Bidisha Barooah leads 3ie’s work on rural livelihoods and gender. An economist by training, she has over 12 years of experience in mixed-methods impact assessments in developing countries. At 3ie, she has led large-scale research programmes on agriculture, small and medium enterprises, and financial inclusion, with a strong focus on gender equality and women’s empowerment.

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Most recently, she has been leading 3ie’s evaluation of India’s flagship National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM), generating evidence on how collective institutions and livelihood interventions can strengthen women’s economic empowerment and resilience. She also oversees 3ie’s global portfolio on gender and women’s empowerment, which synthesises evidence and builds capacity for gender-transformative programming across sectors.

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Before joining 3ie, Bidisha worked as a Lead Technical Specialist (Economist) at IFAD, where she led strategic efforts to promote evidence-informed decision-making in ministries of agriculture in Asia and Africa. She completed her PhD in Economics from the Delhi School of Economics in 2016.