Our team

Claudia has five years of experience working with the government and multilateral organizations in Peru to strengthen delivery capacity at the local level. At the Ministry of Education, she worked closely with the local education boards to improve budget execution and textbooks delivery to schools. Then, she joined the World Bank, where she supported the design of projects targeting school management and teacher professional development. Here, she also accompanied the design of EdTech projects in Paraguay, Costa Rica and Brazil. Throughout her career, she has collaborated with different NGOs in the fields of education, civic engagement and entrepreneurship.

Claudia holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Universidad del Pacífico (Peru), and is in her second year of the master’s in Public Administration and International Development (MPA-ID) at the Harvard Kennedy School.

She is currently an Imago Summer Fellow in the India Office, where she will be working in the adaptive evaluation of the social accelerator of Self-Employed Women Association (SEWA).

Geet Chawla is a Master of Public Administration (MPA) candidate at Columbia University, School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) where her concentration is Economic and Political Development her specialization is International Conflict Resolution.

Geet has previously worked in a variety of industries—including journalism, aerospace, not-for-profit, financial services, management consulting, and technology. Most recently, she developed and operationalized a growth strategy for a large offshore team at Better, a New York-based FinTech startup. She grew up in India and is fluent in English, Hindi, Punjabi, and Urdu. She is particularly interested in the intersection of international law, public policy, and development and hopes to transition to a globally impactful career after graduating from Columbia University.

Geet holds a BA in Business Administration with a double concentration in Finance and Entrepreneurship from University of Washington, Michael G. Foster of Business. She is currently a Summer Fellow at IMAGO where she is working on rolling out interventions for social enterprises under the Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) as well as providing internal strategy support for IMAGO’s India office.

Ignacia Lecaros has five years of experience working in the public sector and non-profit organizations focusing on reducing poverty and inequality in the world, especially among marginalized groups. She worked first as a project manager in a non-profit organization that contributes to the reintegration of people deprived of liberty in the Chilean prison system. Then, she worked at the Ministry of Social Development within the Government of Chile as a Department of Studies Analyst. At the Ministry, she worked analyzing and evaluating social programs of the government. Also, she was in the team that determined the allocation of the bonus for families in Chile during the pandemic COVID-19.

She studied a B.A in Economics and Business at Pontifical Catholic University of Chile. Later on, she studied an M.A in Economics concentrating on Public Policy. At the time, she is a second-year graduate student at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) pursuing a Master of Public Administration degree focusing on Social Policy, Gender, and Development.

Ignacia is currently working as an intern at IMAGO Global Grassroots on Latin America-focused projects in adaptive evaluation, scaling up grassroots projects, organizing a program for emerging leaders in Chile, and conducting research on inequality in Chile.

Isabela is currently pursuing her Master’s in Public Policy at the University of Chicago, with a focus on International Development and Education.

Prior to pursuing her graduate degree, Isabela worked at Simple Mills, where she continues to consult, analyzing sales and consumer data for their growing business. Previously, Isabela worked for over 4years in the Beauty industry in various Data Analysis capacities. Out of college, she began as an HR data analyst at L’Oréal, shifting over the next 2 years to Business Analysis. After L’Oréal, she worked at Revlon doing category and competitive business and consumer analysis.

Isabela holds a bachelor’s degree from NYU in Economics and Politics, with a minor in Mathematics. She is currently an IMAGO summer fellow at the LATAM office. She is primarily focused on IMAGO’s developing projects in Brazil, where she is from.

Ojas comes with five years of experience in the development landscape in India and has worked across sectors and verticals. She spent the initial years of her career at Samhita Social Ventures assessing and furthering the impact of large-scale social impact programs funded by CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility.) She also led Monitoring and Evaluation for Samhita’s national COVID-19 response program, REVIVE – a blended finance facility and livelihood accelerator to help informal workers and micro-entrepreneurs recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and thrive. Ojas is passionate about designing equitable health systems in developing countries and has experience in leading process design and quality improvement at Swasth Foundation, a grassroots primary healthcare organization based in Mumbai, India.

Ojas holds an undergraduate degree in Economics from Shri Ram College of Commerce (Delhi, India) and a post-graduate diploma in Liberal Arts from Ashoka University (Sonipat, India). She is currently a second-year student pursuing her Masters in Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School.

She is currently an Imago Summer Fellow in the Global Office.

Pablo is a Masters in Public Administration in International Development candidate at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. Prior to commencing his graduate studies, Pablo was a poverty consultant in the Bangladesh poverty team of the Poverty and Equity division of the World Bank. In his role, he focused on the analysis of the dynamics of rural incomes in Bangladesh and understanding welfare implications of displaced populations within the scope of the Rohingya refugee crisis.

