Dr. Jody Heymann
Founding Director
Distinguished Professor at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, Luskin School of Public Affairs, and Geffen School of Medicine
Jody Heymann, MD, PhD, is founding director of the WORLD Policy Analysis Center and served as dean of the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health from 2013-2018.
As director of the WORLD Policy Analysis Center (WORLD), Heymann leads an unprecedented effort to improve the level and quality of comparative policy data available to policymakers, researchers and the public. WORLD examines health and social policies and outcomes in all 193 UN countries. WORLD’s mission is to strengthen equal opportunities worldwide by identifying the most effective public sector approaches, improving the quantity and quality of globally comparative data available, and working in partnerships to support evidence-based improvements in countries worldwide. WORLD has worked with global bodies (WHO, UNICEF, UNDESA, UNESCO, ILO, and others), civil society in over 100 countries, research groups, private sector leaders, and other global change agents. In 2023, WORLD launched new policy data on accelerating progress toward achieving gender equality in the economy, with data from 193 countries on topics including girls’ access to education, sexual harassment and discrimination at work, and policies that support gender equality in work and in caregiving across the life course. WORLD’s analyses of constitutions in all 193 UN member countries and their role in strengthening social and economic rights contributed to creating a Partnership for Advancing Constitutional Equal Rights. WORLD’s launches on policies affecting children reached people in 190 countries, as did their No Ceilings partnership with the Clinton and Gates Foundations on equal opportunities for women, men, girls, and boys. Heymann previously held a Canada Research Chair in Global Health and Social Policy at McGill University where she was the founding director of the Institute for Health and Social Policy. While on the faculty at Harvard Medical School and the Harvard School of Public Health, she founded the Project on Global Working Families. Heymann has received numerous honors, including election to the U. S. National Academy of Medicine in 2013 and the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences in 2012.
Heymann has authored and edited more than 500 publications, including 19 books. Selected titles include Equality within Our Lifetimes (University of California Press, 2023), Advancing Equality (University of California Press, 2020), Changing Children’s Chances (Harvard University Press, 2013), Making Equal Rights Real (Cambridge University Press, 2012), Lessons in Educational Equality (Oxford University Press, 2012), Protecting Childhood in the AIDS Pandemic (Oxford University Press, 2012), Profit at the Bottom of the Ladder (Harvard Business Press, 2010), Raising the Global Floor (Stanford University Press, 2009), Trade and Health (McGill Queens University Press, 2007), Forgotten Families (Oxford University Press, 2006), and Healthier Societies (Oxford University Press, 2006).
Magda Barrera
Manager of New Initiatives and Strategic Partnerships
mbarrera (at) ph.ucla.edu
Magda Barrera is the Manager of New Initiatives and Strategic Partnerships at the World Policy Analysis Center. Magda has completed a BA in Economics at Williams College, a MA in International Affairs at Carleton University’s Norman Paterson School of International Affairs, and a Masters in Urban Planning at McGill University. Before joining WORLD, Magda worked on housing advocacy and government relations as Senior Housing Policy Advisor at the Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario. Previously, Magda worked at the World Council on City Data, managing data reporting and analysis of performance metrics for over 50 cities worldwide. Magda also worked at the McGill Institute for Health and Social Policy, leading comparative global research on citizen engagement, urban sustainability, and environmental equity.
Bijetri Bose
Senior Research Analyst
bbose (at) ph.ucla.edu
Bijetri Bose is a Senior Research Analyst at the WORLD Policy Analysis Center. She is an applied microeconomist with a research interest in the evaluation of the impact of national legislations and programmatic interventions on the education, health, and gender norms, primarily of children and women, in developing countries. Bijetri is also a Visiting Scientist on the Indian Health Systems Project at the Harvard Chan School of Public Health where she works in the domain of economics of health care systems with a particular emphasis on healthcare provision by pharmacies. Bijetri has a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Washington. She received a MA in economics from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi and a BA in economics from Jadavpur University, Kolkata. She was previously a visiting assistant professor at Oberlin College, Ohio and a Research Associate at the Harvard Chan School of Public Health.
Adele Cassola
Chief of Social Policy Research
acassola (at) ph.ucla.edu
Adele Cassola is Chief of Social Policy Research at the WORLD Policy Analysis Center. Before joining WORLD, Adele worked as a Research Director at the Global Strategy Lab, where she led multi-year research projects on public health policy and institutions. Adele previously managed large-scale, globally-comparative research on equity in legal rights protections with the Institute for Health and Social Policy at McGill University. She also has experience conducting community-based research on the health and socioeconomic wellbeing of low-income households with the Center for Research on Inner-City Health in Toronto and New York City’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development. Adele has a PhD in Urban Planning from Columbia University, an MSc in City Design and Social Science from the London School of Economics, and a BA in Peace and Conflict Studies and European Studies from the University of Toronto.
