IGLUS founder and current director
Ozan Barış Süt is the Webmaster and Designer at IGLUS. He holds bachelor’s degrees in English language and literature and teaching from Hacettepe University, Ankara.
Anand Iyer has a Masters in Architecture & Critical Theory, University of Nottingham, U.K. and G.D. Architecture, School of Architecture, CEPT (now University), Ahmedabad, India. Over the last 20 years, he has worked with Government agencies, on Policy; and the Private Sector, on Strategy & Planning in Infrastructure; in addition to professional work with design firms.
Anand has also been Academic Coordinator and Professor, at different Universities in India, engaging with History, Theory, Criticism in Design (from interior, architecture to urban levels) & Research based subjects.
Anand is presently Chief Project Manager, at the National Institute of Urban Affairs, New Delhi (an autonomous policy think-tank of the Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs, Govt. of India), handling Program Management and aspects of Organization growth & structuring.
His research interests lie in the Social, Political & Ideological perspectives in Sustainable Urban Development; which he investigates through policy, legislation and implementation aspects.
Architect with a bachelor from the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, Campus Queretaro.In 2013 she obtained the diploma of “European Postgraduate Masters in Urbanism” for studying her Master’s studies at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia, the IUAV University of Venice and the Catholic University of Leuven. In 2014 she graduated Suma Cum Laude from the Master in Science in Urbanism and Strategic Planning by the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium.
She has collaborated with various offices such as Bureau Bas Smets and Metapolis in Belgium, Rizzi Architettura in Italy, Studio-EST and DEL-Casa in Romania, and Nurblat in Querétaro. Throughout her career she has had the opportunity to develop projects of parks, squares and design of public spaces, as well as being a consultant for projects with firms such as Foster and Partners and Vk Engineering. In 2014, together with Bogdan Ilie, she founds Anthroposcene, an interdisciplinary and international studio that focuses on urban regeneration and the creation of high quality public spaces. In 2015, in collaboration with Bogdan Ilie, she wins the first prize of the No. 17 of Arquine competition “Pulmón Metropolitano de Oriente” with a proposal for the alternative use of the future former International airport of Mexico City. During 2016, she worked as a consultant for UN-Habitat Mexico for the Program of Territorial Planning and Development Urban of the Huasteca Hidalguense. From the autumn of 2015 to the summer of 2018, she was a consultant for the urban planning office Urbanistica, where she developed research mobility, landscape and public space projects such as The Walk-up call: Mexico City; A Walk through Jalpan de Serra, The transformation of public space and mobility in the Redoma de Petare Venezuela, Tactical urbanism project for the low emission corridor in Morelos Avenue in Tlalnepantla and others.
Arnoldo Matus Kramer has developed extensive professional experience on resilience, adaptation and climate change policy through his work at Ithaca Environmental, a consulting firm providing counsel on climate change, sustainability, environmental finance and energy, which he co-founded in 2012. His responsibilities at Ithaca have included leading the area on resilience and adaptation to climate change with projects in Latin America, and particularly in Mexico at the national and sub-national levels. Arnoldo is also a lecturer and tutor at the Sustainability Science Postgraduate Program and at the Faculty of Architecture at UNAM.
In 2018, Arnoldo served as the first Chief Resilience Officer of the largest metropolitan area in the western hemisphere, Arnoldo leaded from 2014 to 2018 the development and implementation of the resilience strategy for Mexico City. Given the multi-peril city he served, the strategy takes into account potential shocks as diverse as drought, earthquake, and disruptions to the water-supply chains.
As part of his role as a climate change consultant for the OECD Environmental Directive in 2009, Arnoldo contributed to several OECD publications, including the policy guidance on “Integrating Climate Change Adaptation into Development Co-operation.”
Arnoldo holds a PhD in geography and environment from the University of Oxford. He completed his undergraduate studies in political science at McGill University and has two master’s degrees, one in environment and resource management from the Brandenburg University of Technology in Germany and the other in renewable energy from Reading University in the UK.
Annet Twinokwesiga is a Corporate Architect from Makerere University, Uganda with over 4 years working experience in the built environment. She intermittently works with organizations specific to improving the planning of cities and towns in Uganda. Annet champions appropriate buildings, safe communities and a sustainable environment through architecture. Her greatest lesson is that Architecture is as much spatial and formal as it is political, ideological, economical and theoretical thus having the potential to influence thinking and policy.
Amelia Prieto graduated in Economics and Business Sciences from the Universidad Autónoma of Madrid in 1995.
She developed her first 5 years of professional career at Accenture as IT consultant in the Telco industry.
In 2010 she joined one of the biggest telecommunication operators, Telefónica, in which she has held various management positions in the UK, Germany and Spain, in the area of Business Strategy and Digital Transformation.
In 2017 Amelia decided to leave the corporate world, to learn about the tech startup world and innovation in the urban landscape.
After some time off travelling around the world, she became the Managing Director of Datacity Barcelona program of NUMA, a collaborative smart city project between the Barcelona City Council, private companies, and the ecosystem of innovation to solve urban challenges with technology.
In 2019 she moved back to Madrid to lead MIOTI, an education startup on of Artificial Intelligence and Internet of Things. Since she joined the IGLUS Executive Master in February 2020, she plans to devote her full energy in acquiring the expertise and know-how in urban governance and innovation project.
Azman holds a PhD from Lancaster University, UK. His thesis in Autonomic Resilience Strategy aims to solve protect Internet Critical Infrastructure against security challenges, leveraging on an evolving Machine Learning Technique. Azman has author/co-authored several papers on Network Resilience, Policy-Based Management and Intelligent Systems and has presented his works across Europe and Malaysia.
Azman has more than 18 years of experience in IT and telecommunication and has been involved in developing Malaysia Internet Exchange (MyIX), Datacenters, Network and Security Infrastructure for Telekom Malaysia (ISP). In 2010, he joined a Research group on Network Resilience and Security at Infolab21 in the UK where he completed his PhD. Since 2014, he joined Telekom Malaysia consultancy unit, that provides technology and business solution for Utilities sector as well as Transportation, Environmental and Real Estate. He is currently looking into Advanced Metering, Smart Energy/water Grid solution as well as other ICT transformation projects in general. Azman was occasionally invited to share taught with industry players, academia and government agencies and appointed as Research Partners for Resilient City (Government’s initiative on Disaster Management) and UK-Malaysia City of the Future Forum.
