Dr. Jeff Linkenbach, Founding Director and Research Scientist at The Montana Institute, has been an innovator in norms research and public health leadership for over three decades. He is the developer of the Science of the Positive and Positive Community Norms frameworks, which have been used by tribal, federal, international, state, and local organizations to achieve positive change and transformation on issues such as child maltreatment, substance abuse, mental health, and traffic safety.

Jeff holds a master's degree in counseling and a doctorate in education with a focus on community education. He has authored or co-authored numerous publications on norms change, public health, and transformative community leadership, and has delivered more than 500 keynotes, trainings, and presentations.

He founded the Center for Health and Safety Culture at Montana State University and was a Fellow at the Mansfield Academy for Global Leadership at The University of Montana, where he currently serves as a faculty affiliate at the Center for the Advancement of Positive Education (CAPE).

He was a co-investigator of the HOPE (Healthy Outcomes from Positive Experiences) study and a member of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention’s Knowledge-to-Action (K2A) think tank on Essentials for Childhood. He has worked with organizations such as the U.S. White House (Office of National Drug Control Policy), the Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration, the U.S. Department of Education, the Ontario Workplace Safety & Prevention Services, Harvard University, the American Medical Association, the National Football League, and many others.

Jeff is passionate about turning social science into measurable social action. His pioneering work has transformed how organizations and media communicate about health. In all his work, he challenges himself, his colleagues, and his audiences to ask: “Are we being busy, or are we being effective? And how do we know?”