Elections to the Board of Directors (2026)

The International Development Economics Association (IDEA) will hold elections for positions on the Board of Directors between March 10 and April 8, 2026.

These elections are a core element of IDEA’s commitment to transparent, inclusive, and representative governance. Members are encouraged to review the candidate profiles and statements below before casting their votes.

Some candidates have accepted nominations for Regional Representative as well as At-Large Board positions. If one is elected to both positions, they will be assigned the role of Regional Representative. For transparency and clarity, all candidates are listed below.

Candidates

Uzma Afzal

uzma-afzal

Affiliation: RMIT
Email: uzma.afzal@rmit.edu.au
Primary region of employment (UN): Oceania

Standing for:

Prior IDEA Service

Website: https://www.uzmaafzal.com/

Candidate statement

I am delighted to be nominated as a Regional Representative for Oceania and At-Large Board Member of the International Development Economics Association (IDEA). As a development economist currently based in Australia, with extensive field research experience in low- and middle-income contexts, I am keen to help strengthen connections between researchers in Oceania and the broader global development economics community.

The Oceania region includes a diverse and growing community of scholars working across universities, policy institutions, and research centres. If elected, I would actively represent the interests and perspectives of researchers based in Australia and the wider Oceania region, ensuring their work, priorities, and institutional contexts are reflected in IDEA's strategy and programming. I would also work to facilitate communication between regional members and the Board, identify opportunities for regional workshops and collaboration, and support engagement of early-career researchers.

My research uses applied microeconomic, behavioural, and experimental methods to study issues at the intersection of human development, gender, and household dynamics. I am committed to inclusive scholarship, strong research–policy linkages, and expanding opportunities for underrepresented voices within the field.

I see this role as an opportunity to help build a connected, globally engaged development economics community, with Oceania playing an active and visible part in IDEA's growth.

Ashani Amarasinghe

ashani-amarasinghe

Affiliation: University of Sydney
Email: ashani.amarasinghe@sydney.edu.au
Primary region of employment (UN): Oceania

Standing for:

Website: https://profiles.sydney.edu.au/ashani.amarasinghe

Candidate statement

I am a Senior Lecturer (tenured Assistant Professor) in Economics at the University of Sydney, with research spanning political economy, conflict, institutions, and development. I am honoured to be considered for the Founding Board of the International Development Economics Association, and excited by its potential to build a truly global home for our field.

One of the most important opportunities IDEA presents is broadening who gets a voice in decisions. Researchers in many parts of the world — particularly in the Global South — have had limited access to the networks and platforms that shape development economics, and there is much we can do to change this. I hope to help build an association that is inclusive and representative from the ground up, with meaningful opportunities for early-career researchers to engage, connect, and grow within a supportive global community.

As the regional representative for Oceania, I would work to strengthen the region's voice in global development economics dialogues and ensure that perspectives from the Pacific and broader Oceania are well represented in the conversations ahead. I also bring experience organising research workshops and platforms that connect scholars across borders and career stages, and I look forward to putting this to work for IDEA.

Edward Asiedu

edward-asiedu

Affiliation: University of Ghana
Email: edasiedu@ug.edu.gh
Primary region of employment (UN): Africa

Standing for:

Prior IDEA Service

Website: https://ugbs.ug.edu.gh/faculty/edward-asiedu

Candidate statement

I am Edward Asiedu, Associate Professor of Development Economics and Finance at the University of Ghana Business School (UGBS), and I am honoured to stand as a candidate for African Regional Representative on the IDEA Board.

After completing my PhD, I returned to Africa and have since dedicated my academic career to teaching, researching, and mentoring the next generation of economists in Ghana and on the continent. This commitment reflects a conviction that rigorous economic science must be rooted in the contexts it seeks to transform. Approximately ten years at the UGBS, I have taught development economics, impact evaluation, and finance at every level from undergraduate to PhD, while running field experiments across Ghana and West Africa on agriculture, firm behaviour, labour markets, health, and education.

My research is driven by one question: what actually works for poor people? As a J-PAL MIT Affiliated Professor, ETH Zürich Research Affiliate, and trainer for policymakers across several African countries, I bridge global economic scholarship and African policy and practice.

As an African Regional Representative or at Large Board, I will amplify African scholars' voices, build South-North/South-South research networks, and ensure IDEA's agenda reflects the development realities and research priorities of the continent.

