Kevin O'Neil

Kevin O’Neil is the Managing Director of New Frontiers at The Rockefeller Foundation, a team focused on discovering and scaling impactful solutions to global problems through research, convenings, and catalytic grantmaking. Currently, the team is focused on advancing work around democracy innovations, collective wellbeing, and the social and economic impacts of artificial intelligence – after previously successful initiatives launched around digital public infrastructure, access to the social safety net, housing insecurity, and more.

Originally joining the Foundation in 2014, Kevin previously led a team focused on researching and developing new initiatives with the goal of providing evidence for major strategic decisions across the Foundation’s portfolio.

He previously worked as a research and teaching fellow at the University of Cape Town, a fellow of the Thomas J. Watson Foundation, and an analyst at the Migration Policy Institute. He has also served as a firefighter on four continents.

Kevin holds a PhD in Population Science and Public Affairs from Princeton University and a BA in Economics from Swarthmore College.