Education

Masters of Public Health from the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill

Kate Compton Barr

Behavioral Scientist

Why I Choose to Work at Academic Innovation

College is a weird, wild, and wonderful time. I’m excited to work on behavioral science’s cutting edge to support students during such a critical life stage. I love working alongside my colleagues who unpack problems and find creative solutions all in the name of giving students the best possible experience.

Current Roles/Previous Experience

Kate is a member of the Behavioral Science team working on eCoach and Tandem. Prior to joining CAI, Kate worked at UM’s Center for Health Communications Research from 2009-2015. Her work ran the gamut from project management to app creation. She’s built apps designed to help people cope with health conditions, change their health behaviors, and more easily navigate complex health systems. She worked alongside graphic designers and programmers to take complex health information and translate it into actionable, digestible programs that helped people live their best lives. She leveraged her deep knowledge of health behavior change theory and drew on the best available research to craft supportive, tailored content for a variety of audiences.

In September 2015, Kate co-founded pip & grow. A scrappy start-up with a social mission. Her company made baby boxes (affordable, cardboard bassinets) and strove to demonstrate that ethical, equitable business practices could still result in a profitable business. Kate published “The Mother of All Baby Sleep Books” and launched a suite of online infant education programs during her tenure as pip & grow CEO. She was honored to join the inaugural Forbes Next 1000 entrepreneurs list in Spring 2021. Upon selling the company, Kate gladly returned to her behavioral science roots at CAI.

Ask Me to Learn About

  • Baking (but never bread)
  • How to not train a puppy
  • Forest School
  • Entrepreneurship