The IBSI team coordinates and collaborates with faculty, students, and staff across the Haas and UC Berkeley ecosystem.
The team also builds relationships and partnerships with external collaborators to deliver high impact research for industry and policy, as well as experiential learning opportunities for Berkeley students.
Faculty Leadership
Paul Gertler
Faculty Director
2020-Present
Paul Gertler is the Li Ka Shing Professor of Economics at Haas and scientific director for the Center for Effective Global Action. He’s an expert on impact evaluation, acting as principal investigator on large, multisite evaluations of programs to fight poverty and improve healthcare in Mexico, Rwanda, and around the world. He also served as the chief economist of the Human Development Network of the World Bank from 2004 to 2007. He has been a member of the Haas faculty since 1996, and holds a PhD in economics from the University of Wisconsin.
Laura Tyson
Faculty Director
2013-2020
Laura D’Andrea Tyson is an influential scholar of economics and public policy and an expert on trade and competitiveness who has also served as a presidential adviser. She is a Distinguished Professor of the Graduate School at the Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley. She chairs the Board of Trustees at UC Berkeley’s Blum Center for Developing Economies, which aims to develop solutions to global poverty.
Staff
Adam Ross
Executive Director
Adam Jason Ross is the IBSI Executive Director. He previously worked in a senior role at the Gates Foundation, served as an economist at the World Bank and was the founding vice president of AYUDA Inc. (American Youth Understanding Diabetes Abroad). Adam holds a master’s degree in international development (MPAID) from the Harvard Kennedy School and a bachelor’s degree in entrepreneurial management from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Laura Chioda
Director of Research
Laura Chioda is the IBSI Director of Research. She previously served as Director of Research at the O’Donnell Center for Behavioral Economics, Senior Research Economist in the World Bank’s LAC and EFI Chief Economist offices, and Assistant Professor at Princeton University. She has led large research initiatives and is the principal investigator on several studies and RCTs combining applied econometrics with AI and machine-learning methods to examine labor markets, skills formation, mental health, gender, and financial inclusion. She holds a Ph.D. in Economics from UC Berkeley.
Jennifer Sturdy
Operations & Insights Director
Jennifer Sturdy is the IBSI Operations & Insights Director. She previously worked with UC Berkeley as a research assistant and Program Director for the Berkeley Initiative for Transparency in the Social Sciences. She also held roles with the World Bank, Millennium Challenge Corporation, and International Initiative for Impact Evaluation. Most recently, Jen served the Newsom Administration as the Deputy Secretary for Evaluation with the California Labor & Workforce Development Agency from 2022-2024.
Rebecca Cook Dorman
Program Manager
Rebecca Cook Dorman is the IBSI Program Manager. Previously at UC Berkeley, she worked at the Blum Center for Developing Economies managing a USAID-funded digital workforce development project in Cambodia and at the School of Social Welfare's California Social Work Education Center (CalSWEC) managing integrated behavioral health programs for MSW students. She has also held roles with Room to Read and Learning for Action. Rebecca holds a master's degree in Public Health from UCLA.