From 2021, I have co-chaired the AIG Public Leaders Programme with Professor Chris Stone. The Blavatnik School's Executive Public Leaders Programme curriculum is available in-country to institutions who are training large cohorts of talented, mid-career public servants. I co-lead the in-country programme in Nigeria, in partnership with AIG (the Africa Initiative for Governance and the Aig-Imoukhuede Institute). It affords 100 high-potential men and women working in the Nigerian public service a unique opportunity. Through blended classes hosted online and in Abuja, participants acquire a range of vital leadership skills, conceptual frameworks and practical tools that will empower them to be more effective as they lead their departments and organisation through the challenges of an increasingly complex and dynamic world.
AIG page
BSG page
Videos about the programme: 4 min summary | 1 min summary | Participant testimonials
Our inaugural cohort's capstone projects
I co-convene Evidence in Public Policy on the Masters in Public Policy at the Blavatnik School of Government. The aim of this module is to provide students with an understanding of how to evaluate the impacts and implementation of policies, as well as an understanding of how policymakers gather, generate, and use evidence in practice. The module introduces students to quantitative methods that are used to generate descriptive and causal evidence. The course outline is here.
Economics for Foreign Policy is the first bespoke online course developed by the Blavatnik School of Government as part of our Executive Programmes suite and is provided to all entrants to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office who are non-economists. Designed to be delivered online, ‘Economics for Foreign Policy’ (or EFP) provides an opportunity for staff across the FCDO to improve their understanding of economic concepts and how to apply this knowledge to policy issues in their role and/or geography. I designed and led one of two core modules on Evidence in Public Policy. This course refines participants’ practical skills in the use of evidence, data and secondary research, and guides them in applying these skills and economic concepts to real-world situations. It is aimed at those who do not have a formal economics training.
This (alongside mentoring RAs) is one of my favourite bits of my job.
My first PhD student, Jennifer Opare-Kumi, just graduated and is a post-doctoral researcher with the What Works in Education hub.
My first predoctoral RA, Geetika Nagpal, is about to graduate from Brown University and is on the job market!
Current PhD students (* former RAs):
Alice Cahill* (University of Oxford, economics)
Brynde Kreft* (University of Oxford, public policy)
Jessica Nicklin* (University of Oxford, public policy)
Jack Calland* (University of Oxford, public policy)
Manuel Ramos Maqueda (University of Oxford, public policy)
Krittika Ray (University of Oxford, economics)
Former predoctoral RAs have mainly gone on to PhDs:
Paul Brimble (University of Michigan, economics)
Allegra Cockburn (UC Santa Barbara, economics)
Axel Eizmendi Larrinaga (Tufts University, economics)
Desmond Fairall (University of Warwick, economics)
Winnie Mughogho (Queen Mary University, economics)
Anasuya Narasimhan (University of California, Berkeley, agricultural and resource economics)
John Walker (University of Oxford, economics)
And former post-docs or during-PhD RAs have mainly gone on to academia:
Mahreen Mahmud (now Senior Lecturer, University of Exeter Business School)
Emma Riley (now Assistant Professor, University of Michigan Economics)
Julia Ruiz Pozuelo (now Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Harvard University Department of Global Health and Social Medicine)
Giulio Schinaia (now Post Doctoral Researcher, University of Chicago Economics)
Marc Witte (now Assistant Professor, VU Amsterdam Economics)