Co-Founders
Frank Odhiambo
Frank Odhiambo is currently a doctoral student in Development Economics at ETH Zurich in Switzerland, where he focuses on inclusive education and the mental well-being of children with disabilities in sub-Saharan Africa. Before his Ph.D. studies, he was a Policy and Research Manager for Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA) in Kenya, where he spent seven years managing development research across different sectors. As Research and Policy Manager, he oversaw a portfolio of impact evaluations across the health and micro-entrepreneurship sectors. Before that, Frank was a Project Officer at Concern Worldwide, an Irish humanitarian and development organization, on an urban resilience project.
Kobbina Awuah
Kobbina Awuah is an expert in investments and corporate management in emerging markets. He is the founder of Peak Investment Capital, an African private equity firm specializing in small and medium-sized companies. He holds an MA from Harvard Business School and a BA in Engineering from Cornell University and is currently pursuing a PhD in economics at the University of Zurich.
Adina Rom
Adina Rom serves as the Executive Director of ETH for Development (ETH4D) and is the founder of Policy Analytics. She has a PhD in Development Economics from ETH Zurich and an MPA/ID from the Harvard Kennedy School. Previously she was Director of Operations at Innovations for Poverty Action in Kenya and Research Associate at Center for Effective Global Action (CEGA) at the University of California, Berkeley.
Dina Pomeranz
Dina Pomeranz is an assistant professor of economics at the University of Zurich. Her research focuses on public policies in developing countries, particularly in taxation, public procurement, and firm development. She aims to contribute to the movement towards more evidence-based policymaking and serves as a board member or advisor for several organizations that are committed to translating research into practice.
Leadership Team
Gisela Martins da Fonseca
Program Manager
Gisela Martins da Fonseca is currently a Junior Researcher in Economic and Social Policy Evaluation at KOF Swiss Economic Institute, ETH Zurich. She holds an MSc in Statistics and Information Management from NOVA University Lisbon and a BA in Business and Economics from the University of Zurich.
Anja Jean-Mairet
Program Specialist - participant training Management
Anja Jean-Mairet is currently working as an intern in ESG Engagement at the Ethos Foundation in Zurich. She holds an MSc in Economics of Sustainability from the Erasmus University of Rotterdam and a BA in Economics from the University of Zurich. Previously she has been working for the Corporate Sustainability team at Georg Fischer AG as a Sustainability Specialist.
Bless Rachael Adzahli
Program Specialist - Mentor Management
Bless Rachael Adzahli is a PhD candidate at the University of Ghana focusing on Natural Resource Economics. She is an alumna of the University of Cape Coast, Ghana, where she received a Master’s Degree in Economics (MPhil) and a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Sciences, Economics and Mathematics. She is a co-founder of Beyonders Foundation.
Ellen Borg
Program Specialist - Mentee management
Ellen Borg is currently finishing her BA in Economics at the University of Zurich. Her main interests lie in conflict and security, as well as inequality and poverty reduction.
Kyllian Douhou
Program specialist - Evaluations
Kyllian Douhou is a BSc student majoring in Economics at the University of Bern and pursuing a complementary option in Applied Probability and Statistics at the University of Zurich. Interested in quantitative methods, growth and development economics, he aspires to apply his knowledge to practical and innovative initiatives.
Talea Grootenhuis
Program specialist - Mentee Management
Talea Grootenhuis is currently working as a Predoctoral Fellow at the University of Zurich on Dina Pomeranz's team. She holds an MSc in Public Policy and Human Development from UNU-MERIT and Maastricht University and a BA in European Studies from Maastricht University. Previously she worked as a trainee at the EU's representation at the International Labour Organization in Geneva.
Deborah Aba Gaisie
Program Specialist - Grad School Support
Deborah is a PhD student in Economics at Georgia State University. Her research interests are in applied microeconomics, broadly within the fields of the economics of education, public, and development economics. She is currently a graduate research assistant with the Georgia Policy Labs, working with the Child and Family Policy Lab. Deborah holds an MPhil in Finance and a BSc in Business Administration from the University of Ghana.
Davidson Obilor Nwaonu
Program Specialist - Grad School Support
Davidson is an MS student in Agricultural and Resource Economics at the University of Delaware. His research interests are in consumer choice, rural development, and climate policy. He holds a bachelors in Agricultural Economics from the University of Benin and has previously worked for international and local nonprofits to implement social and economic interventions that address issues of social injustice, poverty and underdevelopment across Africa.
Emmanuel Asibu-Yartey
Web Developer
Emmanuel Asibu-Yartey is a developer with more than 10 years of experience. He has worked in diverse industries and has developed several institutional apps and websites. He completed a BSc in Computer Science with First Class Honours at Regent University College of Science and Technology. He is currently starting up his own firm, where he develops mobile and web applications for organizations.
Rodrigo Nicolau Blanchet
Program specialist - Mentor Management
Rodrigo is a Predoctoral Fellow in Economics at the University of Zurich. He holds a BSc and a MSc in Economics from Universidad de la República (Uruguay). His research interests lie at the intersection between public and development economics. Previously, he worked in his home country as a Research Assistant at the Department of Economics of Universidad de la República and as an Economics Assistant at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
Lucas Zavala
Advisor
Lucas Zavala's work focuses on barriers to trade and the resulting inequalities in emerging economies. He is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow in the International Economics Section at Princeton University and has joined the World Bank's Development Impact Evaluation group as an Economist in 2022. Lucas received his PhD from Yale University, where he also served as Co-Director for the Herb Scarf Summer Research Program. He has worked as a consultant for the World Bank and as a Research Manager at Harvard Business School.
Samira Adhar
Advisor
Samira is a graduate student in Economics at Boston University. Her research interests include labor, IO, and development economics. She previously worked as a Predoctoral Fellow at the University of Zurich, and has an MA from Columbia University and BA from the University of Delhi.
Konstantin Poensgen
Advisor
Konstantin is a PhD student in Economics at Harvard University. His research areas include public and development economics. Previously, he worked as a Predoctoral Fellow at the University of Zurich, and as a Junior Economist at the OECD (Young Associate Programme). Konstantin holds a BSc in Economics from the University of Mannheim and a MSc in Econometrics and Mathematical Economics from the London School of Economics.
Lonjezo Sithole
Advisor
Lonje is a PhD candidate in Economics at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor. His research interests mainly lie in econometric theory and applied econometrics, but he also dabbles in labor economics. He has a Bachelor’s degree majoring in Economics from the University of Malawi; Master of Arts degrees in Economics from the University of Malawi and the University of Michigan; and a Master of Science degree in Econometrics from the University of Edinburgh. Before joining the PhD program, he was consulting for the World Bank.
Abdoulaye Cissé
Advisor
Abdou is currently a PhD student in Agricultural and Resource Economics at UC Berkeley. He previously worked in the Investment Banking Division of Bank of America Merrill Lynch in New York and Dubai. He holds a Bachelor's in Economics with Honours from Stanford University. Abdou is a native of Dakar, Senegal.
Sewoenam Chachu
Advisor
Dr. Sewoenam is a senior lecturer in comparative linguistics with a PhD in linguistics from the University of Paris Sorbonne. She was the Head of the Department of French, University of Ghana from 2019 to 2022. She is an alumnus of the DAAD/DIES International Dean’s Course and a member of the Ghana team for the 2023/2024 National Multiplication Training (NMT) on internationalization for Technical Universities in Ghana. She mentors female PhD students in Ghana through monthly virtual meetings and is passionate about mentoring young people.