Emily Beam

emily-beam

Affiliation: University of Vermont
Email: emily.beam@uvm.edu
Primary region of employment (UN): North America

Standing for:

Website: https://eabeam.github.io/

Candidate statement

I'm a development economist at the University of Vermont. My research focuses on randomized impact evaluations in the areas of labor markets, education and child development, and social protection. I have active projects in Southeast Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and Latin America, often in close partnership with governments and NGOs.

I'm excited about IDEA because having a global body to link scholars and institutions will make it easier for researchers to share ideas and resources, connections that are especially important for those early in their career and/or working in LMICs. And ultimately, a stronger community that engages with more participants leads to better research. I work with lots of research assistants and early career scholars globally, and I'm especially interested in how IDEA can support mentoring and career development.

I'd be glad to serve on the Board and contribute where I can be most useful.

Tilman Brück

Tilman Brück

Affiliation: Humboldt-University of Berlin
Email: tilman.brueck@hu-berlin.de
Primary region of employment (UN): Europe

Standing for:

Website: https://isdc.org/team/tilman-brueck//

Candidate statement

As a member at large of the Board of Directors of the International Development Economics Association (IDEA), I would strive to increase the connections of IDEA to related networks and disciplines across the social sciences, including in development studies, political science, peace research and public policy, both within Europe and globally.

I would also like to work to include early career researchers, especially from low- and middle-income countries, in our activities.

As a development economist, I study the behaviour and welfare of poor and vulnerable people in conflict-affected, fragile and humanitarian emergency settings. I also study how policies and programmes can improve lives and livelihoods in such settings - and how to collect data and conduct research in challenging circumstances.

I am Professor of Economic Development and Food Security at Humboldt-University of Berlin, Research Group Leader at the Leibniz Institute of Vegetable and Ornamental Crops, and the Founder and Director of ISDC – International Security and Development Center, an independent research institute in Berlin, Germany.

Recently, I was elected to serve on the Steering Committee of the High Level Panel of Experts for Food Security and Nutrition at the UN Committee on Food Security.

I am very keen to build global academic communities and research data infrastructures. For example, I am the Co-Founder and Co-Director of the Households in Conflict Network (a network of scholars studying how violent conflict shapes lives and livelihoods), the Principal Investigator of the Life in Kyrgyzstan Study (Central Asia’s longest running panel study), and a co-founder of the Global Young Academy (an academy for excellent pre-tenure researchers).

I obtained a first degree in economics at the University of Glasgow and a master’s and doctorate in economics from the University of Oxford. I have worked in the UK, Italy, Sweden and Germany.

Giorgio Chiovelli

giorgio-chiovelli

Affiliation: Universidad de Montevideo
Email: giorgio.chiovelli1@gmail.com
Primary region of employment (UN): Latin America

Standing for:

Website: https://sites.google.com/view/giorgiochiovelli/

Candidate statement

I am an economist working on the political economy of development, with a focus on how conflict, displacement, globalization, and historical legacies shape development trajectories in low- and middle-income countries. My research combines administrative microdata with geospatial, archival, and satellite-based evidence, often in collaboration with governments and international organizations.

If selected to serve on the IDEA Board, one of my main objectives would be to help propel the creation and consolidation of a stronger development research network in Latin America. While the region has made important steps in recent years, collaboration across institutions remains fragmented, and opportunities for sustained engagement between researchers, policymakers, and international partners are still limited. I believe IDEA can play a key convening role in fostering regional cooperation, facilitating access to data and methodological training, and strengthening institutional capacity for policy-relevant research.

I would aim to contribute to initiatives that promote collaborative research, support early-career scholars, and deepen the integration of Latin American institutions into the global development economics community.

Eric Edmonds

eric-edmonds

Affiliation: Dartmouth
Email: eric.v.edmonds@dartmouth.edu
Primary region of employment (UN): North America

Standing for:

Prior IDEA Service

Website: http://www.ericvedmonds.org/

Candidate statement

I really appreciate the nomination, and I’m really grateful to everybody who has invested in getting this going. As a chair in a large department,I have a fair amount of experience building institutions, managing professional processes and procedures. My research spans Africa, Asia, and Latin America, and involves lots of government engagement and collaboration with scholars based in those regions. My research itself uses observational methods with survey and admin data as well as randomized trials. As Editor in Chief of the World Bank Economic Review, I try to support a large range of research styles. In building IDEA, I think we need to prioritize credible and transparent governance, meaningful inclusion of scholars based outside North America and Europe, and programming that reflects the full range of work in development economics.

