CID Speaker Series (original) (raw)

CID Speaker Series

Throughout the academic year, CID hosts the flagship CID Speaker Series, where academics and practitioners representing a wide range of international development perspectives speak on current development issues, their organization’s recent work, and/or their own work experience. The talk is followed by a Q&A session with the audience predominantly composed of Harvard students, although all are welcome.

Road to GEM Series

During the spring semester, many Speaker Series events focus on the theme of the annual Global Empowerment Meeting (GEM), CID's annual conference that identifies major issues and ideas that could revolutionize development paradigms.

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Registration will open soon for CID's Speaker Series! This page will be updated as we confirm events for Fall 2024. For schedule updates, subscribe to CID's Weekly Events Email.

Note: During the 2024-2025 academic year, we plan to hold both in-person, hybrid, and virtual-only events. Our in-person events at the Harvard Kennedy School are open to Harvard ID holders only and will operate on a hybrid model for the general public.

Past CID Speakers Series Events

Date Speaker Talk Title
February 2, 2024 Juan Sebastian Chamorro Garcia, Hewlett Visiting Fellow for Public Policy at the Kellogg Institute for International Studies at Notre Dame Hope Amid Horror: A Story of Struggle for Freedom and Democracy in NicaraguaClick here for event details
March 1, 2024 Jackson Kaguri, founder and CEO of Nyaka Inc. and 2023 Harvard Advanced Leadership Initiative Fellow Bottom-Up Approaches in International Development: The Case of Nyaka in UgandaClick here for event details
March 22, 2024 Nancy Birdsall​, founding president and current senior fellow at the Center for Global Development Title TBCClick here for event details

Date Speaker Talk Title
September 13, 2023 Ambassador Chantale Wong​, U.S. Executive Director to the Asian Development Bank Opportunities and Challenges of MDB Development Financing in AsiaClick here to view the event recording
September 22, 2023 Reshmaan N. Hussam, Assistant Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School The Household at Work: Evidence from a Refugee CampClick here to view the event recording
October 6, 2023 Marjorie Michel​, Deputy Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister of Canada Canada's Feminist Foreign Policy and International Development PrioritiesClick here to view the event recording
October 20, 2023 Mandeep Tiwana​, Chief Programmes Officer – Evidence and Engagement at CIVICUS The State of Civil Society and Civic Freedoms GloballyClick here to view the event recording
October 27, 2023 Kyle Cahill, Senior Director, Environmental Sustainability Disclosure and Engagement Lead, Takeda PharmaceuticalsSneha Shah, Senior Manager, Human Rights & Technology at Amazon Bringing the Corporate "E" and "S" together in ESG to Advance Global DevelopmentClick here to view the event recording
November 17, 2023 Bintu Zahara Sakor, a Visiting Scholar at Harvard and Doctoral Researcher with the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) A Generational Clash? Youth Demography and Political Instability in West Africa and the SahelClick here to view the event recording

Date Speaker Talk Title
February 3, 2023 Mara Bolis, Mara Bolis, Advisor at Value for Women. Mara is a seasoned leader with 25 years of experience in development finance, economics, business and policy advocacy dedicated to advancing women’s equality at home and around the world. The Dangerous Story of Women and Data: How the Development Community Fails with a "Male Unless Otherwise Indicated" ApproachClick here to view the event recording
February 10, 2023 Joseph Asunka, PhD, CEO at Afrobarometer; 'Road to GEM23' Climate change in Africa: Exploring citizen experiences and perspectivesClick here to view the event recordingClick here to listen to the podcast
February 17, 2023 Ishac Diwan, Director of Research at Finance for Development, Paris School of Economics; CID Visiting Scholar What Makes the Looming Debt Crisis for Developing Countries DifferentClick here to view the event recording
March 3, 2023 Valeria Saggiomo, Lecturer in International Cooperation for Development at University of Naples; CID Visiting Scholar Why do some development projects fail, and others succeed? The importance of “sentiment” in aid effectivenessClick here to view the event recording
March 31, 2023 Rolla Moumne, Right to Education Programme Specialist and Lead at UNESCO; 'Road to GEM23' Mitigating the impacts of climate change on the right to educationClick here to view the event recording
April 7, 2023 Ana Fernanda Hierro Barba, Technical Secretary at Consejo Nuevo León A Cross-Sectoral Approach to Policymaking: how the Consejo Nuevo Leon model works to support sustainable developmentClick here to view the event recording
April 14, 2023 Isabel Saint Malo, Senior Policy Adviser to the Administrator of the United Nations Development Program; Former Vice President of Panama; 'Road to GEM23' Towards Global Sustainability Disclosure StandardsRegister here to attend virtually
April 28, 2023 Susan Kenniston, Global Head & Vice President of Sustainability at Wipro; 'Road to GEM23' Register here to attend in-person or virtually

