G. Elliott Morris Keynote Speaker

G Elliott Morris is a data-driven journalist, author, and the Editorial Director of Data Analytics at ABC News, where he oversees the popular data-journalism vertical FiveThirtyEight. Specializing in the analysis of politics, public opinion, and elections, Elliott uses his skills in forecasting and data science to tell stories about the world around us. His most recent book Strength in Numbers: How Polls Work and Why We Need Them was published in the US, UK and Europe by W.W. Norton in 2022.

Elliott is perhaps best known for his work on political polling aggregation and election forecasting. He bridges disciplines from academic social science, applied statistics, political psychology and data science to design data-driven models that tell us not only what is likely (or not) to happen in the future, but why. Of his work on polling the prestigious University of Virginia political science professor Larry J Sabato has said ““I can’t count the number of times people have asked me to explain polling and its errors. In the future my answer will simply be, ‘Read G. Elliott Morris.’”

Through his data-driven political work Elliott is also an expert in demographics and economic data, particularly household surveys, especially in how they relate to voter behavior and political impacts. His favorite stories are those that build on a foundation of objective, empirical fact to learn and speculate about particular events or phenomena. He has been shortlisted for various global awards in data-driven journalism.

Elliott is also an expert in the science of uncertainty, having collaborated with several renowned academic statisticians in his forecasting work. Elliott has written about how to reconcile data and reality when they disagree, and how to make decisions when uncertainty is high. His speaking on these topics is rigorous yet accessible, having used tools from Bayesian statistics for his analyses published for mass audiences in The Economist and ABC News, as well as his book.

Elliott is a popular speaker in academic social science departments, having guest lectured at universities including Harvard, MIT, and the University of California, Berkeley. He also gives keynote addresses and appears on Q&A panels for major international firms. Elliott’s writing has appeared in The New York Times Opinion section and its data-driven vertical The Upshot, and he has been interviewed for pieces in The Atlantic, The Washington Post, The Guardian, The Financial Times, CNN, MSNBC, and the BBC.