OpenResearch Staff

Sam Altman

Tess Cotter
Karina Dotson

Aristia Kinis

Patrick Krause

Joshua Lin

Sam Manning

Elizabeth Rhodes

Sam Altman is the chair of OpenResearch and the CEO of OpenAI. He was previously President of Y Combinator. He was cofounder and CEO of Loopt, which was funded by Y Combinator in 2005 and acquired by Green Dot in 2012. At Green Dot, he was the CTO and is now on the Board of Directors. Sam also founded Hydrazine Capital. He studied computer science at Stanford and while there worked in the AI lab.
Tess Cotter is a strategy and operations manager at OpenResearch. She previously worked as a strategy consultant at Publicis Sapient and taught product management at iXperience. Tess is currently pursuing an MS in data science from UC Berkeley and holds a BS in engineering psychology and economics from Tufts University. While there, she conducted research in the Spatial Cognition Lab and worked as a social enterprise consultant with 180 Degrees Consulting.
Karina is a qualitative researcher for the Basic Income Study at OpenResearch. She has worked as a social science researcher at the University of Michigan for the last seven years on a wide range of topics ranging from poverty and crime, to transportation and social policy. Most recently, she has worked on research developing an index to measure transportation insecurity and explore its prevalence, causes, and consequences. Karina holds a PhD in Sociology from the University of Michigan.
Aristia Kinis directs strategy and operations at OpenResearch. She has worked across the last 15 years in research and academic nonprofit organizations, and she believes profoundly in the transformative social impact potential of nonprofits. Aristia holds a BS in foreign service from Georgetown University and recently completed her MBA. She thrives within the spaces of ambiguity and competing priorities inherent in an entrepreneurial nonprofit environment and feels so fortunate to spend her days collaborating with her OpenResearch colleagues.
Patrick Krause is the data manager for the Basic Income Project. Prior to joining OpenResearch, Patrick worked in the fields of development, construction, and winemaking. Most recently, he worked in market research, developing methods to quantify narratives in online conversations. Patrick holds a MS in international and development economics from the University of San Francisco and a BA in economics and political science from Bucknell University.
Joshua Lin (he/him) is a data associate for the Basic Income Project. Before joining OpenResearch, he worked as a regulatory analyst at the California Public Utilities Commission in telecommunications and has done work on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the nonprofit space. He holds an MS in information and data science from UC Berkeley, and while there, he worked as a data analyst at Catalyst Off-Grid Advisors, helping push for the expansion of solar energy in Sub-Saharan Africa. He also holds a BA in Asian studies and BS in environmental sciences from UC Berkeley.
Sam Manning is a research manager at OpenResearch, where his current work focuses on the economic impacts of artificial intelligence. Prior to joining, Sam managed an evaluation of a childhood health program in India and worked as a research analyst with the Evidence to Policy Initiative at UC San Francisco. Sam has a BA in international affairs from Northeastern University and a MS in international and development economics from the University of San Francisco.
Elizabeth Rhodes is the research director for the Basic Income Study at OpenResearch. She completed a joint PhD in social work and political science at the University of Michigan in 2016, where her research focused on health and education provision in informal settlements, workforce development, and poverty prevention and alleviation strategies. Elizabeth also holds an MSW from Michigan and a BA in government and economics from Georgetown.
Yesenia R. Vargas is a qualitative researcher for the Basic Income Study at OpenResearch. Prior to joining OpenResearch, she worked as a qualitative researcher at the University of Illinois at Chicago where she focused on racialized disparities in reproductive healthcare, medicalization, and parent/family wellness. While there, she conducted research for the Institute for Research on Race and Public Policy on racial wealth gaps in Chicago and worked as a research consultant for various research non-profits and firms including the Surgo Foundation and Keisler Social and Behavioral Research. She holds a BA in American studies with a minor in sociology from Wellesley College, an MEd. from Boston College and an MA in sociology from the University of Illinois at Chicago.
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