Alison Earle
Senior Work-Family Policy Analyst
aearle (at) ph.ucla.edu
Alison Earle, PhD, is a Senior Work-Family Policy Analyst at the WORLD Policy Analysis Center. Dr. Earle’s research focuses on how labor and employment policies affect the health, wellbeing, and economic security of working families in the United States and worldwide. While at the Harvard School of Public Health, Dr. Earle was the Co-director with Dr. Jody Heymann of the Project on Global Working Families, and managed a large research team developing the first truly global labor policy database, the Work, Family, Equity Index. Dr. Earle conducted some of the first national studies on disparities in access to paid leave and schedule flexibility in the United States, and the first globally comparative analysis of paid sick days policies. Earle has over 60 publications and with co-author Dr. Jody Heymann, published her first book Raising the Global Floor: Dismantling the Myth that We Can’t Afford Good Working Conditions for Everyone (Stanford University Press, 2010). Dr. Earle has provided expert testimony at Massachusetts congressional hearings on proposed paid family and medical leave and paid sick days legislation, and at U.S. congressional briefings on afterschool policy and funding. Earle received the 2006 Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis Best Article Award for her article examining the link between economic competitiveness and paid sick days policy and the 2014 Lawrence Klein Award for the Best Article in Monthly Labor Review for her article examining job characteristics of minority and immigrant working parents. She taught courses on the translation of public health research into action, and the effects of social policy on children’s health. Dr. Earle received an M.P.P. from the Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan, and a Ph.D. in Public Policy from Harvard University.
Laurel Grzesik-Mourad
Senior Policy Analyst and Research Manager
lgrzesik (at) ph.ucla.edu
Laurel Grzesik-Mourad is a Policy Analyst at the WORLD Policy Analysis Center. She received her BA in the Study of Religion and a minor in Arabic & Islamic Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles and completed her Master of Public Policy at the University of Southern California’s Price School of Public Policy. Before joining WORLD, she was Program Communications Officer for the Office of Interdisciplinary & Cross Campus Affairs at UCLA, connecting partners across campus. Prior to that, Laurel worked in government relations, policy, communications, and development for Andy Spahn & Associates as well as in diversity and inclusion at the British Broadcasting Corporation’s Diversity Centre.
Alfredo Martin
Senior Research Analyst
amartin (at) ph.ucla.edu
Alfredo Martin is a Senior Research Analyst at the WORLD Policy Analysis Center. Alfredo is an applied microeconomist with a background in law and public policy. His research lies in the intersection of applied econometrics and Human Rights. He has worked as a Research Assistant at the Georgia Policy Labs and the Education Policy Initiative, and as a Poverty and Inequality Analyst at the Ministry of Social Development in Chile. Alfredo earned a B.A. in Law from University Diego Portales, a Masters in Economics from the University of Chile, an M.P.P. from the Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan, and is currently finishing his Ph.D. in Economics at Georgia State University.
Michael McCormack
Senior Policy Analyst
mmccormack (at) ph.ucla.edu
Michael McCormack received BAs in Political Science and Economics from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and an MA in Applied Economics from the University of Massachusetts Boston. His research interests include labor economics, economic development, the political economy of household debt and progressive economic policy. Prior to working at WORLD, he worked as an economic policy associate at The Century Foundation, a progressive think tank based in New York City. He was also a researcher at the Center for Social Policy at UMass Boston. His work has appeared in Cambridge Journal of Economics, Challenge, and American Prospect.
Clare McKenzie
Program Analyst
cmckenzie (at) ph.ucla.edu
Clare (she/her) works as the Program Analyst at the WORLD Policy Analysis Center. Prior to joining the team, she received a BA in Environmental Science and Policy from Duke University and a MA in Public Policy from Pepperdine University. Her graduate research focused on equitable access to water for Southern Californians in the era of climate change. Clare’s experience includes research and public communications roles at the Duke University Nicholas School of the Environment, Los Angeles Waterkeeper, and the Sierra Club San Francisco Bay Chapter. She is passionate about engaging community members in public policy decisions and increasing the accessibility of international academic research.
Gonzalo Moreno
Policy Analyst
gmoreno (at) ph.ucla.edu
Gonzalo Moreno is a Policy Analyst at the WORLD Policy Analysis Center, where he works mainly on research and dissemination projects that utilize the Constitutions database. He received BAs in Translation at the University of Malaga and in International Development at the University of Guelph, and completed his MA in International Affairs at Carleton University’s Norman Paterson School of International Affairs. Before joining WORLD, he was the project manager of MACHEquity, a collaborative project between McGill University and UCLA to better understand how changes in policy can affect the health and wellbeing of households in low- and middle-income countries. Before MACHEquity Gonzalo worked on various research projects at McGill, including coordinating the conference and publications of Disability and Equity. Gonzalo’s main research interests include the importance of non-health policies as social determinants of health, global health initiatives and financing, and the political economy of development assistance.
