Jessica Heckert is a Research Fellow in the Poverty, Gender, and Inclusion Unit. She uses both quantitative and qualitative methods to address questions related to adolescent/youth well-being and work experiences, the impact of agricultural development interventions on women’s empowerment and other gender-related outcomes, and the intersection of household gender dynamics and health outcomes. In line with these research themes, she also works on the development of women’s empowerment metrics, including the project-level Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (pro-WEAI) and affiliated tools, as well as the Women’s Empowerment Metric for National Statistical Systems (WEMNS). She has conducted work in Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Djibouti, Ghana, Guatemala, Haiti, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Nepal, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, and Tanzania. Jessica earned a PhD in Demography and Human Development and Family Studies from Pennsylvania State University in 2013.

Languages spoken: English, French, Haitian Creole, Spanish