Cyber-physical Security & Resilience , Evolving Intelligent system (Machine Learning), IoT infrastructure (LoRA/NBIoT) and Big Data Analytic especially for Infrastructure management such as SCADA systems, Industrial Control Systems, cyber-physical systems for Innovative Urban Management and Urban Analytic in particular.
He has long been interested in the place of energy in the city as a vector of well-being of the inhabitants through innovation and new models. That’s why he has been working in gas distribution industry for 6 years and develop an expertise on how to manage gas infrastructures in France through technical, economic, environmental and political points of view. Now he works as business analyst where he is in relation with institutions, big companies and start-ups to promote the usage of gas in mobility. He also works on the new model of PPP with the French government.
It’s been over a year since he delves more particularly into the concept of Smart City, which pushed him to go to Singapore at the beginning of the year and meet local actors. As a result, he wrote a report on the Smart cities in Asia and the business potential of three countries: China, India and Singapore. Then, he started IGLUS program to push further his knowledge in large urban system management.
Anuj Khanna has been born and raised in New Delhi and did his schooling from Modern School, New Delhi. He has an undergraduate degree in Electrical Engineering from Manipal Institute of Technology and an MBA from the Stern School of Business at New York University. He has worked at C&S Electric Ltd. for 20 years in various capacities and has led the family business for the last 12 years in the capacity of Managing Director.
He started his career in C&S Electric Ltd in the LV Switchgear business where he worked across India in expanding the nationwide distribution network of more than 300 distributors. Later, he moved to the project-oriented businesses and was leading the Power Busbar and MV Switchgear divisions. During this tenure, his interactions with various customers from infrastructure segments developed his interest in infrastructure and network industries.
C&S Electric Ltd has been a leading Indian electrical engineering company, supplying products and services for power generation, distribution and consumption systems. Post the divestment of C&S Electric Ltd to Siemens Ltd. in 2021, Mr. Anuj Khanna continues as a Shareholder and Managing Director of Trimaster Pvt Ltd., which contains retained businesses by the Khanna family.
Mr. Khanna has been a member of EO (Entrepreneur’s Organization), has headed the Western U.P. office of CII (Confederation of Indian Industries) and headed CII’s Northern Region Energy Committee. He is a keen follower of energy policy and innovations, smart city governance and innovations and the emerging field of biotechnology. He is an avid traveler, reader, start-up investor and adventure sports enthusiast.
Baasankhorol holds a Bachelor degree in Urban Planning and Architecture from Mongolian University of Science and Technology. During her undergraduate studies, she participated in the Nomad City program by Goethe Institute from 2012-2014 in Dresden Germany and Ulaanbaatar Mongolia and did a research on the transition of Ulaanbaatar’s “Ger” Settlements area.
She works as an urban planner in “Urban Planning Institute” Co.ltd and coordinator at “Mongolian Chamber of Urban Development” since 2013. As an urban planner, her main responsibilities are managing research, making analysis for local cities’ planning projects identifying the main problems to be concerned and developing plans for the cities determining the best way to use cities’ land and resource. As a coordinator at MCUD,she invites external and domestic consultants to organize seminars and trainings in urban development sector while providing professional consulting services to the local authorities and supporting to improve their human resources by training and capacity building.
Her main areas of interests are sustainable urban development, affordable housing, community participation in urban development, urban governance and infrastructure management.
Bertha is a wholeheartedly volunteer who has contributed for almost 25 years to several organizations in education, training, and skills development providing opportunities and resilience to people who live in communities that face constant challenges in the economic, social, cultural and environmental areas. Holding a bachelor in Computer Science by Universidad Veracruzana, in Xalapa, Mexico; and several studies & experiences in human development, social work and education in different states of Mexico, she is proud of being part of the first generation of the EPFL IGLUS Program.
Before beginning her MBA degree studies in San Diego, CA, Bertha continued her work in Guadalajara, Mexico, at Organismo de Nutrición Infantil (ONI), an organization that dedicates efforts and resources to undernourished children by providing food products as well as facilitating tools of Education and Human Development for families in vulnerable communities. At the same time, along with close friends, she contributed to the foundation and activities of Comunidad Educativa Ambiental (CEA), a nonprofit association for the research and outreach of environmental education with a hands-on approach for institutions, businesses and citizen’s life style. Just a short time after its inception, CEA has reached important goals thanks to the collaboration of its members, for the benefit of the community and city.
As a part of her experience, along with her partner, Bertha also owned and managed a small business for more than 10 years.
Bertha is a naturally positive, dynamic and deep reflective human being. She recognizes herself as a respectful and never-stop-learning-and-sharing person who enjoys family, nature, jogging, traveling, researching and learning.
Chang Yi earned Ph.D. in Urban Planning from the University of Texas at Austin. He currently works as a Research Fellow at the Seoul Institute (specializing in Transportation Planning with focus on City Diplomacy). His research interests cover sustainable transportation planning in global cities, public transit policy, and urban regeneration. He also conducts research on the city diplomacy strategies for the Seoul Metropolitan Government.
Casper has a master’s degree in International Development and Communication and has more than fifteen years of experience working with environmental issues, climate change, energy, mobility and urban planning. Casper has both been working in the private sector as a consultant and at different universities in Denmark and Sweden. Currently he is holding a position as head of office for mobility at City of Copenhagen.
Carmen is a civil engineer with a multidisciplinary approach to her education and work. She holds a Bachelor’s degree (2016) in Public Works Engineering from Universidade da Coruña (Spain), with a specialization in Transportation and Urban Services. During her year abroad (2014/2015) at Politecnico di Torino she complemented her studies with courses on urbanism and urban design. She joined the IGLUS Executive Master program in September 2017 with the objective of learning more about governance and digitalization. Her masters’ thesis explores the current situation of urban utilities in Switzerland – she graduated in July 2019.
Her working experience involves also several areas of expertise. As a student, Carmen worked as a research assistant for the Water and Environmental Engineering Group (GEAMA) of UDC; and carried out internships in both the private and public sectors, in the fields of construction and mobility. In her free time, she has also joined voluntary activities related to education and environment. Currently, she is working as a Network Planner for Flixbus, in Berlin, where she is part of the team designing and optimizing the company’s intercity bus network in the Iberian Peninsula in partnership with regional-based companies.
