Jung Won (Leo) Choi

I am an organizational theorist studying the interface between state capacity and cross-sector collaboration. My research seeks to advance our understanding of how public organizations mobilize external actors to deliver under increasing resource and authority constraints. I pursue this question through direct engagement with the challenges public organizations face, previously in South Korea, where I worked on policy evaluation and organizational reform for multiple government agencies, and now in the United States, where my current research takes inspiration from partnerships with the Georgia Department of Transportation, supported by the Federal Highway Administration.

My work has been also supported by the Accountability and Reform Research Consortium (ARRC) convened by the Volcker Alliance, APPAM Entrepreneurship Policy Fellowship (Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation), Mercatus Center Frédéric Bastiat Fellowship, GSU AYSPS Andrew Young Fellowship, National Research Foundation of Korea, Yonsei Center for Social Innovation, and Yonsei University.

Before my doctoral studies, I worked in South Korea's social impact sector, served as a researcher for multiple Korean government agencies including the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, Korea Forest Service, Science and Technology Policy Institute, and National Center for Mental Health, and was invited as a Young Academic for the 2018 P4G Summit in Copenhagen.

I hold an M.A. in Public Administration and a B.A. in Science, Technology, and Policy, both from Yonsei University.