Our Team

Gero Carletto is leading the establishment of the World Bank Group Institute for Economic Development. He holds a Ph.D. in Agricultural and Resource Economics from the University of California at Berkeley.  Full Bio

Nonatzin Canche leads the communications activities of the Institute and supports engagements with partners and stakeholders. She holds a Master's in Digital Communications and Journalism from Carlos III University and the Autonomous University of Barcelona; a Bachelor's degree in Public Relations from John Brown University; and a certificate in Digital Marketing from George Washington University. 

Maria Chiara De Sando supports senior management and capacity development activities of the Institute. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree and a Master’s Degree in International Relations from the University of Bologna, Italy. 

Daniel Alejandro Pinzón Hernández focuses on analyzing the user experience with the Institute's programs. He holds an M.Sc. in Economics from Universidad de Los Andes, Colombia.

Emily Kallaur contributes to the Institute’s communications efforts, and supports capacity building programs for data analysis. Emily holds an M.S. in Foreign Service from Georgetown University and a B.S. in Commerce from the University of Virginia.  

Ravi Kumar focuses on the Institute’s engagement and capacity building work, designing and delivering courses for policymakers and researchers. He holds a Master’s degree from Columbia University and a Bachelor’s degree with honors from Buena Vista University. Full bio.

Lizette Romo provides comprehensive support to the Institute's manager and task teams, including coordinating outreach with key individuals, organizations, donors and partners. She holds an M.Sc. in International Political Economy from The London School of Economics and a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations from El Colegio de México.

Francesca Spagnoli coordinates the creation and implementation of the Institute's capacity building and training initiatives. She holds a Ph.D. in Economics, Innovation Management; an M.Sc. in Media and Communications at the University of Rome La Sapienza; and a Certificate on AI from MIT. 

Sebastian Stolorz advises senior management in the efforts to establish the Institute, ensuring its strategic alignment with corporate objectives, managing partnerships with leading global research institutions and think tanks, and leading curation of research projects to inform policy solutions worldwide. He holds a Ph.D. from George Mason University, specializing in monetary policy, and an M.A. from the Warsaw School of Economics in Econometrics.

Renos Vakis serves as an advisor on strategy and operations for the Institute. He also leads the Institute’s impact analytics and AI integration where his efforts are focused on enhancing the effectiveness of knowledge diffusion. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley. He brings these perspectives, as well as his skills in magic and music, to making the Institute's programming user-friendly and accessible. 

Diego Vapore supports the Institute on branding, visuals, and strategic communications. He holds a Master’s degree in Strategic Brand Communication from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a Bachelor’s degree in Graphic Design from the University of Buenos Aires. He has extensive experience working on topics related to development for international organizations such as the World Bank, IDB, OAS, UNICEF, and IFRC, as well as the private and public sectors.

Jessie Xu strategizes engagements with internal and external partners and supports the delivery of capacity building trainings and events. She is a Schwarzman Scholar from the 2023 cohort, with a Master’s in Global Affairs from Tsinghua University and a B.A. from Duke University in Public Policy.