Our Team

Sam leads the creation of ImpactAI together with a group of AI researchers, data engineers, software and UX developers, and development policy experts. He is also the program lead of DIME AI, a team dedicated to producing research and tools to scale development impact using AI. His research has appeared in leading academic journals (Science, Science Advances, PNAS, JIE) and conferences (ACL, EMNLP, KDD, ICWSM, TEDx) across disciplines, as well as in the popular press (The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, The Washington Post, Axios). He is also a visiting researcher at the NYU Center for Data Science and a fellow at MIT Connection Science.

Abelardo is a research scientist in natural language processing (NLP). He works on advancing technologies related to information extraction and semantic parsing. Abelardo holds a bachelor's degree in Computer Science and a master's degree in Big Data from the Erasmus Mundus program. He pursued his PhD under a Marie Curie Scholarship as part of the European Horizon 2020 project. During his PhD, Abelardo focused on NLP and published his findings in several relevant conferences (ACL, NAACL, LREC, Coling, and AAAI).

Arnault bridges the gap between machine learning research and applications, advocating for its accessibility and environmental considerations. He lectures at Barcelona School of Economics and holds degrees from ENSAE and University of Paris Saclay.

Satvik Garg is an NLP Engineer focused on efficiently extracting and interpreting causal knowledge from development economics to support the development of ImpactAI. Previously, Satvik worked as a Research Assistant in the Department of Neuroscience at the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC), where he designed computer vision-based solutions to analyze 'reach-to-grasp' movements in stroke patients. He holds an MSc in Computer Science from the University of Rochester, New York, with research interests in knowledge graphs, large language models (LLMs), and causal AI.

Manuel Tonneau is an AI Engineer as well as a Ph.D. student in Social Data Science at the University of Oxford. His research aims to develop inclusive AI systems that work across cultures without perpetuating societal harms. Manuel conducted varied projects, from flagging and mitigating hate speech on Nigerian Twitter to measuring gender bias in large language models in Global Majority contexts. Manuel holds master's degrees in Statistics and Economics from ENSAE Paris and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.

Madeline is a User Experience Designer with an interest in civic technology, public goods, and open source. She has applied experience in the life sciences and economic development sector. Her work has involved designing and digitizing complex data management systems with government stakeholders in Kenya and Jordan. Other notable work includes the development of a free and open implementation of Alpha-fold for scientific research in Australia, hosted on Galaxy Australia. She holds a Bachelor of Business (Economics) from the Queensland University of Technology.

With over a decade of professional experience in technology, Jackson currently serves as a Backend Developer with ImpactAI. His expertise spans advanced backend development, with a focus on creating robust and scalable applications. Jackson holds a master's degree in Computer Science with a specialization in IT Security from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. Prior to joining the team, he led notable projects within reputable companies in the private sector, spanning from e-commerce to video streaming. At one notable organization, Jackson played a crucial role in developing essential features for their payment platform. He also helped streamline e-commerce logistics and implemented robust anti-counterfeit measures that saved the company millions of dollars through high-throughput processes.

With a decade of experience in web development engineering, Kushnoor brings cross-domain expertise and technology proficiency, complemented by proven management skills. Throughout her career, she has seamlessly integrated extensive technical prowess with effective team coordination, ensuring successful project delivery. She is enthusiastic about the opportunity to leverage this background to drive impactful projects.

Grace Sekwao is a results-driven software engineer with extensive expertise in frontend and backend development, building micro-services architecture, and utilizing cloud platforms like AWS, Azure & GCP to build various applications. With over eight years of experience, Grace has worked in different industries such as audio and video streaming and the automotive industry to deliver scalable solutions and user-centric interfaces. She thrives in solving complex technical problems. Grace holds a master's degree in Informatics and a bachelor's degree in Computer Science. She is also a certified AWS Solutions Architect and a recipient of the Swedish Institute Scholarship.

Linxi coordinates a team of experts in charge of generating ground truth data for ImpactAI. Before joining the team, Linxi's research experience focused on public health topics, including cancer screening and mental health. Her experiences include study design; designing, implementing, and supervising data collection for national-level surveys; and developing cost-effective analysis models. Linxi holds an MSc in Economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a BSc in Investment Science from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

Aarushi is a data scientist with the Impact AI team. She works at the intersection of innovation and social impact, focusing on how decision-makers can leverage technology to drive efficient and sustainable growth. Previously, she was a pre-doctoral researcher in corporate strategy and innovation at the Indian School of Business. Aarushi holds an MSc in Economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science and a bachelor’s degree in Economics from SRCC, University of Delhi.

