I belong to an emerging generation of academics that rejects the commonly accepted idea that academia is inexorably detached from policy decisions and social mobilization. Instead, I rely on data analysis, research journalism, and close collaboration with academic peers to advance an acute understanding of the pressing social problems of Mexico, my home country, and to encourage and publicize inadvertent solutions to them.
I am a visiting assistant professor at the Department of Government, Harvard University. I use experimental and observational data to show how democratic transitions affect political corruption and criminal violence. I have published several peer-review papers at journals like The Journal of Conflict Resolution, Justice Quarterly, Latin American Research Review, Latin American Politics and Society and an edited book entitled #TheMissingReform.
This year, I was honored to become a fellow of the International's Women's Forum, after closing my period as
selection commissioner of Mexico's National Anti-Corruption System, a possition awared to top-academics and activists by the
Mexican Senate. The Library of Congress classified my work as "Latin America Editor's Pick" and
The Economist profiled me as a
“mover and shaker” of Mexico's civil society. In 2013, the
Harvard Gazette selected me as one of the
15 Harvard’s stellar graduates, and the
American Political Science Association awarded me the prize to
to the best public administration dissertation in 2014.
Besides my labor as academic, I regularly collaborate with top political leaders, helping them identify, measure and expose counter-intuitive policy truths using data. I have briefed the Mexican President’s Spokesman, and advised the Minister of Finance and the President of one of the largest business organizations in Mexico. I was also the founding CEO of
México ¿Cómo Vamos?, a start-up think tank, and of
¿Fuiste Tu? (Was it you?) a reaseach collective that uses data analysis to identify cases of corruption in Mexico.
I belong to an emerging generation of academics that rejects the commonly accepted idea that academia is inexorably detached from policy decisions and social mobilization. Instead, I rely on data analysis, research journalism, and close collaboration with academic peers to advance an acute understanding of the pressing social problems of Mexico, my home country, and to encourage and publicize inadvertent solutions to them.