Paolo Falco

paolo-falco

Affiliation: University of Copenhagen
Email: paolo.falco@econ.ku.dk
Primary region of employment (UN): Europe

Standing for:

Prior IDEA Service

Website: www.paolofalco.com

Candidate statement

I am honored to stand in these elections and am very excited about IDEA. As an active member of the founding group, I have already experienced the organization's remarkable potential through weeks of vibrant and stimulating intellectual exchange with fellow co-founders.

My vision for IDEA is to help build a truly inclusive home for development economists: a space where scholars from the Global South can participate fully and visibly, and a platform that unlocks the field's vast yet still underrecognized scholarly potential. IDEA can create new, meaningful opportunities for collaboration, mentoring, and exchange, and provide a flourishing intellectual space for scholars whose work spans diverse research areas.

I am an Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Copenhagen and hold a PhD in Economics from the University of Oxford. My research focuses on improving the functioning of labor markets and reducing barriers faced by disadvantaged workers. Over the years, I have conducted research across several countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and Europe. I am an Affiliated Professor at J-PAL.

Willa Friedman

willa-friedman

Affiliation: University of Houston
Email: willa.friedman@gmail.com
Primary region of employment (UN): North America

Standing for:

Prior IDEA Service

Website: https://willafriedman.com

Candidate statement

I’m Willa Friedman, a development economist at the University of Houston. I’d be glad to serve as an IDEA Board member to help build an inclusive organization that reflects and supports the diversity of work, institutions, and career stages in development economics. I’m especially interested in helping the organization to develop durable and flexible systems, listening to members' needs and hopes, and facilitating connections between members across regions, institution types, and career stages.

Giacomo De Giorgi

giacomo-de-giorgi

Affiliation: University of Geneva
Email: giacomo.degiorgi@gmail.com
Primary region of employment (UN): Europe

Standing for:

Candidate statement

NA

Tarun Jain

tarun-jain

Affiliation: Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad
Email: tarunj@iima.ac.in
Primary region of employment (UN): Asia

Standing for:

Prior IDEA Service

Website: https://sites.google.com/virginia.edu/tarunjain

Candidate statement

I’m running for Secretary-Treasurer of the International Development Economics Association to help build a truly global home for development economists.

My priorities are: (1) expanding meaningful participation from scholars based in developing countries through outreach, mentoring, and accessible opportunities; and (2) launching IDEA with high-quality, transparent, equitable governance that earns trust and sets enduring standards.

Shao-Yu Jheng

shao-yu-jheng

Affiliation: Harvard University
Email: shaoyujheng@fas.harvard.edu
Primary region of employment (UN): North America

Standing for:

Prior IDEA Service

Website: https://sites.google.com/view/jheng-shao-yu

Candidate statement

I will work to strengthen IDEA's core missions, especially to promote rigorous research and establish inclusive global community. I will prioritize three goals. First, broaden participation by supporting scholars and practitioners from low- and middle-income countries through our career development functions. Second, raise research quality and transparency by promoting open and replication-friendly practice. Third, deepen engagement across global scholars to facilitate the research of economic development. I will listen, collaborate, and help deliver tangible value to members worldwide.

Abbi Kedir

abbi-kedir

Affiliation: African Economic Research Consortium (AERC)
Email: abbi.kedir@aercafrica.org
Primary region of employment (UN): Africa

Standing for:

Website: https://aercafrica.org/leadership/prof-abbi-m-kedir/

Candidate statement

I am honoured to accept the nomination to serve on the Board of the International Development Economics Association (IDEA), whether as Regional Representative (Africa) and/or At-Large Member. I am an Ethiopian economist whose career spans government service, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, UK academia, and research leadership. I have taught development economics and conducted research on African development, consistently seeking to bridge rigorous scholarship and policy engagement. I currently lead a research department at the African Economic Research Consortium (AERC), supporting capacity building and advancing policy-relevant research across the continent.

I also serve as Special Issue Editor of the Journal of African Economies, sit on the editorial board of the Journal of Development Studies, and contribute to mentoring emerging scholars. If elected, I will work to strengthen IDEA’s global engagement, expand its presence in Africa leveraging the vast network of economists in universities, interntional organisations & the civil service , and promote inclusive, high-quality development research and collaboration across regions with a keen eye on developing the next generation of development economists (e.g. early career researchers - ECRs).

