Pankhuri Prasad is an MPP candidate at the Yale Jackson School, where she hopes to explore urban economic policy and development strategies needed to transform cities into engines of economic opportunity. She brings strong quantitative skills in data collection, statistical analysis, and creating data visualizations. She aims to bridge research and implementation by working with local and regional development agencies.

Prior to Yale, Pankhuri worked with Mathematica’s Global Division conducting rigorous evaluations of programs across agriculture, education, climate, and cash transfer initiatives. Her work spanned South Asia, Africa, and the Americas, building evidence to guide effective policy decisions. During her time at Harvard’s Growth Lab, she collaborated with government counterparts to provide policy recommendations on economic diversification strategies for Ethiopia and the labor market for the UAE. She has also contributed to projects with the Centre for Effective Governance of Indian States in Delhi and Telangana, and worked with the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.

Pankhuri graduated cum laude from the University of California, San Diego, with dual bachelor’s degrees in economics and international studies – political science, and has bilingual fluency in Hindi.