• Faculty Director
• Executive Director

CID Staff

Faculty Director

Ricardo Hausmann is Director of the Center for International Development and Professor of the Practice of Economic Development at Harvard University. Previously, he served as the first Chief Economist of the Inter-American Development Bank (1994-2000), where he created the Research Department. He has served as Minister of Planning of Venezuela (1992-1993) and as a member of the Board of the Central Bank of Venezuela. He also served as Chair of the IMF-World Bank Development Committee. He was Professor of Economics at the Instituto de Estudios Superiores de Administracion (IESA) (1985-1991) in Caracas, where he founded the Center for Public Policy. His research interests include issues of growth, macroeconomic stability, international finance, and the social dimensions of development. He holds a PhD in economics from Cornell University. For publications, teaching, and additional information, visit www.ricardohausmann.com.

Executive Director

Marcela Escobari is the Executive Director of Harvard's Center for International Development. Marcela has over a decade of experience in economic development, including work with industrial strategy, technology policy, and private sector development. Before joining as CID's Executive Director, Marcela led the Americas region and served on the Executive Committee of OTF Group, where she advised heads of state and private sector leaders on how to improve their countries' export competitiveness. Prior to working at OTF, she worked with indigenous communities in Bolivia for the World Bank and was a Mergers & Acquisitions investment banker with JP Morgan in New York. Marcela holds a B.A. in Economics from Swarthmore College and a Masters in Public Policy (MPP) from the Harvard Kennedy School. [E-mail]

CID Staff Listed Alphabetically

Before joining CID as a Faculty Assistant to Rohini Pande and Asim Khwaja, Nirvana Abou-Gabal worked as a Business Analyst at a consulting firm based in Cairo, Egypt which provides technical assistance and consulting services to microfinance institutions in the Middle East and Africa. Prior to that she worked in marketing at The Advisory Board Company in Washington, DC. Nirvana received a B.A. in Marketing and International Business from The George Washington University and is fluent in Arabic. [E-mail]

Samura Atallah is a Research/Faculty assistant for professors Rema Hanna and Amitabh Chandra. Samura graduated in 2011 from Brown University where she received a B.A. in International Relations with honors. Her topical focus was global security, regionally focusing on the Middle East. She wrote her honors thesis on the relationship between education and the reproduction of global Salafi jihad in Egypt, where she conducted her fieldwork. At Brown, she founded Bridge & Lead (B&L), a social student organization that promotes internationalization and intergroup dialogue. In summer 2010, she worked as a Research Assistant at Stockholm University Linnaeus Center for Integration Studies, where she carried out fieldwork with Iraqi refugees in Sweden. During school, she worked as a reporter for the Watson Institute for International Studies. She studied at the American University in Cairo before transferring to Brown. From 2007 to 2009, she volunteered with Alashanek Ya Balady [For You My Country], a developmental organization based in Egypt. Samura is natively fluent in Arabic. [E-mail]

Lauren Bloomberg is faculty assistant to Professor William Clark. She recently graduated Phi Beta Kappa and summa cum laude from Clark University, where she studied history and political science. In her free time she enjoys running, traveling, and playing the piano. [E-mail]

Annalise Blum is a research and faculty assistant to Professors David Yanagizawa-Drott and Ryan Sheely. In June 2010, she graduated from Stanford University in environmental engineering with a minor in political science. She spent the following year working on a hand-hygiene research project in Kibera, Kenya and a water and sanitation needs assessment in migrant schools in Mae Sot, Thailand. Annalise has also worked on research projects in Ecuador and Tanzania. She is originally from Berkeley, CA. [E-mail]

Richie Carey is Web Developer for the Sustainability Science Program and Harvard's Center for International Development at the Harvard Kennedy School. He has over fifteen years of Internet industry experience including four years as Senior Systems Developer at the former ROXY.com satellite and wireless company and over ten years as a freelance web developer. [E-mail]

Andrea Neilan Carranza is the Assistant Director of Harvard's Center for International Development and is responsible for financial and operational management of the Center. Prior to CID, Andrea was an Advisor to Grameen Research and Director with Cambridge Energy Research Associates (CERA), a global energy research firm. She launched several new businesses for CERA, including the firm's Global Power Forum, a membership serving C-level executives from electric utilities, independent power producers and host government ministries. Andrea had a lead development role in the launch of CERA's Asia Pacific energy practice and global financial services practice. Andrea co-founded Boston Cares and after college spent a year teaching English at Kai Tak Vietnamese refugee camp in Hong Kong. Andrea has a MA in Intercultural Relations from Lesley University and a BA from James Madison University.

Aparna Das is the Program Assistant for the Sustainability Science Program at Harvard's Center for International Development. She is currently working on a Masters thesis in studio art. In her free time she keeps busy, designing wearable art and developing experimental performance pieces through community workshop techniques. [E-mail]

Nancy Dickson is a Senior Researcher at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and co-directs the Sustainability Science Program at the Center for International Development. Her research addresses how science, technology, and knowledge can be more effectively brought to bear on creating solutions to problems of public policy. Her work focuses on two areas. The first is on knowledge-action systems for decision support – understanding how the choice of institutions and procedures for linking practitioners and experts influences knowledge production and its effects. The second is on sustainability science – problem-driven, interdisciplinary scholarship that seeks to facilitate the design, implementation, and evaluation of effective interventions that promote environmentally sustainable human development.  Dickson manages international, interdisciplinary research applications and capacity building projects and directs the Sustainability Science Fellows Program at Harvard, an interdisciplinary, international group of doctoral, post-doctoral, and mid-career fellows who to come to Harvard for one year. She has served as a Committee member for the National Academy of Sciences and as an external reviewer of Canada’s International Development Research Council. Her publications include Global Environmental Assessments: Information and Influence (Mitchell et al, 2006), Sustainability science (Clark & Dickson, PNAS, 2003), and Learning to Manage Global Environmental Risks (Social Learning Group, 2001). She holds a masters degree in regional planning from Cornell University. [E-mail]

