics Society, where he was President and an editor for the society’s website.

Passionate about data, Tirth loves applying econometrics techniques to solve empirical puzzles.

Tien has a background in tax, finance, and business advisory. She recently completed her MBA at the Rotman School of Management with double majors in accounting and finance. Prior to Rotman, she has over 5 years of experience with Ernst & Young Vietnam advising multinational clients on taxation, investment, and corporate restructuring issues. She also did a summer internship as a Financial Analyst with Right To Play, a global Not-For-Profit organization. She holds a UK Chartered Accountant Qualification (ACCA) and a Bachelor Degree in international finance from Foreign Trade University, Vietnam.

In her free time, Tien loves cooking Vietnamese famous soups (including Pho!) and playing her Vietnamese traditional instrument.

Steven is an accomplished, performance-driven, and solutions-oriented professional with over 5 years’ experience in finance, investment, and business development.

Prior to BEworks, he has 4 years’ experience in Singapore with VinaCapital where he managed its finance functions, executed outreach strategies, developed new products, and screened investment opportunities as an Associate.

He holds an MSc in Banking and International Finance from Cass Business School, England, and a BA (Hons) in Finance, Accounting, and Management from the University of Nottingham, England. Regarding his professional development, he completed the Canadian Securities Course (CSC) and Chartered Financial Analyst, Level I (CFA).

In his spare time, Steven goes swimming and plays soccer and badminton.

Joylin is a Marketing Specialist who has put her journalistic prowess and passion for storytelling into developing effective brand campaigns. With a background in communications, she has built seamless connections between strategy and creativity for globally renowned clients. She has designed both online and offline tactics for brands to heighten their image and expand their reach. By gaining exposure for clients in various publications such as Forbes, Mashable, Reuters, Bloomberg, The National, Gulf Business, Joylin has constantly made positive strides in her professional career.

Joylin is passionate about ideologies that are result-driven and content that creates a lasting impact.

Sydney has been part of the BEworks team since May 2019, having joined as an Administrative Specialist. She now applies her administrative and operations background as manager of our Project Management Office and satisfies her scientific curiosity by learning more about our projects and the behavioural science behind them. Sydney holds a BSc in Computer Engineering from University of Alberta.

Sheila is a highly experienced event coordinator, with over 14 years in business management and people leadership.

Stacey has been instrumental in achieving tremendous documented results in a variety of different industries, from event production to management consultancy.

Sofia holds a BA in Experimental Psychology, and an MSc and PhD in Neuroscience from the Department of Physiology, Anatomy & Genetics at the University of Oxford. As a graduate research student, she worked with a range of neuroscientific questions and techniques – from the neuroscience of human memory and attention, to animal behaviour, and brain development and physiology. Sofia also spent several years teaching undergraduate psychology and communicating science to the public on the side of her research. Her written work has appeared in popular magazines like New Scientist, Discover Magazine, and The Psychologist.

Sasha is a multi-disciplinary design thinker, who loves to solve visual problems. In addition to design, she also has a background in product photography.

Sasha is interested in understanding human behaviour and designing rich experiences that solve problems in creative ways.

Sara gained her Bachelor’s degree in illustration from OCAD University in Toronto. Her design provides strength and elevation to all BEworks deliverables, especially our prototypes created for experimental testing.