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A man in a suit stands at a podium holding a microphone.

Alumni Voices: What it takes to make policy change

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  • Héctor Salazar Salame
Héctor Salazar Salame, J-PAL '15 and the founding Executive Director of J-PAL Southeast Asia, reflects on the multi-dimensional approach needed to advance evidence-based social policy and lessons learned from his career in development policy. He currently serves as the Country Representative of The...
Neha Sharma stands at a podium holding a microphone, with a poster in the background that reads "Enhancing Private Sector Engagement in Adaptation: South to South Learning"

Neha Sharma, J-PAL ‘12, on evaluating the impact of climate investments

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The Alumni Spotlight series highlights J-PAL alumni who are making an impact across industries and around the world. Formerly a policy and training associate at J-PAL South Asia, Neha Sharma ‘12 now leads the Evaluation and Learning Unit at the Climate Investment Funds, hosted by the World Bank. She...
Research working with data banks

Transparent and accessible data: J-PAL alumna collaborated on an innovative approach with the Chilean government and researchers

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Transparent and accessible data can be vital for researchers in the development of evidence-informed policies. In Chile, the State opened a door for researchers to access local transparent data to work together to answer key questions. Amanda Dawes, a J-PAL Latin America and the Caribbean alumna...
Mary Ann Bates speaking behind a podium with MIT and J-PAL logos in the background

Mary Ann Bates, J-PAL ‘21, on shaping the use of data and evidence in federal and state government

This installment of our Alumni Spotlight series features Mary Ann Bates, former executive director of J-PAL North America, and currently the executive director of the State of California’s Cradle-to-Career System.
A grid of headshots of the 34 alumni who have participated in our feature series.

Reflecting on our global alumni community

We celebrate our alumni and their many interests and achievements through an ongoing series of interviews and blog s in which alumni share their work in their own words. Marking the third year of this documentation project, we're highlighting the 34 remarkable individuals we’ve interviewed to date...
Rahma stands in front of a screen

Rahma Ali, J-PAL ‘21, on bringing together statistics and purpose for development research

Rahma Ali is a former research manager at J-PAL Middle East and North Africa, where she was at the forefront of establishing the office’s research operations in Egypt and pushing forward randomized evaluations on employment and livelihood generation in the country. Now at Global TIES for Children at...
Headshot of John Tebes in a suit in front of a brick wall

John Tebes, J-PAL ’16, on using economic research to reduce inequality in the United States

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John Tebes is a former research analyst for Amy Finkelstein at J-PAL North America. Now, as an economics PhD candidate at Harvard and an incoming Assistant Research Professor of Economics at Notre Dame, he researches how public policy can exacerbate or mitigate U.S. poverty traps. He reflects on his...
A woman speaks into a microphone while standing in front of a crowd and a banner that reads "Gender Sector Launch"

Alumni Voices: A perennial student

As the former director of Policy, Training and Communications at J-PAL South Asia, Shagun Sabarwal '21 was instrumental to pushing forward J-PAL's mission of evidence-based policymaking in India and expanding our portfolio of scale-ups and state partnerships. Now leading WomenLift Health’s efforts...