Una Osili
Una Osili is a global expert on philanthropy, social innovation and financial development. Her experience spans more than 20 years in leadership, economic policy and research across the public and private sectors.
Una Osili is the Director of Research at the Centre on Philanthropy at Indiana University, a leading academic Centre dedicated to increasing the understanding of philanthropy and improving its practice across the globe. She is also Associate Dean for Research and International Programs at Indiana University Lily Family School of Philanthropy, a role she assumed in July 2017.
At the school, she leads the research and publication of the Global Philanthropy Environment Index, the Global Philanthropy Tracker as well as the research and publication of Giving USA, the annual report on American philanthropy.
Additionally, Una Osili serves as a Professor of Economics and Philanthropic Studies at Indiana University – Purdue University, Indianapolis. As well as her career, she founded Generosity for Life, a digital platform providing new data tools in philanthropy and social impact.
Una completed her bachelor’s degree in Economics from Harvard University and her master’s and PhD from Northwestern University. She is also an alumna of Cornell University and Clarkson University.
Una’s research focuses on household financial behavior in developing and developed countries including charitable giving, savings and investment decisions. She provides guidance for the research for Giving USA and directed one of the first academic studies of impact investing, titled Leveraging the Power of Foundations: An Analysis of Programme Related Investing. She has also led an inaugural study on global trends in high-net worth philanthropy that examines the emerging role of social enterprise and impact investing in six regions.
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Additionally, Una has led collaborative research projects with global corporations and has provided advisory, policy and consulting support for global institutions such as the World Bank, USAID, United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and others.
An internationally recognized expert on philanthropy, economics and international development, Una has spoken on diverse issues related to international trends in philanthropy. As a result, she has been quoted by various international news media outlets including the New York Times, the Chronicle of Philanthropy, National Public Radio, Financial Times, and the Wall Street Journal.
Una has served as a member of various international advisory groups such as the Social Science Research Council, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, the United Nations Development Program and the African Development Bank. She has served as an Associate Editor for the Journal of African Economies and Guest Editor of the Journal of African Development.
In recognition of her leadership in the philanthropic sector, Una was named among the Nonprofit Times’ 50 Most Influential People in the Non-profit Sector in 2019 and 2020. She was also named Woman of Influence by the Indianapolis Business Journal.