Rap Diaz is a second-year MPP candidate at the Yale Jackson School of Global Affairs, specializing in the economics of finance for climate mitigation and adaptation.  

Prior to Yale, Rap gained more than a decade of experience across the private sector, government, and non-profits. Rap helped raise US$2.5 billion to fund various transition energy projects of an energy conglomerate, including battery energy storage systems and natural gas. He also helped pioneer this conglomerate’s 1st GRI-marked sustainability report. In his time in the Philippine Department of Finance, he served as an alternate of the Secretary of Finance as chair of the boards of state-owned enterprises where he helped advance reforms to introduce renewable energy and improve governance for energy access efforts in remote areas in the Philippines.  

Most recently, he interned with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and analyzed global climate finance trends while supporting key processes in international climate negotiations, including meetings of the convention’s subsidiary bodies and various global funds. After Yale, Rap aims to leverage his diverse experiences to increase finance flows to help the Global South adapt to new environmental realities while expediting global mitigation of carbon emissions. 

Hailing from the Philippines, Rap holds a bachelor’s degree from Ateneo de Manila University with a major in management engineering. Since 2015, he has volunteered with an international non-governmental organization aiming to eradicate poverty through grassroots partnerships and programs for financial inclusion and basic literacy.