PRESTO Policy Research Solutions

Tia Palermo, PhD, MS, is President of PRESTO and has 20 years’ experience providing technical assistance and conducting research in Africa, Latin America, and the US. She is an internationally recognized expert on social protection. Her research examines impacts of social protection on economic and food security, nutrition and health, and gender dynamics, including gender-based violence. She has led/co-led multiple impact evaluations of large-scale, government-implemented cash transfer and cash plus programs and has experience in synthesizing evidence in systematic reviews and briefs, as well as capacity building around evidence generation and uptake. Dr. Palermo has also provided technical assistance to UN agencies, governments, and bilateral donors implementing social protection programming and served on expert panels with UN agencies to formulate guidance on promoting social protection. Dr. Palermo previously worked for the UN as a Social Policy Specialist for UNICEF, international NGOs, and in academia as an Associate Professor at the State University of New York (SUNY). Her research has been extensively published in peer-reviewed journals. She holds a PhD in Public Policy and an MSc in Economics. She is fluent in English and Spanish, with a working knowledge of Italian and basic French and Portuguese skills.