IPA is led by a Senior Management Team based in New Haven, Connecticut comprised of the President, the Executive Director, the Deputy Executive Director, the Director of Human Resources and Global Operations, and the General Counsel. This team oversees the day to day operations of the organization as follows.
Dean Karlan [1]
President and Founder
Dean Karlan is Professor of Economics at Yale University and President and Founder of IPA. He is a graduate of the University of Chicago's Harris Graduate School of Public Policy and Graduate School of Business and received his Ph.D in 2002 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Recipient of the National Science Foundation CAREER Award, the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), and the Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship, Dean is also a research fellow at the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab and the Bureau for Research and Economic Analysis of Development.
Executive Director
Annie Duflo is responsible for leading the strategic directions of IPA, the implementation of its strategic plan and the day to day operations. Previously, Annie served as IPA's Research Director where she managed IPA’s research network, staff capacity-building, and new project development. She also played a key role in the scaling up of successful programs with particular focus on education. Annie has a wealth of experience implementing and managing randomized evaluations in the field. Prior to joining IPA, Annie was the Executive Director of the Centre for Microfinance (CMF) at the Institute for Financial Management and Research (IFMR) in Chennai, India, which she joined at its creation. Annie holds a Master of Public Administration and International Development degree from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government and Master in Social Sciences from EHESS (Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales)/ ENS (Ecole Normale Supérieure) in Paris.
Delia Welsh
Deputy Executive Director, Research and Policy
Delia Welsh is responsible for managing IPA's research operations and policy outreach priorities. Previously she served as IPA’s first Managing Director and oversaw the development of several strategic and administrative initiatives as well as the growth of IPA’s field operations. Delia has a strong background in monitoring and evaluation as well as organizational development. She served as one of the founding members of the Millennium Challenge Corporation, which she joined in 2004. At MCC, she played a key role in developing the performance measurement and evaluation policies of the new institution. In addition, she integrated rigorous impact evaluation designs into several MCC programs and helped develop the monitoring and evaluation systems for large grant programs in Madagascar, Cape Verde, Senegal, Morocco, Benin and Honduras. Prior to joining IPA, she most recently served as MCC's Impact Evaluation Director overseeing the implementation of MCC-funded independent impact evaluations. Delia has also served as a Program Examiner at the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) where she was responsible for the budgetary oversight of several U.S. foreign aid programs and participated in the interagency working group to create the MCC. Prior to OMB, she worked for several non-profit organizations and the Congressional Budget Office. Delia holds a Master in Public Affairs from Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School, a BA from Colby College, and was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to conduct research in Morocco.
Nicole Licata Grant
Director of Human Resources and Global Operations
Nicole Licata Grant joined IPA in April 2011. She is responsible for overseeing the domestic and international business operations of IPA in support of global research efforts. Nicole developed expertise in development programming and international non-profit operations with Save the Children U.S., where she was the Associate Director of Operations for the Middle East and Eurasia programs from 2008 until 2011. Prior to that Nicole was appointed to the Energy Information Administration (EIA) of the U.S. Department of Energy as a Presidential Management Fellow (PMF), where she focused on international energy markets and spent nearly two years on detail in the Middle East. She also served in the International Affairs division of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, focusing on macroeconomic policy in Latin America. Prior to working in the U.S. Government, Nicole was a Consultant with Accenture, and specialized in the High Tech, Aerospace and Defense industries. She earned an MA in International Relations with a specialization in Development Economics and Environmental Policy from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and a BA from Yale University, where she was a Sterling Scholar. She is a native of New Haven, Connecticut.
Jessica Kiessel
Director of Country Programs
Jessica Kiessel is responsible for overseeing the fulfillment of IPA’s strategic plan in and provides management oversight to all of IPA’s Country Programs. She is also a researcher with Annie Duflo on the TCAI Evaluation, an impact evaluation of a government-run remedial education project in Ghana. Previously, Jessica was the IPA Ghana Country Director, where she directed the office during a period of significant growth and oversaw approximately 20 rigorous impact evaluations in a variety of sectors, including agriculture, education, finance and health. She also led scale up work related to agricultural insurance in Ghana. Before joining IPA, Jessica supported USAID education projects in Egypt, Zambia, Namibia and Pakistan for the American Institutes for Research. Jessica served as a U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer in Samoa and holds a Masters of Public Administration from New York University and a Bachelors of Arts in Anthropology and Sociology from Kalamazoo College.
Ife Osaga-Ondondo
General Counsel
Ife Osaga-Ondondo is responsible for IPA’s legal and compliance issues. She has a background in law and international development. Ife started out as a corporate lawyer in Nairobi, Kenya and has since then worked on law and development issues at various organizations including the World Bank Group, Oxfam America and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Prior to joining IPA, Ife worked on regulation of foreign direct investment around the world at the International Finance Corporation (World Bank Group). Ife holds a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) from the University of Nairobi, a Masters in Law and Diplomacy (MA) from the Fletcher School, Tufts University and a Master of Laws (LL.M.) from Columbia University Law School. She is admitted to practice law in the state of New York and the Republic of Kenya.