Date Speaker Talk Title
September 16, 2022 Alicia Ely Yamin, Lecturer on Law and the Senior Fellow on Global Health and Rights at the Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics at Harvard Law School; Adjunct Senior Lecturer on Health Policy and Management at the Harvard School of Public Health; and Senior Advisor on Human Rights and Health Policy at Partners In Health Health, Human Rights and Global Development: Lessons from the PandemicWatch the recording
September 23, 2022 Karim Sarhan, Fellow at Harvard's Center for International Development; Partner at Sharkawy & Sarhan Law Firm Bringing Development Strategy Back In: New Insights from China, South Korea, and SingaporeWatch the recordingListen to the podcast
October 7, 2022 Séverine Autesserre, Author; Professor and Chair of Political Science at Barnard College, Columbia University The Frontlines of Peace: An Insider’s Guide to Changing the WorldWatch the recordingListen to the podcast
October 21, 2022 Milind Tambe, Principal Scientist and Director of "AI for Social Good"; Professor ofComputer Science; Director of Center for Research in Computation and Society at Harvard University AI for social impact: Results from deployments for public health and conservationWatch the recording
November 4, 2022 Bridget Snell, Senior Managing Director, Collaboration and Knowledge at Save the Children US Transforming & Finding Equity in Knowledge Management for the International Development SectorWatch the recording
November 18, 2022 Aleem Walji, Senior Advisor - Strategy, Innovation and Partnerships at the Institute for Capacity Development, International Monetary Fund Bridging Digital Divides: Technology as a Force for InclusionWatch the recordingListen to the Podcast
December 2, 2022 Muthoni Muriu, Senior Adviser, Diversity, Inclusion and Shared Leadership at UN Women The Role of Gender & Inclusion in Development ProgrammingWatch the recording

Date Speaker Talk Title
February 4, 2022 Meagan Dooley, Global Program Officer at Tetra TechGeorge Ingram, Senior Fellow - Global Economy and Development, Center for Sustainable Development at Brookings Digital government: Foundations for global development and democracyWatch the recordingListen to the podcast interview
February 11, 2022 Jacqueline Klopp, Co-director of the Center for Sustainable Urban Development and a Research Scholar at Columbia University Climate Change, Digital Data Commons and the Politics of Urban Transport in African CitiesWatch the recordingListen to the podcast interview
February 25, 2022 Debbie Aung Din, Co-Founder of Proximity Designs Can Social Enterprises Fill the Market and Public Sector Gaps in Tough Places?Watch the recordingListen to the podcast interview
March 11, 2022 Satchit Balsari, Assistant Professor in emergency medicine at Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Caroline Buckee, Professor of Epidemiology at Harvard School of Public Health Data in Crisis - Rethinking Disaster Preparedness in the United States
March 25, 2022 at 11am ET Jaya Wen, Assistant Professor: Business, Government, and the International Economy Unit at Harvard Business School Doing Research at the Intersection of Development Economics and Political Economy Watch the recording
April 8, 2022 Robert Lawrence, Albert L. Williams Professor of International Trade and Investment at John F. Kennedy School of Government Behind the Curve: Can manufacturing still provide inclusive growth?Watch the recordingListen to the podcast interview
April 22, 2022 Arsalan Mahtafar, Executive Director at JP Morgan’s Development Finance Institution Mobilizing Capital Markets Towards Sustainable Development Watch the recording

Date Speaker Talk Title
September 17, 2021 Philippe Aghion, Professor at College de France, at INSEAD, and at the London School of Economics Rethinking Capitalism Post-Covid: The Power of Creative DestructionWatch the event recording Listen to the podcast interview
October 1, 2021 Dianne Calvi, President and CEO, Village Enterprise Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Evidence to Drive Poverty AlleviationWatch the event recordingListen to the podcast interview
October 15, 2021 Andrew Stern, Founder and CEO, Global Development IncubatorModerated by Brian Trelstad, Harvard Business School Creating Impact at a Global Scale for DevelopmentWatch the event recordingListen to the podcast interview
October 29, 2021Co-sponsored by the Women and Public Policy Program (WAPPP) at the Harvard Kennedy School Latanya Mapp Frett, President, Global Fund for Women Why Feminist Funding is Crucial for DevelopmentWatch the event recordingListen to the podcast interview
November 12, 2021 Seema Jayachandran, Economist & Professor of Economics, Northwestern University Social Norms as a Barrier to Women's Employment in Developing CountriesWatch the event recording
December 3, 2021 Sharmi Surianarain, Chief Impact Officer, Harambee Youth Employment AcceleratorKate Orkin, Faculty Member in Economics and Public Policy at the Blavatnik School of Government at the University of OxfordModerated by Eliana Carranza, Senior WorldBank Economist and Harvard Kennedy School Professor Inclusive Employment for South African Youth: Lessons from HarambeeWatch the event recordingListen to the podcast interview
December 10, 2021 Mariaflavia Harari, Assistant Professor of Real Estate, The Wharton School at the University of PennsylvaniaModerated by Gordon Hanson, Peter Wertheim Professor in Urban Policy at Harvard Kennedy School Cities and Slums Through Spatial DataWatch the event recording

