Emiliana Vegas (EdD) has been highly recognized for her career working to inform education policy in the so-called Global South, particularly in Latin America and the Caribbean. She has been a leading economist at the World Bank, before joining the Inter-American Bank as the division chief of education and, more recently, serving as co-director of the Center for Universal Education at the Brookings Institution. Vegas has served on numerous leading international education boards, including currently on the Governing Board for UNESCO International Institute for Education Planning and the Board of Directors for the Jacobs Foundation in Switzerland. In addition, she has served on numerous high-impact global councils and programs, including the World Economic Forum's Global Future Council on Education and Skills, the WISE Prize, the Future Global Leaders Fellowship, and Teach for All's Global Advisory Council. Since 2019, Vegas has also served as a member of the Global Advisory Council for the Organization of Ibero-American States. She is currently a professor of practice at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and lives in Cambridge Massachusetts.

Foreword by Noam Angrist

Acknowledgements

List of Tables and Figures

Timeline

List of Acronyms & Abbreviations

Introduction

Part I: How You Get In

Chapter 1: The Basics of IDOs

Chapter 2: The Skills You'll Need

Chapter 3: Standing Out from the Crowd

Chapter 4: The Paths Worth Taking

Part II: How You Thrive

Chapter 5: Navigating the Matrix

Chapter 6: All About Operations and Analytical Activities

Chapter 7: No Good Idea Goes Unfunded

Chapter 8: Globally Informed, Locally Driven

Chapter 9: Team Player, Team Leader

Chapter 10: Moving Up the Corporate Ladder

Part III: How to Make a Real Difference

Chapter 11: Great Supervisors Attract Great People; Toxic Ones Push Them Out

Chapter 12: The Power of a People Person

Chapter 13: Leading for Impact

Chapter 14: The Golden Handcuffs

Chapter 15: Having it All: Balancing Family and Career

Chapter 16: Key Takeaways

Appendix

Bibliography

About the Author