Vasily Korovkin

Vasily Korovkin

Affiliation: Universitat Pompeu Fabra
Email: vasily.korovkin@upf.edu
Primary region of employment (UN): Europe

Standing for:

Website: https://www.vaskorovkin.com/

Candidate statement

I am honored to stand for election as Regional Representative for Europe and At-Large Member, Board of Directors of IDEA. Based in Europe, I would work to strengthen connections among development economists across the region and to ensure that European researchers are well linked to IDEA’s broader global activities. My research focuses on the economics of conflict and on the political economy of development.

Warn N. Lekfuangfu

warn-lekfuangfu

Affiliation: Universidad Carlos III de Madrid
Email: nlekfuan@eco.uc3m.es
Primary region of employment (UN): Europe

Standing for:

Prior IDEA Service

Website: https://npwarn.wixsite.com/warn-lekfuangfu

Candidate statement

I look forward to being part of an open, inclusive, and global organisation that represents researchers in development. I am confident that I can contribute my unique experience, including my previous role as a member of the Executive Committee of the Asian and Australian Society of Labour Economics, to this early and exciting stage of IDEA.

Ethan Ligon

ethan-ligon

Affiliation: University of California, Berkeley
Email: ligon@berkeley.edu
Primary region of employment (UN): North America

Standing for:

Candidate statement

I have been a development economist at UC Berkeley for over three decades, and so have witnessed considerable evolution of our field. As development economics in the west has moved from the fringes of the economics profession to its core, the “international” character of the field has suffered. I’m very enthusiastic about IDEA as a hopeful corrective to this geographical narrowing of the field, and am excited to help get this enterprise off the ground.

In my particular case there are some specific services and infrastructure (“plumbing”) where I have a clear comparative advantage. Rather than seeking a broad administrative role, I intend to focus on two basic pillars:

Scholarly Infrastructure
Setting up a robust IDEA Working Paper series to provide immediate value and visibility to our members.

Governance Tools
Establishing the web and voting mechanisms necessary for transparent, scalable operations.

I believe my seniority may provide a useful perspective to the running of this organization, while my focus on these practical “plumbing” issues will help keep IDEA lean and functional. I look forward to helping build the infrastructures that will allow IDEA to flourish in the years to come.

Ming-Jen Lin

ming-jen-lin

Affiliation: National Taiwan University
Email: mjlin@ntu.edu.tw
Primary region of employment (UN): Asia

Standing for:

Prior IDEA Service

Website: http://homepage.ntu.edu.tw/~mjlin/

Candidate statement

I am honored to seek a position on the IDEA board as a researcher based in East Asia. My candidacy is driven by a commitment to broadening our field's global reach and impact.
And I truely believe that development economics thrives on diverse perspectives and inclusive scholarship. If elected, I will work to:

Expand geographic diversity in IDEA membership, conference participation, and leadership.

Diversify research topics by championing innovative approaches to development challenges specific to different regional contexts.

Mentor emerging scholars from regions with fewer resources, creating pathways through workshop programs, research partnerships, and funding support

I respectfully ask for your support.

Abhiroop Mukhopadhyay

abhiroop-mukhopadhyay

Affiliation: Indian Statistical Institute (Delhi)
Email: abhiroop@isid.ac.in
Primary region of employment (UN): Asia

Standing for:

Website: https://sites.google.com/view/abhiroop/home

Candidate statement

Development Economics in India stands at an important crossroads. As one of the world’s largest producers and consumers of development research, shifts within India carry significant implications for the global development economics community. This moment offers an opportunity to shape both institutional priorities and the future trajectory of the field.

As India is likely to become a major employment destination for young development economists, there is a pressing need to broaden institutional understanding—beyond a small set of established outlets—of what constitutes high-quality research. Strengthening this ecosystem is essential to ensure that early-career scholars continue to invest in rigorous, policy-relevant research on developing-country contexts.

I propose to leverage the credibility of an international advisory board comprising leading economists to engage Indian institutions more actively. The objective is to encourage greater hiring of development economists and stronger recognition of high-quality publications, particularly at a time when institutional interest appears to be shifting toward fields such as macroeconomics.

Equally important is engaging younger scholars themselves. The long-term vitality of development economics requires renewed emphasis on contextualization, domain expertise, and sector-specific knowledge alongside methodological rigor. Given the international location of many emerging scholars, global board participation will help reinforce these priorities across the wider research community.

