Reham Rizk

Rizk serves as the director of the  Egypt Impact Lab (EIL), a collaborative initiative between the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development  and J-PAL MENA . This innovative partnership aims to strengthen poverty reduction policies by rigorously evaluating promising government programs.

 In this capacity as the Director of the Egypt Impact Lab, Rizk assumes a leadership role in steering the Lab's strategic initiatives and ensuring the highest standards of research, policy outreach, and capacity building. Her multifaceted responsibilities include providing both strategic and technical oversight, thereby shaping the trajectory of the Lab's growth and impact

Rizk was the  Head of the Modelling and  Social Planning and Development Unit at the  Ministry of Planning and Economic Development. Simultaneously, she holds the position of an Associate Professor of Economics  in University of London at the European Universities in Egypt and in the Master’s Program in Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University. I am also an Invited Researcher at J-PAL Middle East and North Africa at AUC, and a Research Fellow at the Economic Research Forum. My current focus includes conducting an ongoing randomized evaluation of Unpacking Employment Support: Evidence from a Randomized Experiment  with J-PAL MENA and constructing Egypt’s Multidimensional Poverty Index with the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative.

Previously, I was an Associate Professor of Economics at the Universities of Canada in Egypt and the British University in Egypt. I was also a Research Fellow at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota and Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research, University of Michigan. I also served as Senior Economist at the Tahya-Misr Fund. 

Rizk earned her PhD and MA in Economics from Helwan University and focuses her work on establishing sustainable partnerships between universities, government entities, and development practitioners. Her efforts aim to advance policy-driven research and effective planning for development initiatives, with a specific focus on areas such as poverty,  employment, microenterprise development, female empowerment and family development