Stories of Impact and Change
At the Blum Center for Developing Economies, we are driven by a shared mission: to innovate, inspire, and empower solutions that tackle global poverty. Explore our latest stories, ground-breaking research, and impactful programs that bridge the gap between theory and action.
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Global Poverty & Practice
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Faculty
Global Poverty & Practice
News
Joeva Sean Rock, an outstanding instructor in international development who researches agricultural biotechnology, food sovereignty, and environmental governance, has joined the Blum Center’s Global Poverty & Practice program as Lecturer.
Global Poverty & Practice
News
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Global Poverty & Practice Experiences were cancelled this summer. However, the Blum Center created the GPP Summer Study, taught by Dr. Rachel Dzombak with 22 students across 15 majors to explore ways in which they might create change for a problem they care about.
Development Engineering
News
The Development Engineering PhD program at UC Berkeley empowers doctoral students to address global challenges in low-resource regions. Graduates like Julia Kramer, Alana Siegner, and Christopher Hyun have tackled issues ranging from health accessibility and climate education to sanitation equity, advancing interdisciplinary solutions for sustainable impact on food, water, and energy systems worldwide.
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News
It is with a heavy heart and beloved appreciation that we memorialize the passing of Dr. Bertram Lubin, a groundbreaking pediatrician and children’s hospital leader. Bert, as he was widely known, was the kind of person the Blum Center dreams of having around—to mentor students, advise faculty, inspire ideas, and lend decades of knowledge about the fight for disease mitigation and healthcare equity.
News
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”
Development Engineering
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When Rachel Dzombak and Vivek Rao began planning for the spring 2020 Development Engineering course “Innovation in Disaster Response,” part of their motivation was to get students to think about the use of technology during past disasters. But by early March, it was clear to Dzombak and Rao that the COVID-19 pandemic was increasing the relevancy of their class in ways no one could have predicted.
News
George Moore, an InFEWS Fellow and Development and Mechanical Engineering PhD student, has been awarded the Birgeneau Recognition Award for Service to Underrepresented Students.
News
Around the UC Berkeley campus, there has been a plethora of COVID-19 responses that will help developing and developed countries alike.
News
The Blum Center welcomes Michelle Nunn, CEO of CARE USA, and Afsaneh Mashayekhi Beschloss, CEO of RockCreek, to its board. Both bring extensive experience in humanitarian and sustainable investments, supporting the Center’s mission to advance interdisciplinary research and global citizenship through initiatives like Development Engineering and the Big Ideas Contest.
News
Woojin Jung’s research merges social welfare, public policy, and development engineering to analyze poverty metrics, revealing key discrepancies in global poverty measures. Using satellite imagery and spatial analysis, Jung advocates for clearer poverty definitions and targeted aid strategies to better support under-resourced communities, shaping her innovative academic career.
News
Erica Stone, president of the American Himalayan Foundation (AHF) for nearly 30 years, transformed the nonprofit from a small startup to an impactful organization distributing $4 million annually. From empowering women through STOP Girl Trafficking to supporting healthcare for children, Stone’s dedication to Nepal and its people has driven AHF’s success and resilience.
Faculty
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The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation today unveiled that the LoaScope Project for Removing the Greatest Obstacle to the Elimination of River Blindness was one of the highest-scoring proposals, designated as the Top 100, in its 100&Change competition for a single $100 million grant to help solve one of the world's most critical social challenges.
News
Global poverty has dramatically declined, with the share of people living on $2 a day or less dropping by over 75% since 1981. Yet many Americans remain unaware of these gains. At UC Berkeley’s Blum Center, students are tackling global poverty and inequality through innovation, education, and impactful fieldwork, fostering hope for progress.
Big Ideas
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With all of the excitement and funding directed at artificial intelligence, machine learning, blockchain, and gene editing, it is hard to remember that one of the most consistently innovative and financially robust sectors in the United States is the “creative industry.”
News
For Aboubacar Komara, a combination of cultural values inspired the mission behind Kaloum Bankhi--a registered NGO in Guinea that maximizes existing and limited housing space for people in the slums of Kaloum.
Faculty
News
How can we meet increasing human demands from the land while protecting natural systems? This is the question that Matthew Potts, UC Berkeley’s S. J. Hall Chair in Forestry Economics and the Vice Chair of the Graduate Group in Development Engineering, asks in his scholarship.
News
Amy Liu, founder of Junior Hearts and Hands, was inspired to support pregnant women after assisting a Haitian refugee during a challenging 35-hour delivery. With mentorship from UC Berkeley’s Big Ideas Contest, Liu advanced her mission, becoming an Innovation Ambassador and continuing to empower mothers through her organization, Partners in Life.
Development Engineering
News
The Blum Center celebrates the Nobel Prize in Economics winners for pioneering randomized control trials in poverty interventions. Building on these insights, development engineering integrates economics, technology, and social sciences to address global challenges. The center aims to advance this interdisciplinary field by hiring professors in health, energy, and entrepreneurship.