Chloe is an international business developer at ENGIE, a multinational energy and energy services company based in Paris. With over 8 years of international experience in marketing and business development, Chloe develops solutions for cities and territories, particularly in emerging markets. Her experience spans decentralized energy production, street lighting and homeland security. Chloe focuses on helping cities develop new economic models to deliver services. This includes finding the adequate means to address a range of issues – from managing urban congestion to fostering competitiveness, innovation, social inclusion and environmental sustainability.
Diego Zavala Scherer is professor in Media Studies with Tecnológico de Monterrey, Guadalajara Campus. He holds a PhD in Social Communication from Universidad Pompeu Fabra at Barcelona, Spain. The themes of his publications are documentary theory, Mexican documentary film, media participatory production, and interactive documentaries.
Member of the National Researchers System of Mexico. He is also a member of the Research Group Museum I+D+C at Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain; and of the Cátedra Latinoamericana de Narrativas Transmedia at Universidad de Rosario, Argentina. He has been a visitng professor at UC Berkeley, University of San Diego, Drake University, and Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
David Oliver Kasdan is Associate Professor in the Department of Public Administration and Graduate School of Governance at Sungkyunkwan University in Seoul, South Korea. He earned his doctorate degree in Public Administration with a specialization in administrative theory from Cleveland State University. His current research interests extend to behavioral economics, disaster risk management, and broader concerns of social justice. He has been a consulting advisor for various local, national, and international governance projects. His academic articles have been published in such journals as: Administration & Society, Disaster Prevention and Management, and the Journal of Urban Affairs.
1 September 2015 – current
Head, Corporate Planning & Strategy
Telekom Malaysia Berhad
1 May 2010 – 31 August 2015
Assistant General Manager, Financial Advisory & Business Development, TM Group Strategy
Telekom Applied Business Sdn Bhd (a wholly owned subsidiary of Telekom Malaysia)1 December 2006 – 30 April 2010Market Analyst, Marketing & Business Development
Telekom Applied Business Sdn Bhd (a wholly owned subsidiary of Telekom Malaysia)1 September 1998 – 31 December 2003Human Resource Executive
My objective in joining this program is for me to be able to gather knowledge in the management of large urban systems, through discussions with experts as well as through benchmarks with other cities around the world. Through this knowledge, I am confident that I would be better equipped to help TM build a team that will be able to execute TM’s smart city aspiration and tackle the many challenges associated with it.
I have a Master degree of the Ecole Nationale des Travaux Publics de l’Etat, Lyon. , Major in Civil Engineering, Geotechnical Science and Urban planning. I have also material science engineer with a double degree in INPL (Institut National Polytechnique de Lorraine ) in Nancy and Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC)
I have been working for five years in the field of public Transport Design
I am a Civil Engineer specialized in Tunnel and Underground Structures. I began working in Projects of Tunnel Design and Calculations, my main projects were LINE 15 EAST “GRAND PARIS EXPRESS, RAILWAY LINK BETWEEN LYON AND TORINO and Offer Stage of Mumbai metro line 3.
Actually I am working as a technical Coordinator, my main work is to coordinate civil works with, architectural and functional studies. Lead with the civil works studies, make the interface with the client and other territorial projects and local partners. My main projects are:
Station of Bry-Villiers Champigny, Line 15 South of Grand Paris Express (2015)
Tunnel and shafts in the Orly Airport Sector, Line 14 of Grand Paris Express (present)
I am really interested about the organization of the city. How transport and housing could be well coordinated in order to make and attractive territory. I am convinced that to make changes, especially in my field, one has to encourage the creation of human scale cities. These cities must be more respectful of diversity, more efficient, more productive and fair. It is important to focus on the implementation of new policies that encourage this purpose, especially in southern counties, as my country Peru.
Indahsah Sidek is currently the International Relations Director, at the Office of Vice President Academic and Internationalisation, Multimedia University (MMU), Cyberjaya. Previous to this she was teaching at the Faculty of Information Management, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), for more than 25 years and has been Technical Advisor at the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) from 2008-2013. At UiTM, she led a joint venture research in designing the first locally developed library system, and at MCMC she led a national project in providing ubiquity of access to knowledge resources under the national broadband plan.
Jerry Kolo is a Professor of Urban Planning, and currently Coordinator of the Master of Urban Planning program at the American University of Sharjah (AUS), Sharjah, United Arab Emirates (UAE). Jerry joined AUS in 2006/2007 from Florida Atlantic University, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA, where he was a Professor of Urban and Regional Planning, and Founder and Director of the Center for Urban Redevelopment and Empowerment (CURE). His areas of teaching and research specializations are political ecology; public policy planning; and sustainable community planning. Jerry has extensive consulting and public service experience with municipal and non-profit agencies. He has won several awards, including the State of Florida Governor’s award for distinguished public service in 1994, and the African American Achiever’s award for education in South Florida in 1999.
Jagan Shah is Director of the National Institute of Urban Affairs (www.niua.org), which supports policy, research, capacity building and monitoring for the Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs of the Government of India. Shah has provided thought-leadership and guidance for India’s Smart Cities Mission as well as other urban programs. He also provides overall guidance to NIUA’s diverse portfolio of projects, including decentralized water, sanitation & waste management, affordable housing, heritage-led economic development, transit-oriented development, municipal finance, data analytics and e-governance, and research on migration, informality, social protection and resilience.
Shah is a professional architect and historian & theorist trained at the School of Planning & Architecture, New Delhi, the University of Cincinnati and Columbia University. He has been a teacher and writer and has provided consultancy to a number of corporate and development sector clients. He served as the founder CEO of Urban Space Consultants from 2007 to 2010, Director of the Sushant School of Architecture from 2011 to 2012 and Independent Director of Delhi Integrated Multi-modal Transit System from 2015 to 2018. He is a Trustee on the board of Clean Air Asia, an international NGO based in Manila.
Educational Backgrounds
1988~1992 Ph.D. in Public Policy, GSAS at Harvard University, U.S.A.
1986~1988 MPP, KSG at Harvard University, U.S.A.
1973~1977 B.A. in Economics, Seoul National University, Korea.
