HARVARD UNIVERSITY - Key Persons
Adriana Arreaza, a Venezuelan national, joined the Growth Lab as a Visiting Fellow in 2024. She is an economist with over twenty years of experience in macroeconomics and development. She joins us from CAF, Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean, where she serves as Director of Macroeconomic, leading innovative economic reports, providing sovereign analysis to inform executive-level decision-making, and developing research products to support country strategies. She also served as CAF's interim Chief Economist, overseeing the bank's research publications. She has extensive academic experience, lecturing and participating in conferences internationally.
Adriana holds a Ph.D. in economics from Brown University.
Job Titles:
- Co - Director of the Women and Public Policy Program
- Professor of Business and Government
Albert Pratt Professor of Business and Government and the co-director of the Women and Public Policy Program at Harvard Kennedy School
Job Titles:
- Senior Research Manager for Rema Hanna
Job Titles:
- Growth Lab As a Visiting Fellow
- Visiting Fellow
Alexandre joined the Growth Lab as a Visiting Fellow in 2024. He holds a Master Degree in Economics and he is a Ph.D. candidate in economics at the Center for Development and Regional Planning at the Federal University of Minas Gerais (CEDEPLAR/UFMG), Brazil.
His research is in the field of urban and regional development and quantitative methods, focused on the economic complexity approach. His ongoing PhD thesis is about economic complexity at the intra-urban level, specifically on spatial distribution patterns underlying productive diversification in large Brazilian cities. He is also a member of the Research Groups on Public Policy and Development (GPPD/UFMG) and the Research Group on Regional Economic Resilience (RESILIRE). He has experience in research and consulting projects on topics such as regional development and productive diversification. Currently, he also serves as the manager of the data analytics team at DataViva-a data visualization platform with a specific focus on the economic complexity approach for Brazil.
Job Titles:
- Program Coordinator
- Senior Program Coordinator
Alicia is the Senior Program Coordinator at Harvard's Growth Lab.
Prior to joining the Growth Lab, she worked as an Account Manager with EF Education First, collaborating with teachers across the country to plan educational trips for their students. During her time with EF, she also worked as a translator for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio, facilitating post-event translations between the Spanish-speaking athletes and the English-speaking media. Previously, Alicia taught English in Valladolid, Spain for a year.
She holds a Bachelor's degree in Spanish with a minor in International Studies from the Univeristy of Connecticut and enjoys running, reading, and traveling in her free time.
Job Titles:
- Growth Lab As a Postdoctoral Fellow
Andre Assumpcao joined the Center for International Development's Growth Lab as a Postdoctoral Fellow in June 2020.
His broad research interests span over the political economy of development; the economics of corruption; judicial politics; philosophy, politics, and economics (PPE); the morality of markets; and natural language processing (NLP) applications in the social sciences. More specifically, Andre is interested in understanding how government institutions can serve as mechanisms to induce growth and prosperity by providing public goods necessary to economic development.
Job Titles:
- Director of Programs
- Member of the Senior Leadership Team
- Director of Progams
- Growth Lab 's Director of Programs
Andrea Hayes is the Growth Lab's Director of Programs, responsible for a wide range of program activities including recruiting and performance management, resource allocation, proposal process and reporting, liaising with internal and external stakeholders.
Prior to joining CID in 2015, Andrea spent nine years working at Accion International. As Principal Specialist in the Training and Capacity Building unit (TCB), Andrea managed many of the unit's programs and activities including Accion's Orientation Training Program targeted to Senior Technical and Investments staff; Accion's Global Certification & Licensing of Signature trainings; the unit's blended learning programs.
She has traveled extensively in Latin America, Asia, Africa and Europe. Andrea is fluent in English and Spanish. A native of Ecuador, she holds a BA in Liberal Arts with a concentration in Government from Harvard's Extension School.
Andrea Musso joined the Growth Lab as a Visiting Fellow in 2024.
He is a 3rd-year PhD student in Computational Social Science at ETH Zurich, mentored by Prof. Dirk Helbing. Previously he obtained a Master's in Mathematics from the same institution. He is interested in leveraging large datasets to better understand city growth, urbanization, and structural transformation.
Job Titles:
- Executive Director
- Member of the Senior Leadership Team
- Executive Director of the Growth Lab at Harvard 's
Andrea Neilan Carranza is the Executive Director of the Growth Lab at Harvard's Center for International Development. Andrea has over 20 years' experience in business development and oversees the center's operations and strategic development.
Prior to the Growth Lab, Andrea was an Advisor to Grameen Research and Director with Cambridge Energy Research Associates (IHS CERA), a global energy research firm. She launched several new businesses for IHS CERA, including the firm's Global Power Forum, a membership serving C-level executives from electric utilities, independent power producers and government ministries; CERA's Asia Pacific Energy practice and its global financial services practice.
Andrea was an English teacher at Kai Tak Vietnamese refugee camp in Hong Kong and co-founded Boston Cares. Andrea has a MA in Intercultural Relations from Lesley University and a BA from James Madison University.
