Uniting
Research and Policy

Gonzalo Pons, MPP'19, is serves as both a senior development specialist in the Social Sustainability and Inclusion Global Practice and as an environmental economist in the Environment, Natural Resources and Blue Economy Global Practice in the World Bank.

While at Harris Public Policy, in addition to beginning his current work with the World Bank, Pons worked as a research assistant for Professor Austin Wright, contributing to a project on corruption and poppy eradication in Afghanistan. In the summer of 2018, he completed an internship with the University of Chicago–Consortium for School Research.

Prior to his time at the University of Chicago, Pons worked as a research associate with the Peru office of Innovations for Poverty Action, co-managing the impact evaluation of a program sponsored by the Peruvian Ministry of Education and the World Bank. He also participated in several activities to promote evidence-based policy in the Peruvian government, including supporting the initial projects of MineduLAB, a unit within the Ministry of Education that develops and evaluates low-cost interventions. Additionally, Pons worked as a research fellow and data analyst at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government’s Student Social Support R&D Lab. In this position, he managed the data and quantitative analyses of multiple randomized field experiments that apply behavioral science to educational settings.

Pons holds an undergraduate degree in social psychology from Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, where he co-founded the nonprofit organization, Comunidad de Apoyo a los Pueblos Amazónicos Perú (CAPA Perú) that works in three rural communities located around the Orosa River to promote sustainable development projects.