Dr. Stephen Brien

Stephen is currently leading a research exercise on the political economy of national transformation.

From 2017-2023 Stephen was director of policy at Legatum Institute, which is dedicated to building a movement of people committed to creating pathways to prosperity, with a particular emphasis on engaging leaders and aspiring leaders in Africa. In addition to overseeing Legatum’s policy programs, Stephen’s research focused on the socio-economic drivers of prosperity around the world. He oversaw the production of the Legatum Prosperity Index, and annual survey of the institutional, economic, and social wellbeing of 167 countries around the world.

Stephen has advised to many governments in the Middle East and sub-Saharan Africa including Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia, Malawi and Central African Republic. He has written on the governance of over twenty countries across Asia, Europe, Africa and the Americas, and is a co-author of Legatum Institute’s ‘Democracy Playbook’ and ‘Land Reform Playbook’

Stephen is also chair of the UK Social Security Advisory Committee – a statutory body that oversees UK government social security regulations. He is the author of Dynamic Benefits, the blueprint for Universal Credit (the most significant overhaul of the UK welfare state since Beveridge). He was an Expert Advisor at the UK Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) from 2010 to 2013, where he supported the implementation of Universal Credit.

Stephen’s early career was as a management consultant. In his fifteen years at Oliver Wyman, he led engagements across public-sector, private equity and corporate clients in mass-consumer industries (Retail, Financial Services, Consumer Products, Leisure, Transport, Mobile telecoms) to improve their customer value proposition and economics, with clients across UK, EU, North America.

Stephen is a regular speaker at international conferences, contributing to debates in Europe, Asia and Africa.

Stephen is a London-based Irish national, with degrees from University College, Dublin (BSc. Computer Science & Mathematics), and Oxford University (MSc & DPhil. Computation, MA Law).