Public Sector Involvements
2016~ Member, International Advisory Council, Global Peace Foundation
2015~2017 Chairman, Advisory Committee of National Assembly Budget Office, ROK
2011~2013 Minister of Strategy and Finance, ROK
2010~2011 Minister of Employment and Labor, ROK
2008~2010 Senior Secretary to the President for National Vision, Agenda, & Strategy, ROK
2008 Senior Secretary to the President for Political Affairs, ROK
2007~2008 TFT Leader for Government Restructuring & Regulatory Reform, PresidentialTransition Committee, ROK
2006~2008 Chief of Staff to the President of Grand National Party
2005~2006 Chairman, External Relations Committee, Grand National Party
2005 Chairman, Economic Policy Coordination Committee, Grand National Party
2004~2005 Vice President of Youido Institute, Grand National Party
2004~2008 Member of the 17th National Assembly, ROK
1994~1996 Assistant Chief Secretary to the President for Policy Planning, ROK
1992~1994 Assistant Director, Ministry of Finance, ROK
1983~1992 Assistant Director, Board of Audit and Inspection, ROK
1980~1983 Assistant Director, Secretariat of National Security Council, ROK
1979 Passed the 23rd Higher Civil Service Examination
1977~1978 Compulsory Military Service, Korean Army
Academic Career
1996~ Professor, Graduate School of Governance, Sungkyunkwan University
2015~2016 Dean, Graduate School of Governance, Sungkyunkwan University
2014~2016 President, Social Sciences Research Institute, Sungkyunkwan University
2003~2004 Provost for Planning, Budgeting & Coordination, Sungkyunkwan University
2002~2003 Visiting Professor, Graduate School of International Relations & Pacific Studies,University of California at San Diego, USA
2000~2002 Provost for Admissions, Sungkyunkwan University
Academic Societies
2016~2017 Chairman, Research Advisory Committee, Korea Institute of Public Administration
2015~2017 Member, Board of Directors, Youido Institute
2015 Chairman, Committee for Public Enterprises, Korean Association of Policy Studies
2014~2017 Member, Steering Committee on Public Finance Research Network, KoreaInstitute of Public Finance
2002 Cochair, National Council on Brain Korea 21 Research Projects
2001~2004 Editorial Board, Korean Association of Policy Analysis and Evaluation
2000 Research Director, Korean Association for Public Administration
1999~2002 Head, Brain Korea 21 Project Team, Korea Research Foundation
1999~2001 Auditor, Korean Council of Social Sciences
1999 Research Director, Korean Association of Policy Studies
1998~2001 Editorial Board, Korean Association of Public Economics
1998~2004 Director, Korea Association for Corruption Studies
1998 Secretary General, Korean Association for Public Administration
1997 Secretary General, Korean Association of Public Economics
NGOs & Private Think Tanks
2014~ President, Hansun Foundation for Peace & Prosperity of the Korean Peninsula
2004 Chairman, Policy Coordination Committee, Citizen’s Coalition for Economic Justice
1999~2003 President, Public Policy Research Institute
Private Sector
2016~ Non-executive Member, Board of Directors, Samsung Electronics Co.
2016~ Non-executive Member, Board of Directors, Lotte Shopping Co.
Major Taxation, Public Audit, Public Financial Management, Mechanism Design
Research Interests
National Competitiveness & Contestable Regulation
Public Sector Reform & Corruption Control
Social Traps & Commitment Devices
Human Resource Development & Workfare
Publications
Numerous articles & book chapters including:
A Diagnosis of the Spoon Class Theory and Policy Proposals (2018);
“Static Models of Interaction between Tax Evasion and Corruption” (2018);
Long-standing but New Visions: Setting Korea Right (2017);
“The Korean Economy Beyond Condensed Industrialization” (2017);
Government Reforms for Reinventing Korea (2017);
“Forging the Framework for the Government Administration during thePresidential Transitions” (2016);
Controversies over Korea’s National Vision (2010);
“Public Sector Performance Measurement Using Data Envelopment Analysis” (2006);
Checks and Balances of National Budgeting (2004);
Building Good Governance (2002);
Public Sector Auditing Standards (2000);
“Models of Corruption by Officials of an Arm’s Lengthy Agency” (1999);
“Economic Implications of Corruption and Anti-corruption Policies” (1997);
“An Optimal Tax Audit Mechanism” (1992)
James was educated in South Africa, attending Rhodes University where he completed a BA (Hons) with majors in Politics, History, and Philosophy. He went on to complete an MA in Philosophy through the University of KwaZulu-Natal.
James has traveled and worked in several countries from Brazil and Uruguay to China and Malaysia. His interest is in developing and previously colonised countries. He was employed as an urban planner for a bike sharing company in Kuala Lumpur before accepting a research position with Think City, a Malaysian think tank examining urban issues.
James is principally interested in low tech solutions to complex urban problems. Many of the problems that plague rapidly growing cities are not issues of technology but issues of resource allocation. Design plays a major role in shaping our cities and societies. Design informed by a sense of justice is needed to overcome exclusionary and divided cities. Strong leadership and good governance are a prerequisite to any meaningful urban development.
Jaime Fajardo is an industrial designer from Colombia, who has completed two master degrees. The first one in Transport and Planning and the Second one in Smart Cities & Urban Analytics. He has been in charge of providing assistance through the use of data, creativity and innovation, as well as answers and solutions to long and short-term issues concerning urban contexts in eight different countries. Currently, Jaime is at CAF-Development Bank of Latin America, and he is doing the Executive Master Degree in Innovative Governance of Large Urban Systems program.
Kerem Yavuz ARSLANLI is currently employed at Istanbul Technical University Institute of Social Sciences. He has been worked at ITU Urban and Environmental Planning and Research Center 2002-2012. His PhD titled “Spatial Autoregressive House Price Index Model for Istanbul Metropolitan Area” won AREUEA 2009 Doctoral Session Grant. He worked at University of Alicante Institute of International Economics in 2010 and Cass Business School Department of Finance in 2011. After completion of his PhD, he has started lectures on, “Real Estate Finance & Investment” and “Real Estate Modeling and Forecasting”, at İ.T.Ü. Real Estate Development Master Programme. He has academic articles in international/national journals and several conference papers in international conferences. He has been a member of the board of directors of the European Real Estate Society (ERES) and President 2016-17, the leading real estate research and education organisation in Europe. (www.eres.org)
2015 – present Associate Director, Europe & Middle East; 100 Resilient Cities – The Rockefeller Foundation
Business Sector: International Philanthropy, Urban Public Policy, Private
Skills deployed: Global Policy & Program Development, Advocacy & Executive Negotiations & International management
2013 – 2015 Special Advisor to the Mayor of Athens, European Affairs & Public Administration
Business Sector: Public Policy, Government
Skills deployed: European Policy-Making, Executive Management, Social policy program development, European Fund negotiations, European policy deployment & program management.
