ABOUT US
TEAM
Stephen Peel is the founder of SMP Policy Innovation Limited, a non-for-profit organization aiming to promote, design and assist advanced government policy. Stephen Peel has worked for 25 years in the global private equity industry. From 1997 to 2014, Mr. Peel was a managing partner at one of the world’s largest global private investment firms, TPG Capital, most recently heading up the firm’s activities across Asia and Eastern Europe. Since 2017, he has founded and led the private equity firm Novalpina Capital.
Stefan Dercon is Director of the Centre for the Study of African Economies, and a Professorial Fellow of Jesus College, University of Oxford. He is also Professor of Economic Policy at the Blavatnik School of Government and the Economics Department. Between 2011 and 2017, he has been Chief Economist of the Department of International Development (DFID), the government department in charge with the UK’s aid policy and spending.
Nicolas Lippolis is a doctoral candidate in Politics and a researcher at the Centre for the Study of African Economies, University of Oxford. His research deals with the political economy of industrial policy in Africa, focusing on Ethiopia and Angola. Nicolas holds a BA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics, and an MSc in Economics for Development, both from Oxford University. He has previously worked in the Macroeconomics Research department at Goldman Sachs in London.
AFFILIATED WITH
Blavatnik School of Government – University of Oxford
The Blavatnik School of Government is a global school pursuing a vision of a world better led, a world better served and a world better governed.
We believe that the Blavatnik School of Government can improve the quality of government and public policy-making worldwide, so that citizens can enjoy more secure and more fulfilled lives. We are committed to excellence in leadership and public policy education through three priorities:
- Teach: we deliver transformative teaching programmes that combine deep expertise with analytical thinking and practical skills
- Research: we produce and communicate excellent and impactful research and we help others address real-life policy challenges
- Engage: we forge networks that enable policy leaders to learn from each other and from top scholars to generate solutions and share best practice.