Team Bio

The project team is made up of development economics students at the university of San Francisco (USF). They have participated in social science experiments both in the USA and beyond. Also, the team is guided by two professors at the USF Wydick and Hobbs who have led successful experiments. Visit their bios below for details.

Bruce Wydick | University of San Francisco (usfca.edu)

Andrew Hobbs | University of San Francisco (usfca.edu)

Ester Agasha

My interest in social development began when I started living with my grandfather at an early age of four. This introduced me to local way of life through grazing livestock, dealing in barter trade, saving through “merry go rounds” where women share development ideas at village meetings in my community in Uganda. Through these engagements, I have seen firsthand the several challenges that these local communities face including, limited access to finance, limited financial knowledge, little or no financial numeracy skills, lack of financial competence, skills, exploitation by loan sharks, a poor saving culture, and no guaranteed financial sustainability, all leading to a vicious cycle of poverty. I engage in solution solution-oriented research that will improve the existing policy agenda. I am particularly, interested in:

-Examining unregulated domains like the loan sharks that currently exploit the poor,

-Engaging in research that examines how incentives can drive savings culture and create new mindsets in rural communities,

-The impact of gender gaps in financial domains and their impact on business through financial access, financial services utilization, financial security and financial independence to achieve financial wellbeing.

Prakriti Shakya

A graduate student studying International and Development Economics at the University of San Francisco. I’m passionate about natural disasters, poverty traps, mental health, children and family dynamics and using data analysis and technology to take data-driven steps towards poverty alleviation. I have an undergraduate degree in Business and Management specializing in Finance from the University of the West of England, however after a year of exploration, I decided to commit to grad school in Development Economics. I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to intern at Frost & Sullivan, Daayitwa, UNICEF ROSA, and Rahat in different capacities. My interests lies in research, analysis, design, and project planning. Besides that, I like creating videos. And a big fan of learning new languages.

Akash Shaji

I was born into a predominantly agrarian family in a small and quaint village in the verdant Southern part of India. This upbringing of mine, I firmly believe, has influenced me a lot to look at development and backwardness with lenses of different perspectives. It was from a very young age, ever since I started looking at pictures in the newspaper with my father who was an avid reader, my fascination with development began. And that fascination has now transformed into my passion for development and behavioral economics.

There is an uncharted territory of countless unanswered questions that awaits to be answered which beckons me, where each of those answers holds the potential to change the world. And I wish to be the one who contributes to that change, the change which can make the world a better place for everyone.

Veronika Divis

A graduate student studying International and Development Economics at the University of San Francisco. I’m passionate about the international political economy, diplomacy and international relations, alleviating poverty, and mental health. I have an undergraduate degree in International Studies from Queens University of Charlotte with a Spanish minor. Because of my deep interest in the intersection between politics and economics, I decided to pursue grad school in International Development Economics. I have interned at the World Affairs Council of Charlotte and participated in the 2020 Washington Model of American States as a diplomat, which gave me rich experiences in linking economic findings to political decisions, and I hope to continue to explore this work further.

Lucas Borden

I was born and raised in San Francisco, where drastic economic inequality is painfully evident. The hard truths that I observed growing up in SF spurred me into studying economics at Boston College, and further onto the International and Development Economics program at USF. I believe that financial literacy and the capacity to dream big is crucial in building a more equitable world. I hope that this project can further our understanding on how financial literacy and aspirations interact, as well as inspire others to conduct further research on these topics.

In addition to this studying development economics, I serve on the Board of Trustees at San Francisco Friends School, specializing in community development. In my free time, I enjoy rock climbing and making mixed-media art.