2010 – 2012 Institutional Affairs Coordinator; OurPark Urban Development Social Enterprise
Business Sector: Civil Society, Social Business, Private Skills deployed: Advocacy, management, fund raising
2009 – 2013 Research Fellow; Hellenic Foundation for European & Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP)
Business Sector: European Affairs, Civil Society, Think Tanks
Skills deployed: Research, International Program development & coordination
2006 – 2012 Advocacy and Policy Coordinator (part-time); Central Union of Municipalities of Greece/ NGOs for the Constitution Campaign
Business Sector: Civil Society, Governance & Politics Skill deployed: Advocacy, management, research
2015 – 2017 Executive Global Masters, Innovative Governance of Large Urban Systems, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL)
Specialisation: Governance, Urban Policy
Location(s): Chicago/Detroit, Seoul, Barcelona/Dortmund, Istanbul, Kuala Lumpur/Malacca
2006 – 2007 Master of Science (MSc), European Public Policy, University College London (UCL)
Specialisation: European Affairs, Public Participation & Democracy Location: London
2001 – 2005 Bachelor of Arts (BA), European Social & Political Studies, University College London (UCL) & Sorbonne Paris IV
Focus Area: European Politics, Culture & French Language Location(s): London & Paris
1989 – 2001 Athens College (HAEF)
Languages: Greek (Native), English (bilingual proficiency), French (working professional proficiency), Spanish (basic knowledge)
2011 – present Co-Founder & Vice President of Balkans Beyond Borders, a regional social innovation arts and engagement organization (EU & Western Balkans)
2009 – 2013 Volunteer international affairs advisor and Institutional Affairs volunteer & Member of the Board; Amnesty International , Greece, European Expression, Greece, KEAN, Greece
2004 International Relations protocol volunteer, International Olympic Committee, Greece
Member of the European civic leadership group FutureLab Europe and Recipient of the EU Youth Charlemagne Award 2011
Onassis Foundation scholarship recipient EPFL fee waiver scholarship
UCL Distinction
Athens College Social Sciences Award
Konstantina Karydi joined 100ResilientCities – Rockefeller Foundation as Associate Director, Europe and Middle East with experience in international philanthropy, change management and European affairs. In this capacity she is directing cross-national teams across the region towards the development and implementation of urban resilience strategies while contributing to the elaboration of the global urban agenda through relevant policy fora and setting up the European office of the organization.
Prior to joining 100RC she acted as Special Advisor on European Policies and Public Administration to the Mayor of Athens, in the fields of urban development, participatory and social policies. In that capacity she had a horizontal overview of the municipal priorities through the lense of the European Urban Affairs. Amongst others, she has participated in the elaboration of the European Urban Agenda as capital city Mayoral representative in the European Commission and has set up two European wide best practices on social innovation under the EEA grants Solidarity and Social Inclusion in Greece program and the Co-creating citizens European sub-network for participatory practices and urban development. In the past she has held amongst others positions as Research Fellow and Policy Officer at the European think-tank Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP) and the Central Union of Municipalities of Greece working on governance, transparency and public participation.
She is Vice-President and Co-Founder of the regional organization Balkans Beyond Borders, and member of the network of excellence on European Affairs Future Lab Europe. She has completed her education at University College London (UCL) and Sorbonne Paris and most recently at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) having completed an executive Global Masters on Innovative Governance of Large Urban Systems (IGLUS).
Laurence Bertoux earn a degree of architecture from the Ecole d’Architecture Paris Villemin (Paris, France), with a one year exchange program in the University of Houston (Texas, USA), a Master Degree in Architectural Restoration from the International University SEK (Santiago of Chile) and a PHD degree in “City, Territory and Sustainability” from the University of Guadalajara.
She moved in Mexico City in 1997, where she joined TEN Arquitectos and worked on projects like El Taller Jaguar and participated in publications of TEN Arquitectos projects in several publishing houses in the world. From 1998 to 2002 she participated as Art Director in several movies and TV spots, and developed commercial project in La Condesa and the historical district of Mexico City (restaurant, bars and discotheques).
In 2003 she moved to Santiago of Chile, co-founded Bertomo Arquitectos, and worked on residencial and commercial project (houses and stores). At the same time she developed a consulting activity in adobe construction and restoration for the Interamerican Development Bank and the Chilean Ministry of Construction.
Since 2009 she lives in Guadalajara where she has been working as Technical Secretary in the Commission of Urban Planning of Guadalajara during five years. In that time, she organized the “Cities faces Climate Change” events with the City of Guadalajara, and, in coordination with the Ibero-American Centre for Urban Strategic Development (CIDEU) a one week workshop about Strategic Urban Planning. She was part of the Jalisco Climate Change Special Plan as Quality and Final Publishing Coordinator.
In 2014 she joined TEC de Monterrey as investigator professor, then assumed the academic direction of the Architectural School in Guadalajara. She created the Innovative, Design and City Laboratory, where she led several investigation and consulting project (Smart Mobility for Continental, Integrated Urban Poligons Strategy for Guadalajara, Metropolitan Resiliency Profile …). Since march 2017 she is the Academic Associate Dean of the National School of Architecture, Art and Design.
Geographer from Rio de Janeiro Federal University – Brazil (2004) where also has a Masters Degree in Regional Planning (2008). Has taken such courses as Big Cities Management at the National Administration School – ENA/Paris (2014), Public Management in Columbia University -USA (2015) and Urban Public Policies at Castilla-La Mancha University – Spain (2015). Currently attending the Urban Governance Executive Master at Lausanne Federal School – EPFL (2018), where have been developing a Master Thesis about Metropolitan Governance.