Jalil Nordman

nordman-jalil

Affiliation: French Institute of Research for Sustainable Development (IRD)
Email: Jalil.nordman@ird.fr
Primary region of employment (UN): Europe

Standing for:

Prior IDEA Service

Website: https://dauphine.psl.eu/recherche/cvtheque/profil/nordman-christophe-jalil

Candidate statement

I am honoured to submit my candidacy to serve on the Board of the International Development Economics Association (IDEA), either as the Europe representative or in an At-Large Board seat.

I hold a PhD in Economics from the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne. I am a Senior Research Fellow at the IRD (French Public Institute of Research for Sustainable Development), as a development economist working on labour, education and cognition, discrimination and household vulnerability, mostly in South Asia over the past decade.

In recent years, I have been a founding member and the current President of AFEDEV (the French Association of Development Economics). Since its creation in 2021, AFEDEV has focused on building a professional association that serves the young and growing development economics community in France: creating spaces for exchange, supporting early-career researchers, and helping to connect PhD students and junior scholars with senior colleagues and institutions. In parallel, we have worked to extend these efforts at the European level by contributing to the creation of the European Development Economics Group (EDEG), with the aim of strengthening links across European research communities.

If elected, I would be glad to contribute to IDEA's mission by supporting initiatives that broaden participation and strengthen international inclusiveness. Importantly, as my term at AFEDEV is nearing completion (summer 2026) and I will be handing over these responsibilities, I will have the time and availability to serve IDEA actively — helping connect European networks with colleagues in other regions, encouraging early-career participation, especially in the Global South, and supporting formats that lower barriers to engagement for members worldwide.

Owen Ozier

owen-ozier

Affiliation: Williams College
Email: oo3@williams.edu
Primary region of employment (UN): North America

Standing for:

Prior IDEA Service

Website: https://owenozier.github.io/

Candidate statement

I am an associate professor at Williams College, after having spent nearly a decade at the World Bank. My research has focused on education, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa. I have taught as part of courses or trainings in Kenya, Senegal, Europe, and the United States. Having attended many of the planning meetings that have led to IDEA, I hope to work with IDEA committees creating constructive, inclusive communities for development economists around the world.

Dina Pomeranz

dina-pomeranz

Affiliation: University of Zurich
Email: dina.pomeranz@econ.uzh.ch
Primary region of employment (UN): Europe

Standing for:

Prior IDEA Service

Website: https://www.econ.uzh.ch/en/people/faculty/pomeranz.html

Candidate statement

I would be thrilled to serve on the board of IDEA. The organization fills an important gap in the development economics landscape. One of my primary goals would be to support IDEA's efforts to increase global representation within our profession and to reduce barriers for economists from low- and middle-income countries. Both for the quality of the research and for considerations of global justice it is long overdue for our discipline to become more representative of the countries being studied.

Hopefully, the networks and experiences from my professional journey could help me contribute to this goal. After studying international relations in an interdisciplinary program in Geneva, I went on to the PhD in economics at Harvard, followed by a postdoc at MIT's Poverty Action Lab and assistant professorship at Harvard Business School, before I joined the University of Zurich. In my research in Chile, the DRC, Ecuador, Kenya, Switzerland and Tanzania I aim to work in close partnership with local experts and policymakers. Based on these experiences, I also co-founded the Graduate International Applications Network (GAIN), which supports African students in applying to leading economics programs worldwide. We see it again and again: talent is everywhere - opportunity is not.

Nishith Prakash

nishith-prakash

Affiliation: Northeastern University
Email: n.prakash@northeastern.edu
Primary region of employment (UN): North America

Standing for:

Prior IDEA Service

Website: https://www.nishithprakash.com/

Candidate statement

I am honored to stand for election to the IDEA Board. My career has centered on democratizing access to research, mentorship, and professional networks in development economics—goals that align closely with IDEA’s vision for global research inclusion and career development.

As Co-Director of the Global Action for Policy (GAP), I have helped build institutional platforms that expand scholarly exchange across disciplines and geographies, including seminar series, working paper infrastructure, global research partnerships, and hosting NEUDC 2024. Through AMIE, which I co-founded, we have mentored more than 140 PhD students worldwide, institutionalized structured job-market preparation, and built durable mentoring networks that directly address inequities in access to professional capital.