Previously, Pablo worked in government institutions of San Juan, Argentina and Merida, Mexico. Pablo holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Universidad Catolica de Cuyo and a master in Economic Development and Growth from Universidad Carlos III de Madrid.

Sarah is interested in the design, implementation, and analysis of policies and programs aimed at alleviating poverty in Kenya, especially in the education sector. She is a candidate for the Master in Public Administration in International Development (MPA/ID) at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government (HKS).

Prior to HKS, she worked on issues related to economic mobility at The Brookings Institution as a project manager and senior research assistant in the Economic Studies program. Sarah also worked at The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL Global), where she contributed to J-PAL’s policy team’s mission to analyze and disseminate research results to ensure policy is driven by scientific evidence.

Sarah holds a B.A. in Economics from Wellesley College, and she spent a year studying abroad at the London School of Economics and Political Science. She is currently a Summer Fellow at IMAGO’s global office where she contributes to Knowledge and Communication management.

Sneha has 4+ years of experience in public health consulting, partnerships with the Ministry of Health in India and financial marketing analytics. She earlier worked with Clinton Health Access Initiative to introduce and scale public health interventions, for improving the lives of pregnant women and infants. In 2020, I collaborated with the Ministry of Health to lead COVID-19 diagnostics for India. Previously, at Citibank, I led marketing analytics efforts and gained exposure on financial markets and modeling.

She holds a Bachelor's degree in Economics from Lady Shri Ram College for Women, University of Delhi. She is a Master in Public Administration in International Development candidate at Harvard Kennedy School.

She is currently an IMAGO Summer Fellow in the Global Office where she is offering strategic support in developing the implementation roadmap for the UN Women Strategic Plan.

Vivek is interested in the political economy of development, specifically relating to the emerging economies of South Asia, Latin America and Africa. His policy interests include gender, education and poverty alleviation, with particular emphasis on key drivers of inequality that lie at the intersection of market mechanisms, and non-market factors such as systemic discrimination, class stratification, and social exclusion.

He has previously worked in education. He was a researcher in STEM pedagogy at the University of Colorado for the CIRTL Network, a national network of research universities focused on advancing effective teaching practices for STEM in the United States. He has also worked with first generation school-and college-goers in India’s Northeastern state of Meghalaya. As a Summer Fellow at Imago, Vivek is working with grassroots social enterprises in India like SEWA and TRIF, in collaboration with the National Rural Livelihood Mission, to improve women’s agency and economic empowerment in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.

Prior to studying international development and policy at The University of Chicago’s Harris School, Vivek worked as an aerospace engineer. He did post-doctoral work at the University of Colorado and worked for the Indian Government’s Defence Research and Development Organisation. He has degrees in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Colorado at Boulder, and Physics from St. Stephen’s College, University of Delhi.

Carmen is a candidate for the Masters in Public Administration in International Development at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. Prior to commencing her graduate studies, Carmen worked as a social protection consultant for the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank. In these roles, she focused on policy analysis on social programs, labor market, care policy, and barriers to female labor participation in Mexico and Latin America.

Carmen has a strong interest in advancing gender equality and social inclusion with evidence-based strategies. In addition, she has experience working on international economics and monetary policy since she started her career at the Economic Research Division of the Central Bank of Mexico. Carmen holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas (CIDE).

Hannah is a Masters of Public Administration in Development Practice candidate at the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) at Columbia University, specializing in Gender and Public Policy. She is particularly interested in the intersection of representation, gender, public discourse, and policy.

Prior to SIPA, Hannah worked for five years at an international media development organization. She managed projects at the intersection of human rights, press freedom, and access to information in Jordan, South Africa, and across Canada focusing on Indigenous representation in media, combating misinformation and disinformation, and supporting independent media.

Hannah is a graduate of the University of Toronto majoring in International Relations and Peace, Conflict, and Justice studies, and minoring in Women and Gender Studies.

Jessica Peck is a Masters of Public Administration in Development Practice candidate at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA.) At SIPA, she is focusing her studies on both global food systems and the potential for social enterprise to address development challenges.

Prior to SIPA, Jessica was a Senior Program Analyst at the Howard G. Buffett Foundation where she oversaw $100M+ in grants in Africa and Latin America. The grants were primarily related to the intersection of environmental concerns and livelihood building opportunities in agricultural development. Jessica received her BA in Spanish and French, with a minor in International Development, from the University of Notre Dame. While there, she studied abroad in Paris, France, and Toledo, Spain, and received funding for two independent research projects: an evaluation of a community-based organization in El Salvador and research on urban agriculture in Santiago, Chile.