Date Speaker Talk Title
January 29, 2021 Michael Clemens & Thomas Ginn, Center for Global Development Global Mobility & the Threat of Pandemics: Evidence from Three CenturiesWatch the event recordingListen to the podcast interview
February 12, 2021 Philippe Le Houérou, former CEO, International Finance Corporation (IFC)Moderated by Shawn Cole, Professor, Harvard Business School Transformation of the International Finance CorporationWatch the event recordingListen to the podcast interview
February 26, 2021 Shawn Baker, Chief Nutritionist, US Agency for International Development (USAID) COVID-19 and Nutrition: Crisis and OpportunityWatch the event recordingListen to the podcast interview
March 12, 2021 Alix Peterson Zwane, CEO Global Innovation Fund The Honesty Agenda: Effective Assistance, Women's Empowerment, and the SDGs in a Post-COVID WorldWatch the event recordingListen to the podcast interview
March 26, 2021 Sarah Rose & Erin Collinson, Center for Global Development (CGD)Asim I. Khwaja & Dani Rodrik, Center for International Development (CID), Harvard Kennedy SchoolModerated by Rema Hanna, Professor, Harvard Kennedy School Panel Discussion: Establishing USAID as a Leader in Evidence-Based Foreign AidWatch the event recordingListen to the podcast interview
April 9, 2021 Priyadarshani Joshi, Senior Project Officer (Research), UNESCO Global Education Monitoring Report The Effects of COVID-19 on Education Systems: Insights from the Global Education Monitoring ReportWatch the event recordingListen to the podcast interview
April 23, 2021 Tara Vishwanath, Nadini Krishnan, Paul Andres Corral Rodas, and Daniel Gerszon Mahler, World Bank, Poverty & Equity Global Practice Fragility & Conflict: On the Front Lines of the Fight against PovertyWatch the event recordingListen to the podcast interview
April 30, 2021 Kate Raworth, Economist & Co-Founder of the Doughnut Economics Action Lab When the Doughnut Meets the City: Can We Create Regenerative and Distributive Local Economies?Watch the event recordingListen to the podcast interview

Date Speaker Talk Title
September 11, 2020 Neil Levine, Former Director of USAID's Center of Excellence from Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance Building the Development Professional for the 21st CenturyWatch event recording
September 18, 2020 Amanda Beatty, Senior Researcher, Mathmatica Combining Community-Driven Development with Nutrition and Sanitation Training to Reduce StuntingWatch event recording
September 21-25, 2020 GEM Week - No Speaker Series Event Watch event recordings
October 2, 2020 Ananish Chaudhuri, Professor of Experimental Economics at the University of Auckland The Dual Evolutionary Foundations for Political IdealogyWatch event recording
October 9, 2020 Georgy Gray Molina, Chief Economist at UNDP A Temporary Basic Income for Developing CountriesWatch event recording Listen to the podcast interview
October 16, 2020 Michele Ruta, Lead Economist of the Macroeconomics, Trade & Investment Global Practice of the World Bank Group Belt & Road Economics: Opportunities & Risks of Transport CorridorsWatch event recording
October 23, 2020 Neil Gregory, IFC Chief Thought Leadership OfficerModerated by Shawn Cole, Harvard Business School Professor & CID Affiliate Bringing Credibility, Discipline & Transparency to Impact InvestingWatch event recording Listen to the podcast interview
October 30 & November 6, 2020 No Speaker Series Events
November 13, 2020 Asim I. Khwaja, Director of the Center for International Development A Proposal for a Data-Responsive & Graded Approach to COVID-19Watch event recording Listen to the podcast interview
November 20, 2020 Jenny Perlman & Molly Curtiss, Center for Universal Education, Brookings Institution The Millions Learning Project: Scaling Quality Education to Children & YouthWatch event recording Listen to the podcast interview
November 27, 2020 No Speaker Series - Thanksgiving Break
December 4, 2020 Carolina Sanchez-Paramo, Global Director, Poverty & Equity Global Practice, World Bank Emerging Evidence on Socio-Economic Impacts of COVID-19 on HouseholdsWatch event recording Listen to the podcast interview

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