With a master’s in Econometrics (TSE, 2021), Clémence’s interest lies in program evaluation, particularly in socioeconomic dynamics. Some of her past research has been on patterns of food consumption through econometric models, estimating the effect of income and education in Guadeloupe and mainland France. Her experience at France Assureurs sharpened her analytical skills, where she conducted surveys and studies on sustainable finance, insurer investments, and branch workforce dynamics. Additionally, her work for an education NGO in New Delhi provided invaluable perspectives, shaping her understanding of socioeconomic development dynamics.

Ejigayehu is an econometrician with a Master of Science in Applied Economics from the University of Maryland, where she focused on topics in time series analysis, program analysis & evaluation, and development economics. Her research applies advanced statistical methods to identify opportunities for addressing key economic issues, including environmental impacts in vulnerable communities and development challenges, in diverse settings. Multilingual in Amharic, French, and Italian, her transnational background enriches her analytical perspective, supporting nuanced, data-driven insights. In her free time, she dedicates herself to making music and applying her skills to community-driven development projects.

Having engaged with development institutes including the Development Impact Group (DIME) at the World Bank, the Korean Development Institute (KDI), and the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE), Saquib is interested in public policy that answers how the livelihoods of vulnerable populations can be improved. His research interests include economic development, terrorism, education, e-governance, migration, and machine learning. His research focuses on the impact evaluation of socioeconomic programs using big data. He utilizes applied econometrics and artificial intelligence models to establish causal relationships and answer important economic and research questions.

Rida is a graduate of Public Policy at the Korean Development Institute (KDI), a distinguished think tank in South Korea. She also served as a consultant within the institute. Before joining KDI School, she completed research on the impact of the national laptop scheme on graduates' performance in the job market using regression discontinuity. With a background in public administration during her undergraduate studies and a master's degree in Management Sciences, her career endeavors are focused on research and academia in development economics. Rida’s professional interests are primarily centered on the rigorous evaluation of environmental and social programs and the analytical methodologies deployed for assessing their outcomes.

Harshali is a Data Scientist with the ImpactAI team. Prior to this, she worked with Professor George Loewenstein at Carnegie Mellon University. She holds a bachelor's degree from King’s College London. 

Nihaa is a Development Policy Expert with the ImpactAI team, focusing on systematic review annotation and curation to serve as a database for the product. During the summer of 2023, she interned with the same team and since has been interested in leveraging technology and AI for the development sector. She holds a master's in Business Analytics from George Washington University and has previously worked as an analyst for multiple startups.

Philipp is a data scientist and policy analyst, specializing in machine learning and natural language processing applications for research on conflicts, hate speech, misinformation, and food insecurity. Before joining the team, Philipp was a graduate researcher in computational social science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Previously, he supported the UN Executive Office of the Secretary-General in implementing the UN’s Data Strategy and establishing CRAF’d. Philipp holds an SM in Computer Science and an SM in Technology and Policy, both from MIT.

Sharif supports the growth strategy of ImpactAI through project and partnership management, leveraging his former experience as a management consultant and chief of staff. Sharif also researches the heterogeneity of AI bias in the Majority World and subsequent ramifications for equitable development. On that topic, he has led a project for the UNDP Accelerator Labs Network to design a public participation framework on AI. Sharif holds a Public Policy master’s degree from Columbia University where he was a Fulbright scholar and research assistant in machine learning. He also holds a first-class honors bachelor's degree from the London School of Economics.

Dami leads communications and branding strategies for ImpactAI. Experienced in mixed-methods research, consumer behavior, business strategy, and data analysis, she formerly directed social impact and public policy research on behalf of commercial brands, national foundations, local governments, and universities. Dami is passionate about driving social and economic change through international development, behavioral science, and technology. She holds an MA in Public Policy from the University of Chicago as well as a BA in International Studies and a BS in Economics (Wharton) from the University of Pennsylvania.