Julia is a candidate for the Master of Public Administration in Development Practice at the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) at Columbia University. Julia also holds a B.A. in Political Science and Government and an M.A. in Applied Economics.

Before commencing her graduate studies, Julia joined the Buenos Aires City Government’s Delivery Unit to support the Mayor’s top priorities. She also led a program of evidence-based initiatives to perform evaluations and to apply behavioral science interventions. Julia is interested in leveraging evidence-based policy design to raise the accountability and effectiveness of policymaking in developing countries.

Kevin is currently a candidate at the School of International Public Affairs, pursuing a Masters of Public Administration in Development Practice at Columbia University. Prior to starting his master’s degree, Kevin served as a Peace Corps Community Economic Development Volunteer in Mbacké, Senegal. In this role, Kevin worked with the Ministry of Community Development to consult community members in MSME development and gender empowerment to build human capital and spark economic growth within the area.

Kevin initially started his career as a Certified Public Accountant and worked in the venture capital practices of KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers audit and tax teams, respectively. He was part of initial-public offering audit engagements and assisted in the tax preparation for Venture Capital partnerships through his experience at these accounting firms.

Nadine is a candidate for the Masters of Public Administration in Development Practice at the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) at Columbia University. She is passionate about bridging the gap between technology and sustainable development through social entrepreneurship among marginalized and vulnerable populations.

During her time at SIPA, Nadine led a team of graduate consultants in assisting a non-profit social innovation and venture philanthropy organization launch its first for-profit fund to support social entrepreneurs of color scale their impact in the future of the work sector.

Prior to commencing her graduate studies, Nadine spent six years working in the IT industry as a storage engineer before moving to a business development position in a development and innovation consulting firm in Cairo, Egypt. Nadine holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Informatics from the German University in Cairo, Egypt.

Isabella is a candidate for the Masters in Public Administration in International Development at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government (HKS). Prior to commencing her graduate studies, Isabella was a management consultant at McKinsey & Company in Nairobi. Isabella worked on both public and private sector strategies across Africa, with a focus on economic development. Some of her work includes industrial promotion, investment attraction for national flagship projects, and research on Chinese economic engagement in Africa.

Previously, Isabella was a Business Development Associate at a startup Buymore, focusing on strategic partnerships and product development. Isabella holds a B.Sc. in Financial Economics, first class honours, from Strathmore University, Kenya.

Jossie is a candidate for the Masters in Public Administration in International Development at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. Prior to graduate school, Jossie was a consultant at the Rural Development Division of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) in Washington, D.C. She collaborated on the impact evaluation of rural development projects, including the design, sampling, data collection and analysis. She participated in studies for several countries of Latin American and the Caribbean region, including Bolivia, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Nicaragua and Peru. She also contributed to the incorporation of a gender analysis component to the project assessments.

Before joining the IDB, Jossie was as an analyst at the Department of Economics Studies of the Central Reserve Bank of Peru, where she worked in the compilation of the national accounts. Jossie is a graduate of the Universidad de Piura with a major in Economics.

Katherin is a candidate for the Master in Public Administration in Development Practice at the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) at Columbia University. Prior to commencing her graduate studies, Katherin worked as an Economic Advisor at the National Planning Department in Colombia. In this role, Katherin advised the royalties director and lead the investment target planning for the regional investment in the country.

Katherin started her career at Citibank Colombia, analyzing risk for the portfolio of small and medium enterprises-SME. There, she developed a strong ability for conducting financial analysis, as well as to create effective strategies for mitigating risk and uncertainty. Katherin is a graduate of La Universidad de Los Andes in Colombia, with a major in Economics.

Siddhant is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Public Administration and International Development at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. Prior to Harvard, Siddhant worked as a research associate at the Behavioral Development Lab at J-PAL South Asia on a project based in Goa that examines the effect of low-cost, peer-delivered psychotherapy on economic well-being. Earlier, he worked with IFMR LEAD on the scoping of early-stage projects on how savings behavior is correlated with subjective probabilities of life events and the impact of loneliness among migrant factory workers in Chennai.

Siddhant holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Cornell University and a master’s degree in economics from Columbia University. His interests lie in the intersection between behavioral and development economics.

Summer is a dual-degree candidate for the Master in Public Policy (MPP) at the Harvard Kennedy School and Master in Business Administration (MBA) at the MIT Sloan School of Management. Before graduate school, Summer worked as a management consultant at McKinsey and Company across Europe with a focus on public sector, private equity and principal investors, and strategy work. She drove recruiting and activities for women in her office as a Female Committee member and also worked on collaborations with Teach First Denmark and CEMS.