On the IDEA Board, I would prioritize three areas: building scalable global feedback infrastructure for scholars outside major research hubs; strengthening structured, full-pipeline career development systems; and creating transparent collaboration platforms that reduce reliance on informal gatekeeping networks.

I bring experience building organizations from concept to scale, mobilizing partnerships across institutions and regions, and translating strategic vision into sustainable systems. I would work to ensure IDEA becomes a durable, globally inclusive field-building institution.

Atonu Rabbani

atonu-rabbani

Affiliation: Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies and University of Dhaka
Email: atonu.rabbani@gmail.com
Primary region of employment (UN): Asia

Standing for:

Candidate statement

I am honored to be nominated for the Interim Executive Committee of the International Development Economics Association. My research spans applied microeconomics, health economics, environmental economics, and impact evaluation, with a sustained focus on South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. My work has appeared in several leading journals in economics, development studies and public health.

I am currently based in Dhaka, where I serve as Research Director at the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies and Professor at the University of Dhaka. My international affiliations — including IGC, J-PAL at MIT, Monash University, and the Center for Evaluation and Development in Mannheim — reflect my commitment to rigorous, collaborative, cross-border research.

As former General Secretary and President of the Association of Economic and Development Studies on Bangladesh, I bring direct experience building and sustaining a professional scholarly community.

As an At-Large Member, I will champion inclusive, policy-relevant research across career stages and geographies. As Regional Member, I will ensure Asia’s vibrant development economics community has a meaningful voice in IDEA’s agenda.

Rajesh Ramachandran

rajesh-ramachandran

Affiliation: Monash University Malaysia
Email: rajesh.ramachandran@monash.edu
Primary region of employment (UN): Asia

Standing for:

Prior IDEA Service

Website: https://sites.google.com/site/ramachandranecon/home

Candidate statement

I was born and educated in India before pursuing advanced graduate training across Europe—including France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Spain—and later serving in academic positions in Germany, with research visits in the United States. I now work in Southeast Asia. Experiencing development economics from multiple institutional contexts has given me first-hand insight into both the opportunities and structural asymmetries that shape our profession.

Across regions, talented scholars often face unequal access to networks, mentorship, funding, and rigorous early research training. I am particularly committed to strengthening PhD training and structured early-career mentorship so that young scholars—regardless of geography—acquire a core set of analytical and professional skills that meet global standards and enable them to compete internationally. This includes opportunities for feedback, replication skills, research design training, and support for presenting work in top field and general-interest venues.

Representation should be substantive, not symbolic: scholars from Africa, Asia, Latin America, and other underrepresented regions must have meaningful voice in setting agendas, shaping conferences, and defining research priorities. With experience navigating diverse academic systems, I hope to contribute to IDEA’s mission of creating a globally representative, professionally governed association that advances development economics through inclusive and intellectually plural collaboration.

Farah Said

farah seid

Affiliation: Lahore University of Management Sciences
Email: farah_said@lums.edu.pk
Primary region of employment (UN): Asia

Standing for:

Prior IDEA Service

Website: https://sites.google.com/site/farahziasaid/

Candidate statement

Development economics as a discipline benefits when the regions it studies are also the regions shaping its questions. I believe IDEA has a real opportunity to help our region become not just a site of research, but a space for convening and intellectual exchange. Greater representation of regional contexts and perspectives would enrich the association's work and broaden the conversations it facilitates. I am also keen to support junior scholars in the region who have much to contribute but have found it difficult to connect with global discussions, often simply due to limited networks rather than the quality of their work. The IDEA network can help make those connections a little easier.

Abu S. Shonchoy

abu-shonchoy

Affiliation: Florida International University
Email: parves.shonchoy@gmail.com
Primary region of employment (UN): North America

Standing for:

Prior IDEA Service

Website: https://sites.google.com/site/abushonchoy/

Candidate statement

I am a development economist and tenured professor at Florida International University, originally from Bangladesh, with extensive experience working across South Asia and other low- and middle-income contexts. My research focuses on labor markets, migration, gender, education, and climate adaptation, and I am affiliated with J-PAL. I have held several leadership roles within the Association for Economic and Development Studies on Bangladesh (AEDSB) and currently serve as its Vice President. Through these roles, I have organized international conference sessions, strengthened global research networks, and facilitated collaboration across institutions and regions.

