Paolo Spada received his Ph.D. in political science from Yale University in May 2012. Spada also holds a Ph.D. in economics from Bologna University (2006). His research interests lie in the diffusion and impact evaluation of Democratic Innovations. He is a member of the core development team of Participedia, of the research board of the Participatory Budgeting Project, and a member of the World Bank’s Digital Engagement Evaluation Team. Before joining the Democracy Matters team, Paolo has contributed to the implementation and evaluation of Deliberative Polls, Citizens’ Assemblies, Participatory Budgetings, Americaspeaks 21st Century Town Meetings, and community driven development projects. Most of his research centers on how to optimize Democratic Innovations and how to improve the methodologies currently adopted to evaluate them. For more details on Paolo’s work see his personal webpage.