Concurrently, she was the Vice-Chairman and ran fundraising for a non-profit providing creative after-school classes in Copenhagen and spent a summer in Ladakh, India, supporting and teaching young nuns. Summer is a graduate of Copenhagen Business School with a BSc in International Business whose interest in education and economic empowerment was awakened during her exchange semester in Hong Kong, during which she travelled and volunteered in rural China and Southeast Asia.

Thomas is a candidate for the Masters in Public Administration in International Development at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government (HKS). He is passionate about combining analytical approaches with qualitative research and human-centered design to improve service delivery in developing countries.

Prior to commencing his graduate studies, Thomas spent four years in Indonesia, first working as an anthropological researcher focused on refugee communities, and subsequently as a research analyst at the World Bank in Jakarta. There he worked on a range of community driven development and governance programs focused on improving early childhood development, education and maternal health service delivery in rural and remote regions. Whilst in Indonesia he co-founded the Jakarta Development Network and served as president of Same Skies, an NGO that supports the provision of education and other services to asylum seeker and refugee children across Southeast Asia. Following this he worked as a researcher working in early childhood development, supporting randomized control trials and population surveys projects in Laos, Tonga, Kiribati, Tuvalu and Samoa.

Anais is a candidate for the Masters in Public Administration in International Development at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government (HKS). Prior to commencing her graduate studies, Anais worked as an analyst at the Economic Research Division of the Central Bank of Mexico. In that capacity, Anais produced research on labor markets in Mexico, as well as the impact of social policy in the labor market.

Having developed a strong interest in social inequalities since she was young, Anais started her career as an RA for a Mexican NGO-her first hands-on experience with the design, implementation, and evaluation of social projects. Anais is a graduate of the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM) with a double major in Economics and Political Science.

Claudia is a candidate for the Masters in Public Administration in International Development at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. Before commencing her graduate studies, Claudia was a Labor Policy Specialist at the Governmental Delivery Unit in the Peruvian Prime Minister’s Office. In that role, she advised and monitored the second-line management of the Ministries of Economy, Labor, and Production in planning and implementing prioritized policies for achieving the government’s goal of labor formalization. Previously, Claudia worked as an Economic Studies Specialist in that same office, analyzing data related to the government priorities to assess their level of implementation and identify bottlenecks.

Claudia started her career at the Ministry of Education, collaborating on the development and monitoring of new educational policies. There, she developed a range of monitoring systems and created roadmaps for improvement for different schemes that existed under the Ministry. Claudia is a graduate of the Universidad de Piura with a major in Economics.

Vaishnavi is a Masters in Development Practice student at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA). She specializes in Gender and Public Policy. During her time at SIPA, Vaishnavi has worked with the Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) in Gujarat, India, to help their smallholder farmers build climate resilience by identifying agricultural technologies that suit their needs.

Before her graduate studies, Vaishnavi spent close to four years working in investment banking in Chennai, India. During her time at graduate school, Vaishnavi has developed a keen interest in working with the economic and social inclusion of refugees affected by conflict, by improving their access to education, training, and livelihood opportunities, while adapting a gender-sensitive approach.

Emily is a dual-degree candidate for the Master in Public Administration in International Development (MPA/ID) at the Harvard Kennedy School and Master in Business Administration (MBA) at the MIT Sloan School of Management. Prior to her graduate studies, Emily worked for 5 years as a management consultant at Bain and Company across Tokyo, Taipei, and Chicago, where her experience spanned the technology, finance, infrastructure, and consumer packaged goods industries.

In addition, Emily worked for a year as an Innovation and Change Management Consultant at the United Nations World Food Programme, where her work focused on increasing efficiency and knowledge management. Alongside her career in consulting, Emily co-founded an education technology company called Nesuku, which aims to help private instructors better manage and grow their businesses.

Erika is a candidate for the Masters in Public Administration in International Development at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. Prior to commencing her graduate studies, Erika was the Deputy Director of Research and Analysis of the Financial Market at the Ministry of Finance for Mexico. In that capacity, Erika analyzed data on global development to assess their impact on Mexico’s macroeconomic fundamentals.

Alongside her professional career, Erika collaborated with CREA, an organization that develops and implements programs designed to empower women entrepreneurs in deprived areas, where she led a project to implement a business plan at a textile processing business in the Mexican state of Zacatecas. Erika started her career at the Central Bank of Mexico where she performed forecasts on cash flow management strategies in order to ensure the effective transmission of Monetary Policy. Erika is a graduate of the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México with a major in Economics.

