Mariana Mazzucato
Professor in the Economics of Innovation & Public Value, UCL | Founding Director, Institute for Innovation & Public Purpose | Bestselling Author & Global Policy Advisor
Emily Oster
Professor of Economics, Brown University | Four-Time NYT Bestselling Author (Expecting Better, The Family Firm) | Founder & CEO of ParentData | TIME 100
Emily Oster is a Brown University economist, a New York Times bestselling author, and a leading voice on using data to make better decisions. Named to the TIME 100, she is known for cutting through conventional wisdom, on pregnancy, parenting, and health, with clear-eyed analysis of what the evidence actually says. Founder and CEO of ParentData, she helps people and organizations think more clearly about the decisions that matter.
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Emily Oster biography
Economics speaker Emily Oster is a professor of economics at Brown University, a four-time New York Times bestselling author, and one of the most trusted voices anywhere on using data to make better decisions. Trained as an economist with a PhD from Harvard, she has built a singular reputation for cutting through conventional wisdom and fear, and showing people and organizations what the evidence actually says. As Steven Pinker put it when naming her to the TIME 100, she “shows how ‘data,’ a scary word, can be a humanizing force.”
Oster’s core belief is simple and powerful: data can help us make better decisions, whether about public policy or the choices of everyday life. She first reached a mass audience with her bestselling books, Expecting Better, Cribsheet, The Family Firm, and The Unexpected, which brought a rigorous, reassuring, data-driven approach to pregnancy and parenting. Her reach grew further during the pandemic, when her evidence-based analysis of school reopening and COVID risk, and her popular data dashboards, made her a go-to source for parents, leaders, and policymakers navigating profound uncertainty.
Data as a Humanizing Force
A professor of economics at Brown University, Oster is also the founder and CEO of ParentData, a data-driven platform and newsletter followed by a vast, loyal audience. Named to the TIME 100 Most Influential People, a frequent contributor to The Atlantic, and a sought-after advisor to companies including Spotify, Capital One, and Athenahealth, she has shown how the tools of economics apply far beyond the family: in The Family Firm, she brings the discipline of business decision-making to the home, and that same framework helps leaders and teams decide better under pressure.
As a speaker, Emily Oster is sharp, warm, and refreshingly practical, giving audiences a smart, winning guide to thinking clearly, and with less stress, about the decisions that matter most. She speaks on data-driven decision-making, cutting through conventional wisdom and noise, navigating uncertainty, and the surprising lessons that flow between how we run organizations and how we run our lives. Audiences leave calmer, clearer, and better equipped to use evidence rather than anxiety to guide their most important choices.
Emily Oster Speaking Videos
The Power of Data & Its Limits with Emily Oster | SXSW EDU 2022
Emily Oster on "How to Make Decisions That Work Best for You and Your Family"
Emily Oster Keynote Topics
We are drowning in information, advice, and fear, and it makes us worse at deciding, not better. Economist Emily Oster shows audiences how to cut through the noise and conventional wisdom to focus on what the data actually says. Drawing on her work translating complex evidence for millions of readers, she offers a clear, practical framework for making confident decisions, personal or organizational, with less stress and more clarity. A smart, reassuring keynote for anyone who makes high-stakes choices under uncertainty.
In her bestseller The Family Firm, Emily Oster applied the tools of economics and business, data, frameworks, and structured decision-making, to the chaos of family life. In this keynote she explores the two-way street between how we run organizations and how we run our lives: the frameworks that help a company decide well can calm a household, and the human realities of family decisions can make leaders wiser. A fresh, insightful talk on structured decision-making that resonates with executives and parents alike.
When the world was awash in fear and conflicting guidance during COVID, Emily Oster became a trusted voice by doing one thing consistently: going to the data. In this keynote she shares what that experience taught her about leading and deciding in times of profound uncertainty, how to weigh risk honestly, communicate evidence clearly, and help people move from paralysis to confident action. A timely, deeply practical session for leaders and organizations facing an unpredictable world.
From pregnancy to parenting to health, Emily Oster has spent her career showing that the scariest decisions become manageable when you replace anxiety with evidence. In this engaging keynote she demystifies how to read data, question conventional wisdom, and understand risk in a way ordinary people, and leaders, can actually use. Warm, rigorous, and genuinely empowering, it leaves audiences with a new relationship to information and a calmer, clearer way of making up their minds.