Job Titles:
- Growth Lab As a Research Fellow
- Research Fellow
Andrés joined the Center for International Development's Growth Lab as a Research Fellow in 2021.
Before joining the Growth Lab, Andrés spent seven years in the public sector of Argentina working on policy implementation with multiple public agencies. He worked in the Ministry of Social Development, the National Airports Police, the Government of Tierra del Fuego, and the Ministry of Production.
Andrés holds a B.A. in Philosophy from Universidad de Buenos Aires and a Master of Public Policy from the Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago, with certificates in Data Analytics, International Development, and Policy Analysis.
His research interests include growth diagnostics, capacity building, and innovation policy.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Senior Leadership Team
- Director of Software Tools at Harvard 's Growth Lab
- Director, Software Tools
Annie is the Director of Software Tools at Harvard's Growth Lab. With over 12 years of experience in sustainable development, research and software products, she is interested in how digital products can help solve global development challenges. At the Growth Lab, Annie is responsible for the development of the International Atlas of Economic Complexity, along with various sub-national Atlases, from research to design, development and launch.
Prior to joining the Growth Lab, she was the Director of Digital Product at Sustainalytics, a global environmental, social and governance (ESG) research and analytics firm. At Sustainalytics she successfully launched an ESG risk and analysis software platform used by analysts and investors globally. Before Sustainalytics, she was a policy analyst with the International Food Policy Research Institute in Washington, D.C.
Annie holds a master's degree in Development Economics from the University of Glasgow and is a certified Product Manager and Scrum Product Owner.
Job Titles:
- Finance
- Operations Associate
Bob Bridges is the Finance and Operations Associate for Growth Lab, managing the many travel logistics and unusual financial obstacles the fellows and staff members of the Growth Lab encounter. Bob has worked at Harvard for over 20 years.
He holds a Bachelor's degree in Information Technology from Northeastern University and enjoys camping, hiking, skiing, and bad movies.
Job Titles:
- Back - End Developer and Data Specialist
Brendan is a Backend Developer and Data Specialist on the Growth Lab's development team. He supports CID's research and software development initiatives through back-end technologies and data analysis. This work includes API enhancements, data ingestion, and solving ad hoc R&D problems. Before joining CID, he worked on the data science team of Numerated Growth Technologies, a financial technology startup in Boston.
Bruce A. Beal, Robert L. Beal and Alexander S. Beal Associate Professor of Global Health at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Job Titles:
- Program and Event Coordinator
Job Titles:
- HKS Fund Staff Member
- Director of the HKS Fund
Job Titles:
- Charles Edward Wilson Professor of Business Administration / Harvard Business School
Job Titles:
- Director of EPoD Training
Job Titles:
- Growth Lab As a Visiting Fellow
- Postdoctoral Fellow
Christian joined the Center for International Development's Growth Lab as a Visiting Fellow in September 2019, and re-joined as a Postdoctoral Fellow in 2022 after completing his Ph.D. in Economics of Innovation at the University of Bordeaux (France). His fields of interest cover economic complexity, economics of innovation and high-skilled migration. He holds a Bachelor's degree in economics from the Universidad del Valle (Colombia) and a Master's degree in economics of innovation from the University of Bordeaux. Before joining the CID, he has been both an intern and a contractor at the Economics and Statistics division of the World Intellectual Property Organization (Switzerland).
Job Titles:
- Director of Communications
- Director of Communications and Outreach
- for Media Inquiries, Please Contact
Chuck McKenney is the Director of Communications & Outreach for the Growth Lab at Harvard's Center for International Development. Chuck has more than 20 years experience in broadcast, digital and print communications and has worked for academic, media, corporate, and nonprofit organizations. He spent nearly a decade producing television news programs for WBZ-TV in Boston. During his time as Managing Editor for Citizens Count NH, a NH nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting civic engagement, Chuck helped launch a comprehensive database of hundreds of elected officials. He holds a BS in Mass Communications from Emerson College.
We are located on floors 3, 4, and 5 of the Rubenstein Building in the Harvard Kennedy School.
Through CID's fellowship programs, researchers and practitioners join our tight-knit research community and spend time researching, writing, and engaging with the Harvard community.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Senior Leadership Team
- Growth Lab As a Research Fellow
- Senior Research Manager
Clement joined the Growth Lab as a research fellow in 2021.
Prior to joining the Growth Lab, Clement spent nine years with the OECD, leading economic research projects in Eastern and Southern Europe, Central Asia, and Turkey. Clement started his career with the Boston Consulting Group, serving a number of public and private sector clients, mainly in the infrastructure and financial services industries.
His research interests include: macroeconomics, international finance and investment; growth diagnostics, especially in middle income and resource-rich economies; cities and urban development; innovation and knowledge.
Clement holds an MSc in Finance from HEC Paris and a Master in Public Administration in International Development (MPA/ID) from the Harvard Kennedy School.