If elected to the IDEA Board, I will work to strengthen regional representation while advancing IDEA’s broader strategic vision. I aim to foster inclusive engagement, particularly elevating voices from underrepresented regions and early-career scholars. I am committed to facilitating communication between members and the Board, supporting high-quality regional programming, and contributing actively to governance and committee work. My objective is to help IDEA build a vibrant, globally connected community that advances rigorous and policy-relevant development research.

Alemayehu Seyoum Taffesse

alemayehu-seyoum-taffesse

Affiliation: International Food Policy Research Institute
Email: a.seyoumtaffesse@cgiar.org
Primary region of employment (UN): Africa

Standing for:

Prior IDEA Service

Website: https://www.ifpri.org/profile/alemayehu-seyoum-taffesse

Candidate statement

The stubborn persistence of poverty in many parts of the globe is clear evidence that Development Economics must enhance its effectiveness in addressing the development challenge. An important ingredient in that direction is a better representation of ideas, issues, methodologies, and demographics that inhabit the theory and praxis of development economics. IDEA aims to promote such representativeness by being open to diverse membership and through its deliberate intellectual activities. I am committed to contributing to the realisation of this long-term goal.

Ann Yang

ann-yang

Affiliation: Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago
Email: annyang2021@gmail.com
Primary region of employment (UN): North America

Standing for:

Prior IDEA Service

Website: https://www.chicagofed.org/people/y/yang-ann

Candidate statement

My name is Ann Yang and I am a predoctoral research assistant at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. I am excited to be considered for a board member position as we lay out the building blocks for IDEA.

Serving as an undergraduate program manager for my research community, I facilitated communication across members from different institutions, culminating in our department's first development-centric conference. As an undergraduate student, witnessing presentations and engaging in discourse during workshops solidified the importance of lasting scholarly communities. I hope to bring this leading philosophy and organizational experience to the formation of IDEA.

Additionally, as a recent undergraduate student who intends to pursue a PhD in economics, I am familiar with the knowledge gaps that come with items such as doctoral application preparation. Resources such as my research community and information sessions helped me navigate this process and have allowed me to cement my research interests for the future. I look forward to providing the unique viewpoint of a current prospective applicant as we construct initiatives to make such resources more accessible and transparent to a global community.

Dean Yang

dean-yang

Affiliation: University of Michigan
Email: deanyang@umich.edu
Primary region of employment (UN): North America

Standing for:

Prior IDEA Service

Website: www.umich.edu/~deanyang

Candidate statement

I am a Professor of Economics and Public Policy at the University of Michigan and co-editor of the Journal of Development Economics. My research focuses on international migration, religion and cultural identity, health, agriculture, and education in developing countries, with field projects spanning Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

I have had the privilege of leading the effort to build IDEA from the ground up. Over the past year, I recruited approximately 80 founding board members from over 40 countries, chaired the Governance Working Group that drafted IDEA's bylaws, and helped design the governance structures now guiding our first elections. This work has been driven by a conviction that development economics deserves a truly global professional home—one that builds connections across scholars in all regions of the world.

As President, my priorities would be: building partnerships with journals and research networks to expand opportunities for economists in underrepresented regions; creating mentoring and career development programs that serve scholars at all stages; and putting IDEA on a sustainable financial footing. I am committed to making IDEA an organization that lives up to its global aspirations.

Hang Yu

hang-yu

Affiliation: Peking University
Email: hangyu.economics@gmail.com
Primary region of employment (UN): Asia

Standing for:

Prior IDEA Service

Website: https://www.econhangyu.com/

Candidate statement

I am honored to be nominated for the Board positions. As an Assistant Professor at Peking University working across Asia and Africa, I have seen how our field benefits when researchers from diverse backgrounds are connected through a supportive community. I would be glad to contribute to building that within IDEA.

My work combines field-based research with active engagement in training and mentoring. I have advised graduate students from across world regions, and I value creating welcoming environments where early-career scholars can grow. I also bring experience organizing academic exchange through MDev, the Global South Conference, and the CCER Summer Institute, as well as early service roles in IDEA's governance and scholarly exchange groups.

If elected, my priority would be to help expand IDEA's reach to all regions, with particular attention to Asia's diverse research communities. Many countries in the region offer rich development experiences that deserve greater scholarly visibility. IDEA can play a role in facilitating that exchange. I hope to work with colleagues to broaden membership, improve accessibility for scholars in underrepresented areas, and foster high-quality interactions. My goal is to support a truly global platform that reflects the depth and diversity of our discipline.