Ashley Whillians

Ashley Whillans is a professor at Harvard Business School, where she teaches MBA students about motivation and incentives. She holds a PhD in Social Psychology from the University of British Columbia, with her award-winning research on time and happiness earning the 2018 CAGS Distinguished Dissertation Award. 

Her research has been published in leading academic journals and featured in Harvard Business Review, Time Magazine, and The Wall Street Journal. 

Outside of academia, she works with major companies to improve employee experience and help teams perform at a high level. In 2020, she published Time Smart: How to Reclaim Your Time and Live a Happier Life, which shares strategies for better time management.

At Responsive Conference 2025, Whillans will bring her expertise in human motivation to the discussion on storytelling and creativity at work. She’ll explore how storytelling can drive employee engagement, shape company culture, and improve decision-making. She will also help attendees understand how effective storytelling can be used to influence people, whether it’s for leadership, sales, or career growth.