Job Titles:
- Ford Foundation Professor of International Political Economy / Harvard Kennedy School
Job Titles:
- Assistant Professor of African and African American Studies
Job Titles:
- Senior Research Fellow
- Senior Research Fellow / Associate Professor of Practice of International and Public Affairs, Brown University 's Watson Institute
Dany Bahar rejoined Harvard's Growth Lab as a Senior Research Fellow in 2022. He was a Pre-Doctoral Fellow from 2010 - 2014, and an Associate from 2014-2021.
He's also an Associate Professor of Practice of International and Public Affairs at Brown University's Watson Institute, and a Faculty Affiliate of Brown University's Economics Department. An Israeli and Venezuelan economist, he also is affiliated to the Brookings Institution, the Center for Global Development, CESifo Group Munich and IZA Institute of Labor Economics.
His research sits at the intersection of international economics and economic development. In particular, his academic research focuses on structural transformation and productivity dynamics, and how are these affected by factors such as migration, innovation, trade, investment, entrepreneurship and the diffusion of technology within and across borders. His expertise on policy issues includes international trade, migration and globalization more generally, as well as the understanding of economic trends in the global economy and in particular regions. His academic work has been published in top economic journals and he often contributes to leading media outlets in the United States and around the globe.
He has worked and consulted for multilateral development organizations, such as the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank. Bahar holds a B.A. in systems engineering from Universidad Metropolitana (Caracas, Venezuela), a M.A. in economics from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, a M.P.A. in international development from Harvard Kennedy School and a Ph.D. in public policy from Harvard University.
Job Titles:
- Professor of Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School
Job Titles:
- PhD Fellow, Visiting Researcher Program
Job Titles:
- Member of the Senior Leadership Team
- Director, Policy Research
Job Titles:
- Senior Lecturer in International Development / Harvard Kennedy School
Job Titles:
- Strategic Projects Coordinator
Job Titles:
- Alumni Relations Staff Member
- Alumni Relations Specialist
Job Titles:
- Co - Director of the Women and Public Policy Program
- Professor of Business and Government
Job Titles:
- Student Collaborator ( 2022 )
Job Titles:
- Professor of South - East Asia Studies
Job Titles:
- Senior Research Manager for Asim Khwaja
Job Titles:
- Alumni Relations Staff Member
- Senior Director of Alumni Relations
Job Titles:
- Communications and Outreach Specialist
Job Titles:
- Senior Director of Administration and Finance
Job Titles:
- Senior Sponsored Research Administrator
- Sponsored Research Administrator
Job Titles:
- Alumni Relations Staff Member
- Alumni Relations & HKS Fund Coordinator
Job Titles:
- Alumni Relations Staff Member
- Senior Associate Director of Alumni Relations
Job Titles:
- HKS Fund Staff Member
- Senior Director of Prospect Management and the HKS Fund
Job Titles:
- Area Administrator, International Development & Faculty Assistant to Rema Hanna
Mali is a former software engineer for CID who led backend development of the Atlas. He believes code is as much craft as engineering, and that like any craft, it can be honed with practice. He's a big believer in the open source philosophy. Before working at CID, he's been at a variety of organizations from Kayak.com to Turkish National Research Institute of Electronics and Cryptology. When he's not deep in code or lurking on Hacker News, he enjoys reading, writing, noodling on the guitar, running and hiking.
Job Titles:
- Professor of Public Policy / Harvard Kennedy School
Job Titles:
- Andelot Professor of Demography
Job Titles:
- Student Collaborator ( 2022 )
Job Titles:
- Associate
- Associate Professor, Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies of Geneva
Job Titles:
- HKS Fund Staff Member
- Leadership and Annual Giving Coordinator
Job Titles:
- Senior Adviser, CSIS Americas Program / Former Growth Lab Associate
Job Titles:
- Member of the Senior Leadership Team
- Research Director, Academic Research Assistant Professor of Economics, Koç University
Job Titles:
- Executive Director of the Women and Public Policy Program at Harvard Kennedy School
Job Titles:
- UX / UI & Data Visualization Designer
Job Titles:
- Director of Finance and Operations
Job Titles:
- William Ziegler Professor of Business Administration / Harvard Business School
Job Titles:
- Charles Edward Wilson Professor of Business Administration / Harvard Business School
Job Titles:
- Member of the Senior Leadership Team
- Professor of the Practice of International Political Economy, HKS
- Rafik Hariri Professor of the Practice of International Political Economy / Harvard Kennedy School
Job Titles:
- Director
- Member of the Senior Leadership Team
- Rafik Hariri Professor of the Practice of International Political Economy / Harvard Kennedy School
Job Titles:
- Engagement and Operations Specialist
Job Titles:
- Finance and Sponsored Research Administrator
Job Titles:
- Member of the Senior Leadership Team
- Senior Manager, Applied Research
Job Titles:
- Member of the Senior Leadership Team
- Senior Manager, Applied Research
Job Titles:
- Director of Communications
- Media Relations and Communications
Job Titles:
- Program Coordinator and Faculty Assistant
Job Titles:
- William Ziegler Professor of Business Administration / Harvard Business School