About MDRC
Key joined MDRC in 2018. He leads the development and implementation of fast, low-cost, and rigorously tested interventions to improve the outcomes and experiences of lower-income people and communities for MDRC’s Center for Applied Behavioral Science. He partners with local, state, and federal agencies; nonprofit organizations; and businesses to discover opportunities for organizational improvement and devise evidence-based solutions informed by behavioral science. Key has advised numerous public and private agencies on the measurement of financial well-being and the design of programs to promote financial literacy and financial capability. Previously he led research on household finances at the Pew Charitable Trusts. While managing research at the University of North Carolina’s Asset Building Program, Key combined rapid-cycle processes and insights from behavioral economics to field large, national, experimental research studies. He holds an MA in sociology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an AB in sociology from the University of Chicago.
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MDRC Publications
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Other Publications
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Projects
Jean Grossman, Dan Bloom, Barbara S. Goldman, John Hutchins, Jared Smith, Rekha Balu, Frieda Molina, Helen Lee, Virginia Knox, Peter Baird, Clinton Key, Bret Barden, Jessica Kopsic, Rebecca Schwartz, Emily MaranoMany human services programs require that applicants complete a series of steps — from providing eligibility to arranging transportation and child care — in order to benefit from services. Program designers often assume that individuals carefully consider their options and make the best decisions for their personal circumstances. Over the past 30 years, however,...
Rekha Balu, Caitlin Anzelone, Clinton Key, Mary Bambino, Barbara Condliffe, Rebecca Schwartz, Jared Smith, Margaret Hennessy, Xavier AlemañyPolicymakers and administrators are increasingly using evidence about human behavior to improve the design of social services. People — who often rely on intuition instead of reason, make inconsistent choices over time, and can be overloaded by information — are the clients who receive services, the staff who provide them, and the policymakers who create them....