Tufano believes that academics must have an impact on the outside world– they should play a role in informing business practices and public policy.
Since joining the Saïd Business School in the summer of 2011, Tufano has been very active in the UK and European business and policy communities.
He is on the advisory committee of the new UK Behavioural Insights Team which applies behavioural economic principles to help guide national public policy and regulations. He is part of a group advising the European Central Bank about consumer finance research.
Tufano also travels extensively to make presentations about his research. He made a joint presentation about entrepreneurship to the UK House of Commons on 16th November 2011, he gave the closing presentation at the 2011 World Credit Union Conference in Glasgow, he talked about consumer protection at the CFS-EITF Conference on Household Finance in Rome and he hosted a seminar about consumer protection and promotion at the Financial Services Authority (FSA) both in October 2011.
In March 2012, Tufano presented at the Finance Literary Seminar organised by The George Washington University School of Business and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. View the presentation and an interview with Tufano here: http://business.gwu.edu/flss/program/spring-2012-1/.
Before his arrival at Oxford, Tufano worked with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the US Treasury, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau, State government officials and a variety of businesses. He continues to be active with the FDIC, sitting on its Advisory Committee on Economic Inclusion.
Tufano is also a social entrepreneur. In 2000, he founded, and now chairs, a nonprofit called the Doorways to Dreams Fund (www.d2dfund.org). This organisation works with partners to help low income households successfully manage their financial needs. For example, Tufano’s D2D created various specialty videogames to promote financial literacy amongst American consumers. Five free financial literacy games are now available through the site http://financialentertainment.org. Their work on prize-linked saving, which blends savings with a “lottery” element, has led a number of states to permit this type of product, which is embodied in UK Premium Bonds. So far, Tufano’s D2D has achieved two changes in federal policy and changes to state laws to benefit American consumers.
To support other researchers in the field of consumer finance, Tufano co-founded the National Bureau of Economic Research’s Household Finance working group. He is also a trustee and member of the Executive Committee of the Global Association of Risk Professionals.
Tufano is focused on ensuring his research reaches consumers and the wider global community. To that end, he is frequently profiled and cited in news articles.