Has been working at Rio de Janeiro City Hall since 2010. First as a geographer at the Neighborhood Department of the Urban Secretary until 2012, then worked as an Urban Planning Adviser at the Urban Secretary until 2016. Currently is a Metropolitan Adviser of the City Hall, has held this position since January 2017. In addition to those activities has also worked as a member of the Urban Secretary at the Environmental City Council and at the Green and Environmental Heritage Technical Chamber since 2013. In 2012, was also the member of the Urban Secretary at the Green Infrastructures Corridors of the city. Before working at the City Hall, developed consultancies of major strategic ventures for the National and State levels. Between 2009 and 2010, wrote the Environmental Reports for the licensing of two National Railways and between 2008 and 2009, the Environmental Reports for the licensing of a Petrobras Refinery and a Pipeline. Before that infrastructure experiences, worked with Environmental Protected Areas Management. In 2008, joined the project that created a Rio de Janeiro State Park (Cunhambebe), in 2007 was the President Adviser of the State Park Institute and between 2005 and 2006 was an Adviser of the Participative Board of Petropolis Federal Protected Area.
Metropolitan Governance, Urban Planning, Environmental Planning,
Mobility and Transportation Plans, Master Plans, Regional Planning, Territorial Planning, Strategic Planning, Environmental Protected Areas Management,
Geographic Information Systems (GIS),
Leadership Programs, Citizen Participation Process, NGOs,
French – Fluent (Advanced listening, speaking, reading, and writing)
English – Fluent (Advanced listening, speaking, reading, and writing)
Spanish – Fluent (Advanced listening, speaking, reading, and writing)
Portuguese – Native Language
Marie Laure Papaix graduated from ESSCA business school with a Master degree in Management and later earned a PhD in Industrial Economics at MinesParisTech, 2003. She also holds an urbanist qualification from OPQU and an engineering degree from ENTPE (Engineer school on territory sustainable development). She first worked as a research assistant and consultant on European Union research programs and helped the creation of technological start-ups in the defense industry in a Siberian region (Russia). She then worked to foster the economic development of a region located between CDG Airport and Paris (France) and later founded a consulting agency to help territories define their economic strategy and create business parks. She now serves as economist in the Urban Planning department at CEREMA – the French public expertise centre, in charge of sustainable development, town planning, and transportation. She specializes on smart city innovative solutions for sustainable urban development with a focus on economic analysis.
Miguel A. Montoya has a B.A. in Economics, a Master degree and a PhD in Applied Economics at the Universidad Autonoma de Barcelona, Spain. Actually he is Tenure Professor and Director of Centers at Business School in the Tecnologico de Monterrey. He is part of the National Council for Technology and Science (CONACYT-Mexico), The Economic Council of Business Association (COPARMEX-Mexico), Academy of International Business and Academy of Management, among others. He has published articles in academic journals and book chapters and he has participated in different academic conferences. Dr. Montoya teaches courses of International Economics and International Business in EGADE-Tecnologico de Monterrey and, as a visitor professor, at Moore School of Business (University of South Carolina, USA), ESAN (Peru), Universidad de San Francisco de Quito (Ecuador), Instituto Ortega y Gasset (Spain), Burdeaux School of Business and Montpellier Business School (France). His areas of interest are Multinationals Companies (Multimexicanas) and Business for BoP.
Nino holds a BSs degree with honors in Computer Engineering from Georgian Technical University and Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines.
During her career, she has been working in field of Information Technologies for various commercial organizations, while at the same time being actively involved in urban activism in her hometown, Tbilisi, volunteering for several NGOs and authoring projects focused on civil-engagement and urban mobility.
Recently, Nino got interested in Smart Cities concept and decided to research possibilities of using information technology for addressing urban infrastructure challenges, transportation in particular.
This decision brought her to IGLUS Executive Master program, where she plans to gain solid understanding of how urban systems work and explore real-life application of technological solutions for sustainable development of the cities.
I took a bachelor degree in Science of Architecture at “Politecnico di Milano”. Afterward, I took a Double Master Degree in Architecture and Society with the specialization in Town and Urban planning at “Politecnico di Milano” and “Politecnico di Torino” thanks to a scholarship for excellence held by “Alta Scuola Politecnica”, discussing two thesis: “The bottom up approach to the urban planning” (that I did alone) and the other one “NHEC, NEA Human Exploration Concept. A friendly manned interface” (multidisciplinary project, with other colleague from different faculties). I studied one year abroad in Israel at Tel Aviv University thanks to “Erasmus Mundus program” and I did a lot of different workshops and intensive courses around Italy and Europe (such as the course of “Urban as a bottom up approach” at TU Delft University, or emergency architecture for a Hospital in Africa).
Since 2014 I’m a design consultant for our office of technical designing consultancy for industrial filed (private sector) following and supporting our clients from the designing step to the realization of their project based on their production needs, trough bureaucracy and permissions, financial, energy safe costs, improvement of technologies and so on, collaborating with a lot of expertise in different fields. I started to to work as a “architect freelance”for different Architectural studios since 2011. In 2015 (from September to December) I also participated as university tutor with the “Smart Social Home” project on a Urban Innovation Bootcamp held by “The Loop” from San Francisco with the Stanford Method, at Ca Foscari University in Treviso following a group of students in order to develop the project and bring innovation on Treviso city collaborating with citizens, teachers, professors and firms around them. Before my university studies, I worked as a assistant to the products manager of 2 clothing companies for three years (from 2005 to 2008).
Urban transformation and Development of World possible future scenarios; use and preservation of lands and oceans; urban and town planning; Emergency architecture; sociology and anthropology of urban environment and territory; climate change mitigation and sustainability for cities.
Nicolas has been managing several businesses in the mobility and IT sectors for the last 20 years. He managed major infrastructure projects in the railway and the telecoms industry in various countries including the United States, Greece and Indonesia. He then created and grew up several worldwide businesses within the Orange Group, such as network integration or cybersecurity services. In 2015 he joined the Keolis Group and created Kisio, the pioneer of “responsive locomotion”. Kisio, with its 700 employees, provides digital solutions, consulting and operational services to most regional and urban PTAs in France.
Economist and Geographer. He is a practitioner of local economic development since 1994, first as an independent consultant and later serving at the Barcelona Provincial Council (2005- 2016), where he became Head of Economic Development Strategies (2012-2016). Since June of 2016 he is the General Coordinator of the Metropolitan Strategic Plan of Barcelona. He has a long experience on delivering lectures and speeches about local development, urban/territorial strategic planning and local governance issues. He also coordinates the Chair Barcelona-UPF on Local Economic Policies.
