Team
Directors
Dean Karlan
Director, Lead Researcher
Karlan is an Assistant Professor of Economics at Yale University. He began working in development as a practitioner, working for FINCA International from 1992 until 1995. The three years motivated him to seek a Ph.D. in economics. Karlan is also the President of Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA) and a research fellow of the M.I.T. Poverty Action Lab. Through IPA, Karlan’s projects cover the Philippines, South Africa, Peru, Kenya, India, Brazil, Honduras, Mexico, and Ghana. Topics of current or prior subjects include interest rate policy, credit scoring, group versus individual liability, savings design, credit with education, and overall impact. He has consulted for the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, FINCA International and the Guatemalan government. He was on the CGAP Savings Working Group initiative in 2005. Karlan received a Ph.D. in Economics from M.I.T., an M.B.A. and an M.P.P. from the University of Chicago, and a B.A. in International Affairs from the University of Virginia.
Jonathan Morduch
Managing Director, Lead Researcher
Morduch has taught at NYU since 2000, where he is a Professor of Public Policy and Economics. He focuses on finance and development. His co-authored 2005 book, The Economics of Microfinance (MIT Press), develops a policy-focused research agenda, and is described by Thomas Easton of The Economist as: “The single best book on the economics of banking and finance, period…” Morduch’s ongoing work on social investment, financed by the Ford Foundation applies insights from the modern theory of corporate finance to develop new understandings of the limits and possibilities of markets and philanthropy. Morduch is currently chair of the United Nations Committee on Poverty Statistics, advises Pro Mujer, and is a member of SafeSave in Dhaka. He is a member of the Editorial Board of the World Bank Economic Review and of the UN Advisors Group on Inclusive Financial Sectors. His views on finance and development have been reported by the New York Times, The New Yorker, CNN, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Associated Press, and other organizations. He holds a BA from Brown and Ph.D. from Harvard, both in Economics.
Sendhil Mullainathan
Director, Lead Researcher
Mullainathan is currently a Professor of Economics at Harvard University. Much of his work involves rethinking financial economics, in particular by using insights from psychology to explain a range of financial puzzles. He is currently working with a set of financial institutions in India—ICICI, the KAS foundation, Spandana and Pradan—as well as institutions in Mexico and Peru to help design, pilot and test new financial products to expand financial access. These projects aim to increase access to finance through improved savings and debt products. In 2003 he was awarded a “genius” award by the MacArthur Foundation. Mullainathan is a former board member of Innovations for Poverty Action and is a co-founder of the Poverty Action Lab at MIT. He received his B.A. in Computer Science, Mathematics, and Economics from Cornell and his Ph.D. in Economics from Harvard.
Christina Barrineau
Special Advisor
Christina Barrineau is a Special Advisor to the Financial Access Initiative. Prior to this she led the United Nations International Year of Microcredit where she brought global attention to the importance of microfinance and engaged hundreds of thousands of people, from princesses to bankers to microentrepreneurs, in building inclusive financial sectors. Christina has worked for Women's World Banking (WWB) where she established and managed the Global Network for Banking Innovation in Microfinance, and before joining WWB, she spent ten years as an independent international advisor in finance and development. In this role, she launched more than 20 businesses and non-profit institutions in the fields of microfinance, the environment, the arts, and social change. Among other accolades, she has worked with Dr. Jeffery Sachs on issues specific to eradicating poverty in Africa and was a champion of the Malaria No More campaign. Under the leadership of Dr. Stanley Fischer, she worked to ensure the Bretton Woods Institutions collect data on access to finance. She pioneered new thinking on pension plans for the poor and asset building models for informal sector workers and established the Global Microentrepreneurship Awards Program, now owned by Citigroup, in more than 30 countries. She is an Advisor to UNEPFI African Commercial Microfinance Initiative and the Citigroup Gift Microfinance Fund. Christina is a well known public speaker on microfinance, holds an MBA from the University of British Columbia and is a Canadian national.