Ann Mitchell
Executive Director
Founder and Executive Director of LENS and a researcher specializing in poverty and inequality with more than thirty years of experience in social policy design, evaluation, and implementation across academia, consulting, and civil society. She is a Full Professor and Researcher in the Faculty of Economic Sciences of the Universidad Católica Argentina, where her work combines quantitative and qualitative methods to examine the social and spatial determinants of poverty and evaluates the impact of social interventions. Her extensive fieldwork in informal settlements, combined with long-standing partnerships with civil society organizations and engagement with policymakers at all levels, has deepened her conviction that effective responses to poverty must be grounded in local knowledge and shaped by the voices of people living in poverty. She also serves as Associate Editor of the Journal of Human Development and Capabilities. Early in her career, Ann worked at the World Bank in Washington, DC. She holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Maryland.