<aside> ✉️
</aside>
I'm Varna Sri Raman, a development economist with two decades of experience leading cross-sectoral research projects across four continents. My work focuses on the economic aspects of development in low-income countries and on improving living conditions for the world's poor.
I currently lead PinPoint Ventures, which provides evidence-based advisory services in global development, co-founded and run StoryWell Books, an independent publishing house bringing diverse voices to Indian literature through culturally rich stories, and co-lead ImpactMojo, an open-source educational platform that democratises access to development knowledge across South Asia through free courses, interactive labs, and tools on MEAL, gender studies, research methods, and development economics.
<aside> ⭐
EX- Terra.Do LFA Fellow | Current Manmohan Singh Fellow with the AIPC
</aside>
I've collaborated with global organisations such as the Fish Welfare Initiative, Sesame Street, ARK, BBC MediaAction, The Verian Group, AIF, Evidence Action, Oxfam India, and Girl Effect. I have conducted research projects for funding organisations, including the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation, the Gates Foundation, the World Bank, the ICICI Foundation, UNDP, UN Women, UNICEF, DFID, Blockchain for Impact (BFI) and many more.
I've taught at Delhi University's Janaki Devi Memorial College, Gargi College, Delhi School of Economics, the Administrative Staff College of India, and The ICFAI School of Public Policy. Subjects include microeconomics, research methods, gender studies, experimental economics, environmental economics, health economics, and public finance.
I've worked with global consulting firms, including The Blue Lotus Advisory, ENY, and KPMG.
I've worked with several ministries of the Government of India, the Department of Interior USA, the Department of Agriculture and Conservation in Kenya, and the Department of Civil Society and NGO Administration in Bangladesh.
I've served as head and external member of internal POSH committees, worked in feminist litigation at the Supreme Court of India, and am a lifelong member of the Feminist Evaluation Network (FEN) and the Gender and Equity Network South Asia (GENSA).
Recent Work (2020-2025)
Major Projects (2008-2018)
TATA Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai - MPhil (MRes) | PhD, Development Studies, 2014
Thesis: Schools in Urban Slums in India - Constraints, Capabilities and Choices
ICFAI School of Public Policy, Hyderabad - MPP (Public Finance), 8.33/10 CGPA
National Institute of Business Management, Chennai - MBA (Corporate Law), 4.3/5 CGPA
Delhi University, South Campus - BA (Hons), Philosophy, Gold Medalist
Women's Economic Forum Award (2019) - "Making the world a better place."
Data Innovations Award (2016) - Enhancing the world's data pipeline
Decadal Award for Social Research (2016) - Contributions to social science
Woman Achiever's Award (2016) - Remarkable professional contributions
Excellence in Gender Research Award (2015) - Outstanding contributions to gender equity research
Young Evaluator Award (2013) - Innovation in monitoring and evaluation frameworks
Social Impact Leadership Award (2012) - Transformative work in development economics
Data Analysis & Tools: R, Python, Stata, SQL, Tableau, Power BI, MAXQDA, QGIS
Field Data Collection: SurveyCTO, ODK, Android Data Collection
Web Development: HTML, CSS, Git, GitHub, Visual Studio Code
Cloud & Visualization: AWS, Google Cloud, Chart.js
English - Native proficiency
Hindi - Professional working proficiency
Tamil - Professional working proficiency
The Very Last Superhero - A fully illustrated speculative fiction novel set in climate-collapsed India, blending AI, memory, and resistance through a 14-year-old girl's journey
Photo Wandering - Travel photography offering art prints from real-world adventures
Building a Marketplace - Developing a marketplace for sustainable home products