Parijat Chakrabarti

In conjunction with my research career, I lead projects with mission-driven organizations to tackle key challenges in building market and innovation ecosystems for social and ecological well-being. In iterating between research and practice, between action and reflection, I integrate the rigor and insights of academic work with the vision and pragmatism needed to effectively tackle complex real-world challenges.

Below are some of the projects that I have worked on.

2024 - present. Sustainability, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship.

Special Projects. William Davidson Institute. Ann Arbor, MI.

·      Advised on a systemic investing and evaluation strategy for a $3 million initiative for the development of a circular economy innovation ecosystem. Worked across the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business, the School of Environment and Sustainability, the William Davidson Institute, and an innovation hub.

·      Developing program materials as part of a USAID-funded initiative to educate young entrepreneurs about the scientific and social dimensions of the climate crisis and to engage them in innovating solutions for adaptation and mitigation at multiple scales. Organizing cultural and professional exchange between 150 students and aspiring entrepreneurs in Michigan, Morocco, and Libya.

2024 - present. Strategy for Food Systems Change in Kenya.

Principal Consultant and Strategy Lead. FSD Kenya. Nairobi, Kenya.

·      Developing cross-sector strategy for agroecological transformation to promote rural livelihoods, regional development, and ecological well-being as Kenyan farmers grapple with the pressures of globalization and climate change. Prototyping and piloting new systems-change frameworks for development organizations to fund and manage complex, multi-dimensional, and multi-stakeholder transformations. At its core, these approaches re-imagine and leverage finance as a tool for ecosystem-building. Strategy and frameworks presented to executives to shape 5-year program strategy.

2021 - 2023. Gender Inclusive Technology Interventions in Ethiopia.

Principal Consultant, Program Liaison, Research Specialist. World Bank Africa Gender Innovation Lab. Washington, D.C. / Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

·      Project lead, program liaison, and research specialist on a team tasked with assessment of four major gender-inclusive technology interventions in Ethiopia. Managed a cross-functional team of six and piloted a rapid “double loop” learning protocol to use research insights to inform deployment of catalytic funding. Piloted new methodologies for identifying and assessing opportunities for economic inclusion. Liaised with academics, university officials, and World Bank managers to coordinate a first-of-its-kind partnership with Hawassa University. Findings shifted funding strategy beyond individual entrepreneurship toward an ecosystems view on inclusion.

2020 - 2022. Market Ecosystem Mapping to Guide Development Strategy.

Principal Consultant, Project Coordinator, Research Lead. Client & Partner Organizations: FSD Kenya, Gmaurich Insights, AgTech Startup. Nairobi, Kenya.

·      Led a cross-functional team to map the complex ecosystem of food distribution and production in central Kenya. Adopting an asset-based approach, we identified gaps as well as existing assets and practices that financial and digital architecture could support to make agricultural markets more resilient. Findings shared with government, private sector, and development actors at multi-stakeholder meetings. Directly shaped multi-year strategy for a $5 million agricultural development fund.

2019 - 2020. Digitization and Resilience in Everyday Economic Life.

Project Advisor, Research Lead, Program Liaison. Client & Partner Organizations: Busara Center for Behavioral Economics, Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, FSD Kenya. Nairobi, Kenya.

·      Project advisor, survey lead, and program liaison on a project identifying the opportunities and risks of market digitization for economic resilience. Liaised with fin-tech startups, government, academia, and development agencies to conceptualize, mobilize support, and help launch the project. Designed a major national survey matched to digital trace data to study the impact of digital economy practices for individual and community resilience. Accompanied the survey team to urban, rural, and remote areas. Data offered some of the first insights on socio-economic behavior in Kenya in the early days of the pandemic.

2018 - 2019. Piloting an Adaptive Consumer Protection Program.

Pilot Developer, Academic Liaison. Client & Partner Organizations: Central Bank of Kenya, FSD Kenya, Debt and Dignity Network, Citibeats. Princeton, NJ / Nairobi, Kenya.

·      Building on insights developed in my original and published research, I partnered with FSD Kenya, CGAP, the Central Bank of Kenya, researchers at Princeton, and an AI startup to pilot an adaptive LLM tool to monitor risk in rapidly growing credit and fin-tech ecosystem. This need was driven by proliferating and largely unregulated mobile loan apps at the time, many of which were predatory. Findings presented at multiple conferences and meetings with cross-sector stakeholders. This pilot served as a model for future programs in markets such as Tanzania.

2016. Understanding Post-University Labor Market Transitions in Uganda.

Research Assistant to Professor Margaret Frye, Princeton University, Makerere University. Princeton, NJ / Kampala, Uganda.

·      A large body of work looks to lift the lower-end of the labor market across sub-Saharan Africa; yet little work examines labor market trajectories for those with university degrees. We reveal and explain a significant gap between educational attainment and labor market outcomes (particularly for generations who have come up through the universal primary education system) with implications for individual well-being and how human capital is utilized (or not). Assisted with project conceptualization, project management, and data collection. Outputs published in top journals including American Sociological Review (5% acceptance rate).

2013 - 2014. Career Trajectories of International Scholarship Recipients.

Research Specialist. ETH Global, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. Zürich, Switzerland.

·      Investigated migration flows from transitional economies to Switzerland as a member of ETH Zürich's global partnerships unit. Took full responsibility for the quantitative data analysis and designed and conducted qualitative interviews. Co-authored the resulting report and presented findings at a major multi-stakeholder conference in Zürich in 2014. Findings informed policy and funding priorities for ETH Zürich's international scholarship program. Study design replicated by the Swiss Secretariat for Education, Research, and Innovation (SERI) in 2018 and now informs the basis for federal funding of the ESKAS scholarship program.

2011 - 2013. Implementing Composting on UC Berkeley's Campus.

Project Coordinator. Compost Alliance. Berkeley, CA.

·      Core member of a student-led team piloting compost systems on campus. Conducted waste audits and analyses of waste streams, liaised with university administrators, facilities services, building managers, waste removal firms, and composting facilities, designed signage, and organized and facilitated logistics of a pilot composting program with 10 buildings. Brought in $37,000 in grant funding. Building directly on the success of this initial pilot program, UC Berkeley now a campus-wide composting system.