Una Osili
Associate Dean of Research and International Programs at the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, Indiana University
Una Osili is the Efrymson Chair in Philanthropy at the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy at Indiana University. Una Osili is also the Associate Dean of Research and International Programs at the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, the world's first school on philanthropy.
Dr. Osili has pioneered new approaches to using data to improving the understanding of trends in economic development and philanthropy. Her research is focused on household financial behavior across low-income and high-income environments. She has studied remittances from international migration, charitable giving, private transfers and education in both low and high income environment.
Osili leads the research and publication of Global Philanthropy Tracker and the Global Philanthropy Environment Index. The Global Philanthropy Indices are the leading source of global development and social innovation data trends and involve collaboration with more than 100 country and regional experts in 79 countries.
Osili has provided expert testimony at the Joint Economic Commission and United States Senate Foreign Relations Committee on philanthropy, international development and the role of the public sector. She has led collaborative research projects with global corporations and global institutions, and various governments entities. Dr. Osili is a consultant with the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and has worked on cross-sector initiatives on financial inclusion.
Osili leads the research and publication of Giving USA, the annual report on American philanthropy. Dr. Osili is the Founder of Generosity for Life – a digital platform that provides new data tools for financial decision making in the area of philanthropy and social impact. She leads the School's signature research project, the Philanthropy Panel Study (PPS). PPS is the most comprehensive study of the generosity of American families over time.
Una has significant governance experience and serves on the board of CARE, the Clowes Fund, the National Bank of Indianapolis, and the Central Indiana Community Foundation (CICF) Board where she is a member of the Impact Investing committee.
Una received her bachelor's degree in economics from Harvard University and her Master's and Ph.D. from Northwestern University. The NonProfit Times named Dr. Una Osili to its 2020 and 2021 "Power and Influence Top 50," recognizing her leadership in the philanthropic sector. Indianapolis Business Journal named Una 'Woman of Influence' and Dr. Osili, was appointed as a fellow for the Institute of Labor (IZA) in Bonn, Germany.