Dianela Espinoza

Dianela Espinoza is a visiting fellow with the Atlantic Council’s Freedom and Prosperity Center. An economist and public policy researcher from Peru, Espinoza is currently pursuing a master of public administration in data science for public policy at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Her research interests focus on the economics of education, foundational skills, early childhood development, labor market transitions, and impact evaluation.  

Previously, Espinoza worked as a quantitative research assistant at GRADE, where she contributed to Young Lives in Peru, a longitudinal study led by the University of Oxford. In this role, she supported data cleaning, fieldwork coordination, and enumerator training. Before joining GRADE, Espinoza worked as a research intern at Innovations for Poverty Action Peru, where she supported the implementation of education impact evaluation projects, including interventions aimed at reducing gender gaps in STEM careers and a study on intercultural bilingual education in preschool in Peru.  

She has also coauthored research with scholars from Peru and Oxford on the long-term impacts of Peru’s conditional cash transfer program, JUNTOS, on human capital formation and family outcomes. Espinoza is also a member of the “Work and Labor Market” dimension at the Peruvian organization Observatorio de Desigualdad Económica y Social. 

Espinoza holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from the Universidad de Piura. She is a native Spanish speaker and fluent in English.