Homa is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Public Administration, International Development (MPA/ID) at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. Before joining Kennedy school as an student, Homa was a Research Assistant at MIT, Sloan School of Management. In that role, she investigated how retail industry corporations can transition effectively from “bad jobs strategy” to “good jobs strategy”, in which employees have higher wages, more predictable schedules and more advancement opportunities. In this research, Homa focused on designing and developing human subject experiments to understand barriers to effective implementation of this transition.

Previously, Homa worked with several educational non-profits in Iran, including Asemaan, where she worked as an executive and project manager, developing systems thinking skills in young children. Homa holds a B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering and Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Sharif University of Technology, Iran.

Jimena has over seven years of program management experience in poverty elimination and financial inclusion programs. She worked as manager of the Poverty Stoplight, a participatory poverty assessment tool that has been replicated in over 29 countries and has consulted with the Government of Paraguay on Early Childhood Development policies.

Jimena holds a Master of Public Administration from Columbia University. Prior to joining IMAGO, she was part of our Fellows’ program and collaborated with Transforming Rural India in New Delhi. She is a certified scrum master.

Yalda is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Policy Administration in International Development at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.

Before attending Harvard, Yalda worked as a data analyst and policy consultant in Iran’s Ministry of Social Welfare. She also has experience as a public relations supervisor in the private sector, IT industry. She has MBA and BSc in Electrical Engineering.

Namrata is currently pursuing a Master’s in Public Administration, International Development (MPA/ID) at Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government. Previously, Namrata was working with the World Bank Group on education policies and service delivery in East Asia and Pacific, South Asia and Middle East.

Namrata holds a B.A. Honors in Economics from Lady Shri Ram College for Women, Delhi University and an M.Sc. in Economics from University College London.

Paroma is a development professional with more than 5 years of international experience in microfinance, digital financial services, qualitative research and project management. She worked as a Deputy Manager at BRAC – one of world’s largest NGOs – for nearly 4 years in several large-scale projects in Bangladesh and Uganda. She holds a Bachelor degree in Finance from the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh, and a Master degree from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University – where she studied Development Economics and Business for Social Impact. She has also consulted for various financial institutions and development agencies including FinTech Sandbox, Fundación Paraguay, and IMAGO Global Grassroots.

Vince is a consultant at McKinsey & Company and a recent graduate of Harvard Kennedy School’s MPA/ID Program. Throughout his career, he has focused on tackling development issues from different angles: as a management consultant advising global development organizations, as a project manager leading program implementation for a healthcare NGO in Tanzania, and as a business designer launching new companies for the emerging Latin American middle class at a venture builder in Colombia. Vince graduated top of his class in the Operations Research & Financial Engineering Department from Princeton University.

Marcela is a research analyst at the World Bank Group. When she was working with IMAGO she was pursuing a Masters in Public Administration and International Development at the Kennedy School of Government. Prior to graduate school, Marcela gained five years of experience designing, implementing and evaluating social programs in more than 10 countries in Latin America, Asia, the Middle East and the Western Balkans. Among others, she worked with the World Bank as project coordinator of the STEP Skills Measurement Program (the first initiative to measure cognitive and socio-emotional skills in developing countries). Prior to that, she was the Senior Advisor to the Ministry of Social Protection and Inclusion in Peru. Marcela graduated cum laude from Universidad de los Andes with Bachelor’s degree in Economics and Business Management.

Ronnie is pursuing joint Masters degrees in Business Administration and Economic Policy (an MBA and MPA-ID) at the Harvard Business School and Harvard Kennedy School of Government. Prior to graduate school, Ronnie worked in data-driven policy consulting for seven U.S. government agencies, focusing on financial regulation and loan guarantee programs. She has also worked in humanitarian relief in Guatemala. Ronnie graduated first in her graduating class and Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Maryland, College Park, with a Bachelor’s degree in Economics.

Kerry is a second year PhD candidate in Financial Economics at Columbia University, with a focus on credit and banking systems. She has experience working in investment banking at Morgan Stanley in New York, consulting at McKinsey & Company in China, and investing with Acumen Fund in West Africa. Prior to her PhD, she completed her MBA/MPA-ID at Harvard Business School and Harvard Kennedy School of Government. Kerry has worked with IMAGO in various capacities since 2014, in both Ahmadabad and Washington DC. Kerry is from South Kingstown, Rhode Island, and studied Economics at Harvard College.

Lucila holds a Masters in Public Administration and International Development from the Harvard Kennedy School. She has several years of experience working in the energy and infrastructure sector, focused on trading of oil derivatives and solar power. She also served as a television anchor of economics for two years, and has co-founded two NGOs, one in education and another focused on volunteering.