Randy Kotti

Randy Kotti is a second-year MPA/ID student at Harvard Kennedy School.

He joined the Growth Lab as a Visiting Scholar in partnership with the Escuela de la Producción y la Competitividad (ePC) de la Universidad Católica Boliviana to work on a growth diagnostic exploring the main constraints and potential avenues for development in Bolivia. His focus is on macroeconomic stability and the political economy of industrial development. After his studies, he will be joining the French Ministry for the Economy and Finance as an economic advisor.

Keshav Choudhary

Keshav is a second-year MPA/ID student at Harvard Kennedy School.

He joined HKS after 7 years as a civil servant in India’s Ministry of Finance where he worked in tax policy and tax administration. At the Growth Lab, Keshav is working with Ethiopia’s Ministry of Finance to identify strategies for boosting tax revenues and create a framework for reforming state owned enterprises – components of Ethiopia’s Homegrown Economic Reform initiative.

Aziz Ben Baz

Aziz is an MPAID/MBA dual degree candidate in the Harvard Kennedy School and MIT Sloan School of Management.

Before pursuing graduate studies, Aziz was an associate advisor at the Ministry of Economy & Planning in Saudi Arabia, working on industrial, fiscal and domestic energy policies. Prior to the public sector, he worked in the national oil company, Aramco, in supply chain, energy economics and sales. Aziz holds a B.Sc. in Industrial & Systems Engineering.

Lucy Luo

Lucy is a second-year MPA/ID student at Harvard Kennedy School.

At the Growth Lab, she is working with the National Bank of Ethiopia on monetary policy research and central bank communications. Prior to HKS, Lucy spent a few years doing macro and credit research at Bank of America, and worked at the African Leadership Academy in South Africa. She has a BA in Mathematics and Government and Legal Studies from Bowdoin College. She is a native of Hunan, China.

Keita Takemura

Keita Takemura is second-year MPA/ID student at Harvard Kennedy School.

As an intern at the Growth Lab, he is working with the National Bank of Ethiopia on the possible effect of the future capital control loosening. Before enrollment to HKS, he was working as an economist at the Bank of Japan (BOJ) for four years. Keita served as a core member of the team conducting conjunctural analysis on the Japanese economy and contributed to the BOJ’s economic assessments and forecasts. He has a BA in Economics at the University of Tokyo.

Julie Ma

Julie is a student at Wellesley College working towards a degree in economics. At the Growth Lab, Julie is analyzing female unemployment as part of the Saudi Arabia project. Julie has written market reviews and analyses for Julex Capital and she has researched the effect of the 2008 Medicare expansion on mental health for elderly people as part of her studies at Wellesley College. 

Rohit Subramanian

Rohit Subramanian is a second-year MPA/ID student at Harvard Kennedy School.

Prior to coming to HKS, Rohit spent 5 years as an investor in Africa and South Asia for CDC Group, the UK’s development finance institution. Rohit is spending his summer working with Ethiopia’s Ministry of Finance on fiscal reforms targeted at state-owned enterprises (SoEs). 

Soulange Gramegna

Soulange is a second-year MPA/ID student at Harvard Kennedy School.

She holds a degree in Economics from Universidad de Piura (Lima, Peru) and has seven years of experience working in consulting and development in Peru and across Latin America. She is part of the Growth Lab team working with the Government of Namibia and her internship has focused on informing the country’s diversification strategy.

Alejandro Rueda-Sanz

Alejandro Rueda-Sanz is a second-year MPA/ID student at Harvard Kennedy School from Colombia and Canada.

Before joining HKS, Alejandro led Bancóldex’s (Colombia’s Public Development Bank for Businesses) first impact measurement strategy. Also, he worked in institutions such as the Colombian Central  Bank and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. Alejandro joined the Growth Lab as a Summer Fellow in June 2021 to collaborate in starting a project on the growth strategy, complexity and sustainability of three departments of the Colombian Amazon: Caquetá, Guaviare and Putumayo.

Sebastian Peña

Sebastian Peña Laris is a second-year MPA/ID student at Harvard Kennedy School. He received a B.A. in Economics and Law from Instituto Tecnologico de Monterrey. Sebastian has worked in the World Bank as consultant in the Digital Development Global Practice and as Deputy Director in the Mexican Tax Administration Service. He is currently working in the Growth Lab Jordan project helping on the Public Wage Bill study; intended to understand the composition and evolution of spending and recommend better practices for it to be sustainable.