CHRISTOPHER PABLO is Senior Urban Specialist and Team Lead of TDLC. Before joining TDLC, he was based in Jerusalem, leading the urban program in West Bank and Gaza. Chris has years of experience in the Bank in lending and analytical work spanning municipal finance, city development strategies, metropolitan planning, slum upgrading, local economic development, urban transport, tourism, and resilience. Before his West Bank and Gaza assignment, he was in Dhaka, Bangladesh, leading the work on municipal infrastructure and governance improvements and non-lending technical assistance on local service delivery. Prior to his South Asia Region assignment, Chris was in the Manila office leading municipal finance operations, urban transport, and slum upgrading projects. Before joining the Bank, Chris worked in the Philippines National Economic Planning Agency. He holds a Master’s degree in Public Policy and a Bachelor’s degree in Economics.
HARUKA MIKI is an Operations Officer for the World Bank TDLC in the Urban, Resilience and Land Global Practice. Her core areas of works include the operational support, the design and the documentation of case studies, and partnerships. Haruka works on projects across the regions, with elaborative exposure in fragile and conflict-affected situations (FCS) in AFR and francophone countries. Prior, Haruka served as the core member for deliveries of Technical Deep Dives, and have been active in bringing Japanese lenses into the GPURL works such as What a Waste 2.0, Competitive Cities Case Studies, Cities, Culture, Creativity and Startup Ecosystem analysis for Innovative Districts. Before joining the World Bank, Haruka worked at the Morgan Stanley, and Institute for Global Environmental Strategies in Japan, working toward more sustainable, resilient, competitive and inclusive urban development. Haruka holds dual MPA in Public Policy & Administration from LSE and Sciences-Po Paris, and a B.Sc in Social Sciences from Hitotsubashi University.
SHOKO TAWARA is a Program Officer at the World Bank Tokyo Development Learning Center (TDLC). Her core areas of engagement include the design, development, and implementation of knowledge activities and partnerships. Prior to joining TDLC, Shoko was Assistant Manager in project management at an international consultancy firm, where she oversaw budget/contract management and resource mobilization for large-scale infrastructure projects. Her project portfolio includes consultancy for design and construction supervision projects in rail, bridge, and shipbuilding in India and the Philippines. She also was a Sales Consultant for a SaaS company providing media and brand monitoring solutions to public relations and marketing executives in Japan and Korea. Shoko has a BA in political science from Northwestern University and an MA in international affairs from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS).
SHIN TANABE co-leads TDLC’s Technical Deep Dives and City Partnership Program, supporting the design, development, and implementation of Technical Deep Dives and other international knowledge exchange programs. Before joining the Bank, Shin worked with a Japanese nonprofit organization offering human resource development in developing countries; a global recruitment firm; and a private university in Japan, focusing on global talent acquisition and development. He has also developed a variety of knowledge exchange programs in collaboration with local and international stakeholders. Shin holds an MA in political science from the University of Toronto and BAs in political science from Amherst College in Massachusetts and International Christian University in Tokyo. He is a certified Instructional Designer.
JAMES LEE co-leads TDLC’s Technical Deep Dives, supporting the design and delivery of Technical Deep Dives and other international knowledge exchange programs with a thematic focus on disruptive technologies and smart city development. Previously, James worked as investment analyst at an emerging markets asset management firm, where he extensively covered energy, industrial, and technology companies. He holds a M.S in Foreign Service from Georgetown University and B.A in International Development from the George Washington University.
VIBHU JAIN co-leads the Publications component of TDLC and contributes to flagship global publications of the World Bank. An urban planner, she joined the Bank in 2012 as part of the urban development team in the New Delhi office. Before joining the Bank, Vibhu worked with PricewaterhouseCoopers Ltd. and Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu. She has extensive experience in various aspects of urban development, including public policies, infrastructure and service delivery, institutional frameworks, and capacity building. A core member of the team delivering analytical works on many frontier topics, Vibhu holds a bachelor’s degree in physical planning from the School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi, and a master’s degree in urban regional planning and public policy from CEPT University, Ahmedabad.
IAIN MITCHELL is our Senior Knowledge Management Assistant. He joined TDLC in 2004, supporting multimedia operations for a range of World Bank Group events including seminars, government roundtable meetings, and Technical Deep Dives. In 2015, he was assigned as project lead and architect for the redesign of TDLC’s control room and conference room infrastructure. In his current position, Iain is responsible for technical operations and facility maintenance. Prior to joining the Bank, Iain worked in live television news operations for CNBC Financial Television in London and for Reuters Financial Television and Bloomberg Financial Television in Tokyo. Leveraging his experience working with multimedia, he also films and edits video content for TDLC.
ASAMI OTSUKA is TDLC’s Program Assistant. She interfaces and communicates with individuals at all levels of the organization, managing general affairs (office administration, finance, human resources), coordinating operational support, and assisting the Program Manager. Prior to joining the World Bank, Asami gained experience in both the private sector and in international diplomatic organizations as an executive assistant at Edenred Japan, a major employee benefit service provider, and at the Honduran Embassy in Tokyo. Having lived for 15 years in Latin America, Asami is proficient in Spanish as well as Japanese and English. She holds a BA in English literature from Aoyama Gakuin University in Tokyo.