Olivier has a master’s degree in geography from the Universete de Paris 7. He is the Operating Partner of Emerton Consultancy Company in Dubai. During his career he worked as a consultant for several telecom companies in Brazil and Europe.
Since Feb 2014 | Vice President, Transilien SNCF , in charge of developments (new CBTC derived system for mass transit, new simulation tools for operation and infrastructure designs, passengers counting technologies, digital and AI devlopments, major development mobility projects …..) |
2010 to 2013 | Strategy, Innovation and regulation Director, SNCF |
2004 to 2010 | TGV Rhin Rhone project Director |
2001 to 2004 | Ermewa group, Wagon Branch Chief Executive officer |
1998 to 2001 | SNCF Regional Director, Paris South East Region |
1994 to 1998 | SNCF Regional infrastructure director, Paris rive Gauche |
Recent publishing : with EPFL Pf Finger « Rail Economics Policy and Regulation in Europe » ,Elgar, London, september 2015 with François Regniault « Que faire de la SNCF ? », Tallandier octobre 2016 « Réseaux ferroviaires et territoires, la géographie humaine du chemin de fer, un retour aux sources », with Nacima Baron, professeur à Paris Est et au LVMT, Presses des Ponts et chaussées, Paris, november 2017 |
I have an unrealized passion for planning of large urban systems, which is sometimes called metroplexing. Metropolitan complexes, or metroplexes, are formed either by many large cities gradually sprawling into one another, such as Megalopolis in the northeast USA or the Pearl Delta region of China (Hong Kong to Macau); or from densely-populated rural areas undergoing an urban transition, such as is happening in Kerala or central Bangladesh. My ideal role would be in a leadership position, establishing land use plans and governance systems for emerging metroplexes through democratic processes.
To accomplish this, I must adjust my skillset from a rural regional focus, to an urban regional focus; while transitioning leadership skills from leading-from-behind visioning more into the power projection aspects associated with a senior executive.
She is a member of the Indian Administrative Service, 2002 batch. The Indian Administrative Service (IAS) is the all India administrative civil service of India. She has worked for fifteen years in the fields of urban management & development, municipal administration, urban housing, elections administration, education, sports in various parts of India.
Pedro Mendes Succar, 34 years old, Rio de Janeiro – Brazil. He has a degree in engineering from the Fe deral University of Rio de Janeiro (2007) and an MBA in real estate business management from Fundação Getúlio Vargas (2010). He began his career in the real estate market in 2007, focusing on business development and incorporation, which granted him considerable experience in project management. From 2013 to 2015 he was manager of the Glória Marine in Rio de Janeiro, where he was actively involved in renewing the infrastructure and adapting it to meet the needs of the 2016 Olympics. In 2016 he worked with the Municipal Olympic Committee, where he was in charge of the Deodoro sports venues. Since 2017 he works in a consulting company focused on cities management, working in a project to improve economic development in 24 cities in Rio de Janeiro Estate.
Robin Hambleton is Emeritus Professor of City Leadership at the University of the West of England (UWE), Bristol and Director of Urban Answers. He worked in local government in the England for ten years before becoming an academic. He has been an Adviser to UK local government ministers, to Select Committees of the UK House of Parliament, and has worked on place-based leadership with cities in many different countries.
He has held professorial positions in City and Regional Planning at Cardiff University, in City Management at UWE, and in Urban Planning and Policy, and Public Administration at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He was the founding President of the European Research Association (EURA) and was the Dean of the College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs at the University of Illinois at Chicago (2002-07).
He has published eleven books and over 400 articles. His latest book is Leading the Inclusive City. Place-based innovation for a bounded planet. (Policy Press 2015).
Rodrigo studied Architecture & Urbanism, Civil Engineering and holds an MBA. A tried and tested leader committed to results, innovative and collaborative executive leader with 17+ years of strategic and creative business development across markets in South Asia, Africa, Middle East, and Latin America, with proven adaptability. He is known for his ability to foster cross-functional collaborations. Whether solving how to bring an existing brand to an emerging market, or building a new organization to support extreme growth cycles, Rodrigo brings relentless energy and creativity to developing smart city solutions.
After graduation, I was in the First-Year College program from North Carolina State University in Raleigh, NC, United State.
Studied architecture at Universidad de los Andes in Bogota, Colombia with courses on urban planning, city studies and architectural design.
Design masters from Scuola Politecnica di Design in Milan, Italy.
Shortly after graduating, I started working for the architecture studio of Colombian architect Giancarlo Mazzanti, where I could see up close, his interesting approach towards design in which the success of a project should be measured by the social impact it has. After almost a year in this studio, I decided I wanted to explore other areas of my career on my own, and started a design-build venture in which I was able to work on diverse architectural projects from the initial phases all the way to the construction. During my time in Milan, I was able to collaborate with Officina Architteti, a design studio that focuses on large scale projects all over the world, which gave me a new perspective on the way architecture is perceived by the end user. In Italy, I was also able to work for LVMH group as Project Manager. This experience was really interesting, because regardless of the projects being developed, my role as a project manager, gave me a glimpse at the reality of what plans and design represent. I was responsible for logistics, permits, socialization, construction, budget and all other areas of an architectural project. Finally, after returning to my hometown, I started my own firms that focuses on City Consulting, where I have been fortunate enough to participate and carry out important projects for the city planning office.
I became an architect because I believe our craft is the testimony of our collective minds and it is therefore our responsibility to generate a positive impact on our society. As we are faced with global threats such as poverty and global warming, I believe we can make a change. I am particularly interested in projects that work towards making cities a better and more livable place for every member of society. I’m strongly drawn towards doable projects that stay on the practical side and center on the execution phases. I consider land use and zoning laws to be tools that need to be studied and implemented correctly to create better urban spaces. I also believe in the power of ICT’s to make a greater impact. Finally, I am interested in the governance structures that can secure the success of important urban projects.
