Welcome! I am a PhD candidate in Political Science and a Research Associate at the Center on the Politics of Development at the University of California, Berkeley. I study the political economy of development and comparative politics with a focus on Sub-Saharan Africa. I am particularly interested in how non-state actors influence local level development and violence.  I employ experimental, quasi-experimental, and qualitative methods in my research.

Prior to graduate school, I worked for Innovations for Poverty Action in Uganda and Kenya for over three years managing studies on micro-savings, health and governance, and technology diffusion. I also was a Research Manager at the Institution for Social and Policy Studies at Yale University. I hold an M.A. in Political Science from Leiden University and a B.A. in Political Science from Wake Forest University.