Highlights

Charlotte Ruhl is a psychology graduate of Harvard University, where she majored in psychology and minored in African American Studies. Her academic research focused on implicit racial bias, outgroup exposure, and social cognition, conducted under the supervision of Dr. Mahzarin Banaji at Harvard’s Implicit Social Cognition Lab.

While at Harvard, Charlotte also worked at the Decision Science Lab, designing and administering behavioural economics and social psychology studies. Earlier research roles included a prison monitoring project with the Correctional Association of New York, whose findings were reported to the New York State Legislature, and a youth development research internship with the Police Athletic League.

She began her writing career as a staff writer for Simply Psychology (2020–2021), researching and publishing educational articles on topics ranging from rational choice theory to cognitive bias. She has since moved into marketing, working as a Senior Marketing Analyst at PepsiCo in New York, where her role focuses on portfolio innovation and consumer behaviour research.

Professional Experience

• Senior Marketing Analyst, PepsiCo (2025–present)
• Marketing Analyst, PepsiCo (2024–2025)
• Associate Marketing Analyst, PepsiCo (2023–2024)
• Marketing Intern, PepsiCo (2022)
• Staff Writer, Simply Psychology (2020–2021)
• Research Assistant, Implicit Social Cognition Lab, Harvard University (2020–2022)
• Research Intern, Correctional Association of New York (2021)
• Marketing Analytics Intern, REX (2021)

Psychology Research

• Research Assistant, Implicit Social Cognition Lab, Harvard University (2021-2022): Conducted a senior thesis research on outgroup exposure and implicit bias under the guidance of Dr. Mahzarin Banaji, and independently led research on implicit dehumanization of outgroups. Additionally, she contributed to research projects focused on bilingualism, age perception, and gender-career stereotypes.
• Research Intern, Police Athletic League (2021): Conducted research and interviews with professionals in the youth development field to compile and publish a comprehensive report on the effectiveness of the Police Athletic League. This report has since been used for grant applications and speaking engagements.
• Research Intern, Correctional Association of New York (2021): Data analyzes were conducted for prison monitoring projects with findings reported to the New York State Legislature. Digital visualizations of these findings were also generated for sharing on social media platforms. A visit was made to Sullivan Correctional Facility, an all-male maximum security prison, to engage with the incarcerated individuals and understand their prison experiences during the pandemic.
• Research and Marketing Intern, Harvard Decision Science Lab (2019-2020): Worked closely with Harvard research faculty to design and pilot behavioral science studies and administered studies to over a thousand participants. Led in-person marketing campaigns and managed digital presence to help increase the participant pool by hundreds of people.

Education

• BA Psychology and African American Studies, Harvard University (2018–2022)

Publications