We are a network of experienced development professionals who all take a political economy perspective to development. Our Directors, Principals and Associates have specialist knowledge of particular countries and sectors. They have strong connections to government, the private sector, civil society, media and research organisations. They bring to bear their own long working experience within official agencies, academia and the private sector.
Alex Scoines
Alex is the Policy Practice's Director of Operation, with over 15 years of experience in programme management.
Neil McCulloch
Political economy of fuel subsidy and power sector reforms; structural transformation, investment climate and growth; politically smart aid programmes.
Laure-Hélène Piron
Governance; political development; rule of law; human rights; conflict and fragility. Political economy analysis; adaptive management; institutional development. Policy and strategy; programme design, review and evaluation.
Gareth Williams
Political economy analysis and adaptive management; governance and civil society development; public financial management; health and education; agriculture and rural development; private sector development.
Samantha Wade
Experienced facilitator of group planning/strategic processes, workshops and conferences; coordinator of The Policy Practice political economy analysis trainings.
William Kingsmill
Development policy and strategy; policy making; political economy analysis; anti-corruption; accountability, transparency and participation; growth and private sector development; public administration; the resource curse; small island economies.
Jonathan Kydd
Rural and agricultural development; new institutional economics; education.
Alex Duncan
Public policy and institutional analyses; political economy of development; governance; economic growth; strengthening the private sector and markets; agriculture and rural development.
Andrew Barnett
Energy policy and technology and innovation policy in the public, private and NGO sectors from the perspective of political economy and instutional analyses. Aid programme review and lesson learning.
Anna Paterson
Policy and operational research and analysis; evidence review and evaluation with a focus on governance, peace building, health, and humanitarian assistance.
Sarah Vaughan
Political economy of Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa: institutions of rural development and economic change; federalism, nationalism and regional geopolitics; fragility, rule of law, conflict, gender and power.
Niki Palmer
Governance and political economy analysis; natural resource governance and climate change; migration and refugees; crisis, conflict and resilience.
Simon Brook
Governance; citizen engagement; gender & social inclusion; political economy analysis.
Sam Bickersteth
Climate policy and its implementation at national and international levels.
Ben French
Governance; political economy analysis; organisational change; public sector reform.
Sunny Kulutuye
Governance; political economy analysis; project monitoring and evaluation; policy planning and strategy; voice and accountability; agriculture and rural livelihoods; micro-credit and enterprise development; community mobilization and capacity building for local NGOs; Nigeria.
Olly Owen
Governance and development; political economy analysis; ethnographic and fieldwork-based research; governmental institutions; policy analysis and forecasting; policing; state-public relations.
Alina Rocha Menocal
Political economy analysis and thinking and working politically; the politics of reform and what this means for international engagement; conflict and fragilty; political settlements; inclusion; anti-corruption; democratisation.
Clare Cummings
Cultural political economy; public service delivery; politically-smart, locally-led development programming.
Astrid Haas
Economic development; urban development; public financial management.
Tobechukwu Nneli
Governance; political economy analysis; qualitative data analysis; policy communication; project management; Nigeria.
Suwaiba Said Ahmad
Education; gender studies; political economy analysis; Nigeria.
Deborah Bryceson
Political economy; livelihoods, mobility and settlement; agrarian change; gender; interaction between social and economic dynamics in rural and urban settings.
Mashekwa Maboshe
Fiscal policy research; economic modeling; energy sector; Southern Africa.
James Keeley
agricultural research, development and innovation; climate resilient food systems; UK engagement with China; China and international development
Richard Barltrop
Conflict resolution, mediation and peacebuilding; humanitarian relief, development and resilience in conflict–peace transition; politics, economy and governance; security sector; Middle East, North Africa, the Horn of Africa and the Sahel.
Susie Alegre
Human rights and the rule of law; legal frameworks for counter-terrorism; criminal justice capacity building and international cooperation; civil society; transposition of international legal frameworks.
Andrii Biletskyi
Governance; accountability, transparency and participation; civil society sector; criminology; criminal justice; anti-corruption; corruption in forestry sector; whistleblowers protection; corruption risk assessment; Ukraine.
Geof Wood
Sociologist. Governance and livelihoods specialist. Regional focus on South Asia.
Sarah Logan
Economic development; economic policy reform; private sector development; fragile states.
Nicola Dahrendorf
Post-conflict environments; human rights; sexual and gender based violence; rule of law; security sector reform; humanitarian assistance.
Simon Bawakyillenuo
Energy policy and governance; energy, health and the environment; renewable energy and just energy transition; climate change; environmental policy and governance; green economy; and the political economy of energy transition; Ghana.
Richard Holloway
Institution building in the civil society sector; social accountability; corporate social responsibility; anti-corruption.
Mundher Mubarak
Political economy; fiscal decentralisation; policy reforms; democratisation; peacebuilding; Yemen.
Sam Gibson
Social development; gender; social inclusion; training and facilitation; policy, strategy, programme design, review and evaluation.
María Elena Martínez Murillo
Agriculture; sustainable rural development; value chains; innovation networks; climate smart practices; conservation; stakeholder engagement; Latin America.
Mohamed Farah Hersi
Peacebuilding and state building; democratisation; local governance; conflict resolution; policy management; Horn of Africa.
Theodore Trefon
Environmental governance; political economy analysis of natural resources; state-society relations; social science research methods, urban sociology and aid delivery analysis; focus on Central Africa and Democratic Republic of Congo.
Georgia Plank
Governance, security & justice; gender equality and inclusion; and social protection. Policy development, programme design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation, and research.
Steve Fraser
Inclusive governance of public finance management, social accountability, applied political economy & ecology, Nigeria; locally led, politically smart, adaptive development programme design, management and delivery
Bev Jones
High level facilitator and team leader. Citizen engagement and social accountability; gender equality and social inclusion, civil society strengthening; social development governance; monitoring, evaluation and learning.
Sa'eed Husaini
Political economy analysis; democratisation; institutional reform; Nigeria.
Nisar Majid
Food security and livelihoods; political economy analysis; diaspora and transnational studies; cash-based programming; organisational reviews and evaluations; Somali peoples and Horn of Africa.
Adérito Soares
Facilitator, negotiator and strategic planner in complex political and social environments. Governance, anti-corruption and human rights; Timor-Leste.