Dean Karlan

Dean Karlan is the Chief Economist, USAID. He is the Frederic Esser Nemmers Distinguished Professor of Economics and Finance at Northwestern University, co-Director with Christopher Udry of the Global Poverty Research Lab at Northwestern University, and the Founder and President of Innovations for Poverty Action, a non-profit organization dedicated to discovering and promoting solutions to global poverty problems. Karlan is also on the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors of the M.I.T. Jameel Poverty Action Lab. In 2015, he also co-founded ImpactMatters, a nonprofit dedicated to estimating and rating impact of nonprofit organizations in order to help donors choose good charities and to promote more transparency in the nonprofit sector. Professor Dean Karlan is leading or involved with the following research initiatives that operate both in low-income countries and the United States: Global Poverty Research Lab (Northwestern University); Financial Inclusion Program (Innovations for Poverty Action), Finance Program (M.I.T. Jameel Poverty Action Lab), Small and Medium Enterprises Program (Innovations for Poverty Action), Social Protection Program (Innovations for Poverty Action).