Stephen Hawkins serves as Global Director of Research for More in Common, an international nonprofit organization dedicated to understanding and addressing political polarization and social division. He has held this position since the organization’s founding in 2016 and leads the design, execution, and interpretation of research that informs political actors, think tanks, non-profits, philanthropy and the public at large.

As Global Director of Research, Mr. Hawkins oversees the research output produced by More in Common, which today is an organization of 75 staff in seven countries—with ongoing expansion.

Mr. Hawkins’ work combines mixed-mode data collection and innovative methods to uncover the psychological underpinnings of political behavior, perceptions, and identity. Studies he has led or co-authored — including Hidden Tribes: A Study of America’s Polarized Landscape (2018), The Perception Gap (2019), American Fabric: Identity and Belonging (2020), and Defusing the History Wars (2022).

Mr. Hawkins’s work is cited hundreds of time in major media outlets including The New York Times, The Atlantic, The New Yorker, The Economist, CNN, and Fox News, and has been presented to policymakers, civic groups, and heads of state offices in the U.S. and Europe.

Mr. Hawkins received a B.A. in International Affairs and Political Science from The George Washington University, and a master’s degree in public policy from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, where he was selected to deliver the class graduation speech. He is based in Washington, D.C.