PRESTO Policy Research Solutions

Tia Palermo, PhD, MS, is President of PRESTO and has 20 years’ experience providing technical assistance and conducting research in Africa, Latin America, and the US. She is an internationally recognized expert on social protection. Her research examines impacts of social protection on economic and food security, nutrition and health, and gender dynamics, including gender-based violence. She has led/co-led multiple impact evaluations of large-scale, government-implemented cash transfer and cash plus programs (in Ethiopia, Ghana, and Tanzania) and has served as a co-Investigator on additional impact evaluations (in Malawi, Senegal, Zambia, and Zimbabwe). Dr. Palermo has experience in synthesizing evidence (in systematic reviews and briefs) and capacity building around evidence generation and uptake. She has also provided technical assistance to UN agencies, governments, and bilateral donors implementing social protection programming and served in expert consultations with UN agencies, including UNICEF, UNAIDS, and WHO, to formulate guidance on promoting social protection. Dr. Palermo previously worked for the UN as a Social Policy Specialist for UNICEF, international NGOs, and in academia, as an Associate Professor at the University at Buffalo and Assistant Professor at Stony Brook University. Her research has been extensively published in peer-reviewed journals. She holds a PhD in Public Policy and an MS in Economics. She is fluent in English and Spanish, with a working knowledge of Italian and basic French and Portuguese.