Carissa Romero, PhD

Carissa is one of Paradigm’s Co-Founders, focused on helping clients transform their diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives by using data to identify barriers and crafting tailored programs that will achieve measurable impact. Carissa has spearheaded Paradigm’s work with clients in a range of industries, including American Express, Etsy, Lyft, The New York Times, and Zillow Group.

Carissa is passionate about applying psychological research to solve real-world problems, and she is a leading expert in fixed and growth mindsets—people’s beliefs about the nature of talents and abilities. Before joining Paradigm, Carissa co-founded PERTS, Stanford University’s applied research center on mindsets, where she translated research into advice and tools to improve academic achievement across the country. At Paradigm, Carissa uses her expertise to transform companies’ diversity and inclusion initiatives.

Carissa’s work has been featured in dozens of media outlets, including The New York Times, Harvard Business Review, The Wall Street Journal, and Education Week. She has spoken at various conferences, including AtlanticLIVE, TechCrunch Disrupt, and Harvard Business School’s Gender and Work Symposium. Carissa is a member of Stanford University’s Mindset Scholars Network and was named to Forbes 30 Under 30 list in 2016 for her innovative work on growth mindset. Carissa holds a doctorate in Psychology from Stanford University.