Speaker topics
FAQs on Booking Emily Oster
Why Emily Oster?
Booking Emily Oster brings audiences one of the most trusted and refreshingly practical voices on decision-making in the world. A Brown University economist, four-time New York Times bestselling author, and one of TIME’s 100 Most Influential People, she has a rare gift for turning complex data into clear, usable guidance, and for replacing fear and conventional wisdom with evidence. Whether addressing executives or a general audience, she helps people think more clearly, and with far less stress, about the choices that matter most, from the boardroom to the family. She is an ideal choice for events on decision-making, data, health, leadership, and navigating uncertainty. To bring Emily Oster to your next event, contact Aurum Speakers Bureau.
Who is Emily Oster?
Emily Oster is an American economist, author, and entrepreneur. A professor of economics at Brown University with a PhD from Harvard, she is best known for pioneering a data-driven approach to the decisions of everyday life. She is the four-time New York Times bestselling author of Expecting Better, Cribsheet, The Family Firm, and The Unexpected, books that bring rigorous evidence to pregnancy and parenting, and the founder and CEO of ParentData, a widely followed data-driven platform and newsletter. Named to the TIME 100 Most Influential People of 2022 and a frequent contributor to The Atlantic, she rose to even wider prominence during the pandemic for her evidence-based analysis of school reopening and COVID risk. Her research as an economist focuses on health and statistical methods, and she advises organizations including Spotify, Capital One, and Athenahealth.
What is Emily Oster’s approach to data and decision-making?
Emily Oster’s central idea is that data can help us make better decisions, not by telling us what to do, but by helping us think more clearly. Trained as an economist, she brings the same rigor she would apply to policy questions to the everyday choices that cause people the most anxiety. Rather than offering advice, she lays out what the evidence actually shows, where it is strong, where it is weak, and how to weigh risks and trade-offs, so that individuals and organizations can make confident choices that fit their own circumstances. In her book The Family Firm, she shows how structured, business-style decision-making can bring calm and clarity to family life, and that framework travels in both directions: the discipline that helps a company decide well can help a household, and vice versa. Across her books, her platform, and her keynotes, the through-line is the same, replacing fear and conventional wisdom with evidence, and giving people a practical way to decide with less stress.
What topics does economics speaker Emily Oster cover?
Emily Oster speaks on data-driven decision-making, cutting through conventional wisdom and noise, structured decision-making (from the boardroom to the family), navigating uncertainty, and using evidence rather than anxiety to make better choices. Her keynotes suit events on decision-making, data, economics, health, leadership, and the future, for corporate, healthcare, and general audiences. To book Emily Oster as a speaker, contact Aurum Speakers Bureau.
How to book Emily Oster as a keynote speaker?
Aurum Speakers Bureau can help you book Emily Oster as a speaker for your next event, conference, or board meeting. Simply fill out our contact form to inquire about Emily Oster's availability for a speaking engagement. One of our booking agents will respond to your request immediately and contact the speaker to let them know you want to hire them. We will assist you with obtaining speaking fees, booking information, and confirming availability for Emily Oster or any other top keynote speaker or celebrity of your choice.
How much is Emily Oster speaking fee?
Emily Oster speaking fees are determined by several factors, including the event's date, whether it's a virtual or in-person event, the duration, format, preparation required for their speech, and more. The same applies to the cost to hire any other top expert speakers and celebrities. The Speaker Fee Range listed on our website is simply a guideline and is subject to change without notice. If you would like to hire Emily Oster to deliver a keynote speech for your event, please fill out the contact form or email us at info@aurumbureau.com with as much detail as possible. One of our experienced agents will get in touch with you and let you know exactly how much it will cost to book Emily Oster.
How can I contact Emily Oster?
We only work with Emily Oster on paid speaking engagements. Aurum Speakers Bureau can assist you in booking Emily Oster and will handle all negotiations, contracts, and logistics associated with having Emily Oster speak at your event. We will be your sole point of contact throughout the process. Get in touch with Aurum Speakers Bureau today, and we will reach out to any motivational speaker or celebrity you want to enquire about speaking at your event. If you wish to contact Emily Oster for any other reason, we will be unable to assist you as we are not authorized to provide personal contact information.
Can I book Emily Oster for a virtual keynote?
Yes, Emily Oster is available for virtual keynotes and webinars. To book Emily Oster for a virtual event, please complete the contact form or send us an email to inquire about the special fees for virtual engagements.
