DEBORAH STONE
Dr. Stone is a Research Professor of Government at Dartmouth College and Honorary Professor of Political Science at Aarhus University. She has associations and professorships at some of the most prestigious universities such as, just to mention a few, Brandeis University, MIT, Duke University, Yale University, Tulane University, National Chung Cheng University, and the University of Bremen.
In 2002, it won the American Political Science Association’s Aaron Wildavsky Award for an Enduring Contribution to Policy Studies. She has published numerous articles in scholarly journals and edited books, and has written for American Prospect, Nation, New Republic and Boston Review. Stone served on advisory commissions for the Social Security Administration, the Human Genome Commission, and the Institute of Medicine. She has held fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, Harvard Law School, Harvard University Program on Ethics and the Professions, the Open Society Institute, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Dr. Stone has been leading a public policy research in Nepal for Niti Foundation. Not only will this diagnostic study help Niti understand the deep-rooted nuances of public policymaking, but it will also define Niti’s niche as a critical public policy actor. Her most acclaimed book, Policy Paradox: The Art of Political Decision Making (1988) is used in teaching programs around the world, and is a critical reference document at Niti. Her other notable books are The Disabled State (1984) and The Samaritan’s Dilemma: Should Government Help Your Neighbor? (2008).
MOHAN DAS MANANDHAR
Having worked in Nepal, India, UK, and Japan, Mohan Das Manandhar is the first Executive Director and founding member of Niti. He brings in over 25 years of experience in social inclusion, development management, and private sector development. He had been a policy advisor to Nepal’s National Inclusion Commission at the Prime Minister’s Office in Nepal. He helped establish the Norwegian-funded Social Inclusion Research Fund in 2005 and worked as Senior Policy Advisor in 2008/10. He is also the founding partner of and currently working as the Senior Advisor at Organization Development Centre, a prestigious development and management firm in Nepal. Manandhar also served in Kathmandu University as Associate Professor and has taught the graduate management courses at Lancaster University (UK) and the Ace Institute of Management (Nepal). Manandhar is also one of the Nepali counterparts in the public policy research.
JORRIT DE JONG
Jorrit de Jong is lecturer at Harvard University Extension School and resident research fellow at the Ash Institute for Democratic Governance and Innovation at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. He is also a visiting lecturer at various universities and business schools in The Netherlands. His research, teaching and consultancy work focus on strategic management and innovation in the public sector. Jorrit is the former director of the Centre for Government Studies, at Leiden University. He is co-founder of the Kafka Brigade, an action research team investigating excessive bureaucracy. He served as a special adviser on the Dutch Ministerial Committee on Public Sector Reform. He is the editor and/or co-author of publications on change management, knowledge management, service delivery and social justice. His forthcoming book on social innovation is titled ‘Agents of Change’. Mr. De Jong is assisting Dr. Stone in the public policy research in Nepal.