Jerry Kolo is a Professor of Urban Planning, and currently Coordinator of the Master of Urban Planning program at the American University of Sharjah (AUS), Sharjah, United Arab Emirates (UAE). Jerry joined AUS in 2006/2007 from Florida Atlantic University, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA, where he was a Professor of Urban and Regional Planning, and Founder and Director of the Center for Urban Redevelopment and Empowerment (CURE). His areas of teaching and research specializations are political ecology; public policy planning; and sustainable community planning. Jerry has extensive consulting and public service experience with municipal and non-profit agencies. He has won several awards, including the State of Florida Governor’s award for distinguished public service in 1994, and the African American Achiever’s award for education in South Florida in 1999.
BS Civil Engineering, University of California, Irvine; MS Civil Engineering, California State University, Los Angeles. Both with concentration on water and wastewater.
I am an international development consultant and a licensed civil engineer in the United States. I have 30 years of experience in engineering and management of civil infrastructures. I have held leadership roles in various local and regional government agencies and private international firms in the US, Canada and Asia. I am the president of a private consulting firm based in Seattle, Washington that specializes in engineering and management of infrastructure projects. Before starting my own consulting practice I was the head of engineering department for Redwood City, California. Previously I managed the wastewater and stormwater programs and transportation program for the cities of Los Angeles and Seattle, respectively. I have managed 5 large international development projects as Team Leader for World Bank in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Georgia and Indonesia.
My interest includes new water, urbanism and Moorish civilization. I am working to make a documentary film on the water infrastructures built in the 10th century in Andalusia, Spain. I love to hike and travel.
Samah has a Bachelor’s degree in Architect and Urban Planning from University of Umm-Dorman in Sudan and Master degree in Business administration specialized in Marketing. With some professional certificates such as PMP, Green Project Management (GPM-b) and LEED Green Associate.
Samah was driven more to Urban planning during her 11 year of experience at Town Planning Administration in Ras Al Khaimah, UAE, with extensive experience in planning and promoting urban development plans and policies for local government impacting land use, zoning, public utilities, housing, and transportation. Plus managing and facilitating the cooperation with other private and public entities.
Samah is always open for volunteer opportunities that are related to Africa Urban and Sustainable development, Affordable housing, and building healthy cities.
Education
Music College, certificated teacher
Bachelor and Master Degree in political science, NNSU, Russia
Unfinished PHD in sphere of International Space Law
Work experience
Teacher in music school, 2000-2005
Journalist, deputy editor, in IT sphere, 2007-2012
(Since 2013 till now) Consultant, senior consultant, head of corporate relations at one of think tanks based in Moscow (ICT, digital, industrialization)
Areas of interest
Travel, globalization as an intercultural phenomenon, history, geography, music, civilizational aspects of human settlements’ growth
Taewoo Nam is Associate Professor in the Department of Public Administration and Vice Dean of Graduate School of Governance at Sungkyunkwan University, Korea. He is also a Research Fellow at the Center for Technology in Government, University at Albany, State University of New York. He holds bachelor of public administration at Korea University, and then earned master of public administration from Indiana University and PhD in public administration from University at Albany, SUNY. As an advisor in the performance evaluation board of the Korean national government, he helps the government evaluate the performance of national reform initiatives and programs. He is interested in citizen participation, government innovation, open government, and digital government. His recent publications appear in various academic journals in the field of public administration and information science.
Master in Spatial Planning (IGLUS) by Ecole Polytechnique Federal de Lausanne, Nov 2018.
Master in Architectural Design by Damascus University, Jan 2013.
Bachelor in Architecture Engineering by Damascus University , Jan 2008
I have 10 years of excellent experience in architecture and urban planning, Offering two master degrees, one in architecture design, the other one in urban management.
As a planner, I possess expertise in land use planning, development codes, old cities renovation, informal settlement projects and expansion areas. I have practice urban planning through all levels (detailed, master and spatial planning) and all partners (Local Authorities, NGOs and as a developer) which gave me the ability to understand and resolve problems and defined key solutions.
As an architect, I am offering expertise in producing concept designs, reports and reviewing authority’s submittals and negotiating with clients.
Reading: Design and architectural magazines such as Architectural Digest, METROPOLIS Magazine, and Spacing. Latest technologies introduced in planning, environment & architectural fields.
Photography & vidéo montage: Nature, Monuments and celebrations.
Traveling: new adventures and archaeological sites
Umut Alkım Tuncer is the Program Manager at IGLUS. He holds bachelor’s degrees in English language teaching and translation and interpretation from Hacettepe University, Ankara. He also has master’s degrees from Istanbul Bahçeşehir University and École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in urban governance and transportation management.
After completing military duty, he started his professional career and worked for Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality’s transport division (IETT) for seven years. At IETT, he was involved in international relations, business development and benchmarking activities. In addition, he specialized in BRT systems and urban mobility governance together with his academic studies. Within his career he also worked as an English teacher, journalist at a local newspaper, editor at a publishing house, translator, interpreter and advisor to the Minister of Youth and Sports of Turkey.
Professor researcher at El Colegio de Sonora, Mexico. He holds a PhD in Public Policy from the Tecnologico de Monterrey. His research interest involve transparency, public participation, open government and fight against corruption. He has experience both at governmental level and in the academy, where he has taught and coordinated local, national and international projects. His current research project includes transparency in subnational public organizations and open government´s implementation as a public policy. As an author, he has published numerous journal articles, chapters and books. Deep experience on Mexican transparency at a subnational level. He is member of the Mexican Researchers’ System (SNI).
Undergraduate engineering degree in Urban Planning and Regional Development by the University of Thessaly (Greece) with graduate education at Columbia University (USA) on Urban Planning and Real Estate Development.
Consulting support to the Mayor on urban planning and redevelopment. Responsible for coordination and management of urban redevelopment projects and planning strategies to revitalize the city center and enhance quality of life. Project manager for the Strategic Urban Action Plan for the regeneration of Athens downtown area until 2020.
Co-founded strartup company that offers a participation platform for online communities. The company has already presence in 2 countries (GR, DE) with paying customers.
Interested to bring innovation and efficiency in public governance and enhance the role of local governments in the metropolitan sphere.
Yvonne Lee Lean Ee obtained her Bachelor of Business Administration (Hons.) Economics with Multimedia from Multimedia University and Master of Arts (International Development) from Flinders University, South Australia. She completed her doctorate thesis at Multimedia University. She is a lecturer at the Economics Unit, Faculty of Management, Multimedia University. Her research interests are social capital, and development economics – focussing on gender and poverty.