Callahan Moriyasu
Policy Analyst
cmoriyasu (at) ph.ucla.edu
Callahan Moriyasu is a Policy Analyst at the WORLD Policy Analysis Center. She completed her BA in Economics and History at Northwestern University and her Master of Public Policy at the University of Southern California. Prior to joining WORLD, she worked as a research assistant at USC evaluating the health effects of COVID-19 and homelessness on women in LA’s Skid Row in partnership with Los Angeles Community Action Network. She also held roles as an AmeriCorps Vista in program evaluation at the Allegheny County Department of Human Services, and as a market research associate at Lieberman Research Worldwide.
Kristen Mosher
Program and Operations Manager
Tel: 310 825 7126
kmosher (at) ph.ucla.edu
Kristen Mosher (she/her) is the Program and Operations Manager at the WORLD Policy Analysis Center. She received her BA in English Literature and Writing from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and her MA in International Affairs from The Fletcher School at Tufts University. Her graduate research focused on education and gender equality in the international development and humanitarian spaces. Prior to joining the team at WORLD, she worked in project management, grant writing, and database development at The Children’s Trust of Massachusetts and The Center for Reading Recovery and Literacy Collaborative at Lesley University. She has also worked as a teacher in the U.S. and abroad.
Nicholas Perry
Senior Research Analyst – Outreach Coordinator
nperry (at) ph.ucla.edu
Nicholas Perry is a Senior Research Analyst and the Outreach Coordinator at the WORLD Policy Analysis Center. In addition to research work on work and family, education, poverty, and aging policy issues, Nicholas coordinates WORLD’s global research and dissemination partnerships with policymakers, civil society organizations, funders, and the public at large. In this outreach work, Nicholas works with the WORLD team to develop and disseminate tools that translate newly available law and policy data into evidence-based decision making and increased transparency and accountability. Nicholas leads WORLD’s collaborative work across the UCLA campus, with academic partners around the globe, with on the ground civil society organizations, and with intergovernmental organizations looking to translate policy into impact. Nicholas’ professional background includes work in direct political engagement, political polling and messaging, and grassroots political organizing. Nicholas received his BA in Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley and a Master’s in Public Policy from the University of Southern California.
Amy Raub
Principal Research Analyst
araub (at) ph.ucla.edu
Amy Raub is the Principal Research Analyst of the WORLD Policy Analysis Center and is responsible for the translation of WORLD’s comparative policy research on all 193 UN countries to findings for policymakers, citizens, civil society, and researchers. Amy has been deeply involved with the development of WORLD's databases on constitutional rights, laws, and policies since 2008. She has presented WORLD’s findings to UN human rights committees, civil society groups, and at international conferences. Her publications include statistical analyses of the relationship between policies and outcomes, overviews of the status of constitutional rights globally, and assessments of whether countries are meeting their international commitments in human rights conventions. Amy received her BA in Economics from Rice University and her MS in Economics from The University of Texas at Austin. She has a background in statistical analysis for economic consulting including the examination of disparities based on race, gender, and age in a variety of topics, including mortgage lending, police stops, and employment issues.
Aleta Sprague
Senior Legal Analyst
asprague (at) ph.ucla.edu
Aleta Sprague is a Senior Legal Analyst at WORLD, where she leads WORLD’s written and transmedia communications and examines the intersections among constitutional rights, case law, and national policy development in advancing social and economic equality across different legal systems. Previously, Aleta was a policy analyst at New America, a public policy think tank, where her research focused on poverty, access to public assistance programs, and financial inclusion for low-income communities. She also previously served as a Bill Emerson National Hunger Fellow with the Idaho Hunger Relief Task Force. Aleta received her BA in Anthropology and French from New York University and her JD from UCLA School of Law, where she focused on international law and human rights and completed a specialization in Critical Race Studies. She is a member of the California and New York state bars.
Pam Stek
Writer and Senior Researcher
pstek (at) ph.ucla.edu
Pam Stek is a Writer and Editor at WORLD with a background in researching and writing about the political activism of marginalized groups. She received her BA in Mathematics from Macalester College and her PhD in History from the University of Iowa. Prior to joining WORLD, she was employed as a historical researcher and writer for several nonprofit organizations, as a history instructor, and as an actuary. Her previous work includes an examination of Midwestern immigrant women’s activism in support of organized labor and women’s suffrage during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
