Meet the 2018 OTT-TTI Fellows
Alejandra Teran was born in La Paz, Bolivia. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the Universidad Católica Boliviana “San Pablo” and a Diploma in Quantitative Methods for Economic Analysis from the Universidad Privada Boliviana.
Alejandra is currently a Junior Researcher at the Institute for Advanced Development Studies (INESAD) helping to manage the project: “Fortalecimiento de la Investigación en Desarrollo Económico en Bolivia” and also the web-site of EMINPRO-INESAD, which provides information to support an informed dialogue to move towards decent jobs creation for the Bolivian workforce. She is a member of the Student Scientific Society of Economics in her University and also Co-founder of “REDES-UCB”, a journal made by students that is published every year. Before she started to work for INESAD, she has been Assistant Professor in Microeconomy I, Microeconomy II and General Economics and also worked as a research assistant at the IISEC-UCB (Instituto de Investigaciones Socio-Económicas). Her areas of research are gender economics, labor economics and social justice.
Andrea Villarreal is Coordinator of Research and Evaluation in Grupo FARO. She contributes to foster evidence based on public policy research, her areas of expertise include the quantitative evaluation of public policies (impact evaluation), macroeconomics, economic policy analysis, public budgeting and financial management and development economics. Andrea has received some academic awards and has participated in international public policy evaluation competitions such as the Global Public Policy Network in 2017.
Prior to joining Grupo FARO in Ecuador, she was Director of Economic Affairs (2017) and National Director of Decentralised Autonomous Governments (2012-2015) at the Ministry of Economy and Finance of Ecuador. Additionally, she has worked as a researcher at the International Institute of Finance in Washington DC (2016) and at the Catholic University of Ecuador (2013). She has also collaborated as general editor in The Public Sphere Journal at LSE (2016) and as an economic analyst at Banco del Estado (2011-2012).
Andrea holds a Master’s Degree in Public Administration with a specialisation in Economics and Public Policy from the London School of Economics and Political Science – LSE (2017); a Master in Finance and Risk Management from the Universidad Andina Simón Bolívar – UASB (2015), and a B.A in Economics from the Catholic University of Ecuador (2010).
Ayomi Nanayakkara obtained her bachelor’s degree in Entrepreneurship and Management from the Uva Wellassa University, Sri Lanka. She is currently following a Master’s in Labour Relations and Human Resource Management at the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Ayomi has over 5 years’ experience in Human Resource Management in the private sector and development agencies. She is currently Human Resource Executive of the Centre for Poverty Analysis (CEPA), a Sri Lankan think tank.
Founty Alassane Fall is research assistant at the Consortium pour la recherche économique et sociale (CRES) in Senegal. Currently she works on a project on gender responsive budgeting. Founty has a master’s degree in economics with a specialisation on human resources. The experience she has gained with CRES has given her the opportunity to participate in several projects on different fields despite her young experience and this has allowed her to acquire new knowledge and know-how.
Joseph Ishaku currently works as a Research Associate at the Centre for the Study of the Economies of Africa (CSEA), a think tank based in Abuja, Nigeria that specialises in applied economic policy research. He holds a Masters in Economics from University College London (UCL), United Kingdom and a Bachelors degree in Economics from the American University Nigeria (AUN), Yola. His research interests include Development Economics and Education.
Min Zar Ni Lin is a Deputy Director of Research for Centre for Economic and Social Development (CESD), a Myanmar think tank focuses on research, advocacy and training activities to further the process of reform and development in Myanmar. He holds a master’s degree in economics from Chiang Mai University, Thailand and was a Research Fellow of the Sustainable Minerals Institute (SMI), the University of Queensland from 2014 to 2015. He is also a member of Rubber Sector Development Committee of Mon State Government. He had worked as a Deputy National Coordinator at the Myanmar Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (MEITI) National Coordination Office, to facilitate a collaborative process with government, private sector and civil society to promote transparency and accountability in the extractive sector of Myanmar. His research interest is in the area of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) development, labour market and migration and natural resource governance.
Natalie Echenique was born and raised in La Paz, Bolivia. She obtained a bachelor degree in Economics from the San Pablo Bolivian Catholic University. As a young researcher in ARU Foundation, she assisted on and led research on income distribution, labor market and gender inequalities in Bolivia. Also, she has assisted in the coordination of the Impact Evaluation Module for capacity development with ILAIPP centres. Before working at ARU Foundation, she was an intern at Bolivian Central Bank. In this position she assisted in macroeconomic research.
Paula Pino is the Communications Coordinator at the Group for the Analysis of Development (GRADE), one of the main social research centres in Peru. She conducts the implementation of GRADE’s communications strategy, including a digital plan-to-action, closely linked to the monitoring and evaluation plan, the professional development plan, and the policy engagement plan. She is a master’s degree student in Human Development at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, and holds a BA in Science and Communication Arts with a major in Journalism from the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, and a specialisation in Multimedia Creation from the University of the Andes, in Colombia. Before joining GRADE seven years ago, Paula worked in national media and institutional press.
Sulamba Shaaban has a strong background in Accounting and Financial Management. She holds a Bachelor of Commerce in Accounting from University of Dar es Salaam and Masters of Business Administration specialised in Finance from Open University of Tanzania. She is also a Certified Public Accountant registered by the National Board of Accountants and Auditors of Tanzania. Her professional focus is to maintain and promote the financial health of an organisation in terms of keeping accurate and reliable financial records, cost management, producing financial reports and developing strategies and plans for the long term financial goals of the organisation. In addition she supports business administration by supervising staff, planning, organising and implementing administrative systems. She also takes care of the projects administrative logistics.
Currently Sulamba works as a Chief Administrative and Finance Manager with Science Technology and Innovation Policy Research Organization (STIPRO) in Tanzania.
As a Finance and Administrative expert, Sulamba’s professional experience spans a decade of working and holding different senior roles in her area of expertise. Before joining STIPRO in 2016, she worked with the Tanzania Insurance Regulatory Authority as a Senior Finance and Administrative Officer for three years. She has also worked with the Dar Es Salaam University Collage of Education (DUCE) as the senior internal Auditor from 2010-2013. Sulamba has also worked as an External Auditor with Ernst and Young Tanzania from 2008 -2010, which is one of the Big Four Auditing Firms in the world.
Varsha Pillai has over 15 years of experience in the communication space, a bulk of which was spent as a TV news journalist at news organisations like CNN-IBN and ANI-Reuters. She has worked across diverse communication verticals including internal communication, public relations and media advocacy in the NGO and for profit sector. She was a National Film Archives of India (NFAI) research fellow in 2009 and in 2017 she received the Netherlands Fellowship to attend a course at Radio Netherlands Training Centre (RNTC) in Amsterdam. Currently she is a Program Manager, Policy Engagement and Communication at the Public Affairs Centre (PAC).