Deanna Ford is the Associate Director for the Micro-Development Initiative. Prior to joining CID, Deanna was based in Nicaragua leading the Nica HOPE Project of Fabretto Children’s Foundation as the Project Director and founder. Deanna completed her Master of Public Policy at Georgetown University in 2007, where she focused on issues in international development, education and SME/microfinance. During school, she also worked as a consultant for Agora Partnerships, an organization fostering business development in Nicaragua, and as a Research Fellow at the Center for Research on Children in the U.S. Previously, she worked for two years as a research assistant at the International Monetary Fund. Deanna graduated in 2003 from Princeton University with a degree in Economics and Latin American Studies.[E-mail]

Aimee Fox returned to the Center for International Development after living in Johannesburg, South Africa, from 2008-2010.  In South Africa, Aimee worked in the Budgeting and Strategic Planning department of a large South African HIV/AIDS treatment organization. Prior to her move abroad, Aimee worked at the CID from 2000-2007, first as a Student Programs Coordinator, then as Associate Director and eventually as Executive Director.  Aimee has a particular interest in management of sponsored research programs, so her current portfolio focuses on the submission and management of federal and foundation grants. Aimee holds a Master of Public Health degree from Boston University and a Bachelor of Arts from Harvard College. [E-mail]

Jennifer Gala is the Program Manager for the Empowerment and Growth Labs and oversees student programs and student events at CID. Jennifer has been at the Kennedy School for over ten years working previously as program director in Executive Education. Her previous portfolio included: Global Leadership and Public Policy for the 21st Century; the Lee Kuan Yew Fellows Program; Financial Institutions for Private Enterprise Development; and Comparative Tax Policy and Administration. Jennifer earned her bachelor's degree in Anthropology and History from Purdue University and her masters in International Education Policy from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. [E-mail]

Jennifer Hoegen is the Program Director for the Mexico Program. Her professional experience includes serving as Administrative Coordinator at CID, in addition to the Massachusetts Office of the Attorney General, the Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy, and an international Fortune 500 financial company in Boston. In addition, she interned at the Massachusetts Caucus of Women's Legislators where she worked on equal rights legislation for women. She also worked with the Women's Rights Network at Wellesley College to plan and facilitate the Northeast Regional Beijing +5 Conference, and conducted independent research on child custody laws in cases where there was a history of partner abuse. Jennifer has a B.A. in sociology from UMass, Amherst; a Master's Certificate in Politics and Public Policy from UMass, Boston; and an M.A. in international relations from Boston University. [E-mail]

Alex Kent joined CID in November 2008; in addition to faculty support he also is the administrator for the International Development Area (DEV) at HKS. Prior to joining CID in November 2008, Alex worked for Metron-Farnier LLC of Boulder, CO as a project manager for municipal water management projects throughout the United States and abroad. Originally from Salem, MA, Alex holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Vermont in Business Administration, with a concentration in International Management and a minor in German. [E-mail]

Anne Morriss is CID's Senior Advisor for the Migration Project, where she is working to launch and scale a policy laboratory that studies the links between migration, remittances and global development. She is also the Managing Director of the Concire Leadership Institute, which helps leaders in the public and private sectors make better organizational and policy decisions. Anne has worked with companies and governments throughout the U.S. and Latin America on strategy, leadership and institutional change.As a senior advisor with the OTF Group, Anne worked with President Leonel Fernandez to redesign the Dominican Republic’s industrial strategy. She also advised the government of Trinidad & Tobago on diversifying its economy away from oil and gas and developing a national entry strategy for high-tech sectors. Most recently, Anne partnered with the World Bank to help leaders in 40 emerging economies create policy environments that promote local entrepreneurship and innovation. Anne holds a BA in American Studies from Brown University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. [E-mail]

Katie Naeve is currently a research assistant with CID and a Master in Public Policy candidate at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. Katie holds Bachelor of Arts degrees in Political Science and Spanish from the University of Kansas.   Prior to joining CID in 2007, she interned in the Middle East/North Africa Division of Human Rights Watch and for the National Democratic Institute in Rabat, Morocco. [E-mail]

Nora O'Neil is Program Manager with CID's Sustainability Science Program, where her responsibilities include grant administration, financial management, and event planning. Nora is a graduate of the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service as a concentrator in the Science, Technology and International Affairs Program with a Certificate in Russian Studies. [E-mail]

Catalina Prieto is the Executive and Fellows Coordinator at CID. She holds a Masters in Management of Nonprofit Organizations from Harvard Extension School and a Business and Economics BA from the Universidad Catolica in Chile. She has been a TA at Harvard, worked as a business analyst and sales support manager at Santa Rita Winery in Chile, and volunteered for "Un Techo para Chile", building low-cost housing for the poor. [E-mail]

Gabriel Tourek is a Research Fellow for Professors Asim Khwaja and Rema Hanna. Gabriel graduated in 2010 from the University of Michigan's Ford School of Public Policy. Prior to joining MDI Gabriel served as a project associate with Innovations for Poverty Action in Ghana. [E-mail]

Beth Tremblay is Faculty Assistant to Mary Hilderbrand (Mexico Program) and Filipe Campante, and Faculty Assistant Group Leader. [E-mail]