Marcela Escobari Executive Director Center for International Development       at Harvard University (617) 496-7413 marcela_escobari@ksg.harvard.edu

Marcela Escobari has over a decade of experience in economic development, including work with industrial strategy, technology policy and private sector development. Before joining the Center for International Development as Executive Director in November 2007, Marcela led the Americas region and served on the Executive Committee of OTF Group, a strategy consulting firm that advises private and public sector leaders on how to improve export competitiveness. Her work has included advising the president of the Dominican Republic on the country's industrial policy, the government of Colombia on revitalizing its tourism industry, the Jamaican entertainment and tourism industries on increasing their earning potential, and most recently the government of Trinidad & Tobago to help diversify the economy away from oil & gas into high-tech sectors. She has also led strategy projects for private companies in corporate strategy, product positioning and market entry, and was responsible for business development, raising over $5 million from donor agencies and foundations for development projects.

Marcela has a particular interest in the impact of information and communication technology (ICT) on economic development. She has led studies on the effectiveness of ICT investments in the Caribbean and Africa, and recently assessed the role of business incubators in driving entrepreneurship in 47 developing countries. Her interest in the role of technology began during her years as a student at KSG where she worked with the Information Technologies Group at the CID. Her Masters' thesis, "Assessing Network Applications for Economic Development" (co-authored with Aral and Nishina) received the Best Thesis Award. Along with Harvard and London Business School professors, she co-authored cases on successful business strategies in Latin American companies, and she has published numerous articles and reports on the role of ICT in private sector development.

Marcela has spoken about issues of competitiveness in chambers of commerce in Latin America and the Caribbean, in academic forums, and recently was keynote at the "International Conference of Social Women Entrepreneurs" for an audience of over 1000 women entrepreneurs in Mexico City.

Prior to working at OTF, Marcela worked with indigenous communities in Bolivia for the World Bank and was a Mergers & Acquisitions investment banker with JP Morgan in New York. Marcela grew up in Bolivia, holds a B.A. in Economics from Swarthmore College and a Masters in Public Policy (MPP) from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

Publications

"Building Competitive Advantage," From Growth to Prosperity, Policy Perspective for Trinidad and Tobago, IADB Special Publications on Development, M. Escobari, Fairbanks, Rabkin, Rodriguez, 2006, p. 187-258.

Improving Competitiveness and Increasing Economic Diversification in the Caribbean: The Role of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), M. Escobari, C. Rodriguez, D. Rabkin, InfoDev, 2005. www.infodev.org

"Un Gigante Dormido: Cinco Opciones para La Competitividad en Mexico," PODER Magazine, Mexico edition, May 2005.

Assessing Network Applications for Economic Development, co-author; Published at the Kennedy School of Government, Supported by the CID at Harvard and the Media Lab at MIT, received Best PAE Award, 2001.

"Governance for the XXI Century; The transition to E-government" in Semana, Web Edition, 2000.

"NATURA:The Magic Behind Brazil's Most Admired Company," Case Study, London Business School Press, 1999.

"WEG: Internationalizing a Brazilian Company," Case Study, London Business School Press, 1999.

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