Ezequiel Molina is a Senior Economist in the Global Practice for Education in Latin America at the World Bank, where he serves as the regional focal point for Teachers and Educational Technology (EdTech). He pioneered two flagship World Bank programs: Teach, a classroom observation tool designed to help countries track and improve teaching quality in primary, early childhood, and secondary education settings. He also spearheaded Coach, the World Bank's global initiative that helps countries improve in-service teacher professional development systems to accelerate learning. As an AI Champion, he guides World Bank staff in integrating artificial intelligence tools into their work and leads pilots exploring AI applications in education.
At the intersection of research and practice, his work addresses critical challenges in global education. His publications in the Journal of Economic Perspectives and other leading journals examine teacher effectiveness and education service delivery in low- and middle-income countries. Through field research spanning Africa, East Asia, Latin America, and South Asia, he has contributed to advancing measurement tools and evidence-based approaches in education, with recent innovations being tested in Chile and Peru.
Before his current role, he served as a Senior Economist in the Global Knowledge and Innovation Unit at the Education Global Practice and as a Global Lead for the World Bank's Teachers Thematic Group. His earlier work in the Africa HD Economic Unit, Poverty GP, and Governance GP culminated in significant contributions to the World Development Report 2017 on Governance and the Law, shaping policy discourse on institutional reform and development.
Throughout his career, Ezequiel has combined rigorous academic research with practical policy implementation. His work on Teach and Coach has been particularly influential in helping countries shift toward evidence-based teacher professional development systems that incorporate insights from adult learning and behavioral science. He holds a Ph.D. in Political Economy from Princeton University and both a B.A. and M.A. in Economics from La Plata National University in Argentina.