Alfonso Guerra joined the Independent Evaluation Office (IEO) as Assistant Director in November 2024. Prior to joining the IEO, he held several senior positions at the Central Bank of Mexico, including Director of International Affairs. Alfonso also served as member of the Executive Board of the IMF for nearly a decade, including as Executive Director representing Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and Spain.   

Alfonso holds a PhD in Economics from UCLA on a Fulbright-Garcia Robles scholarship, a M.A. in Economics from El Colegio de Mexico, and an B.A. from Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana.

Hélène Poirson joined the IEO in January 2024, after serving as an Advisor in the Office of the Chief Economist of the IMF, where she led several surveillance reports, including the July 2023 G20 Surveillance Note, the October 2023 WEMD Board and WEO press conference, and high-level engagements at the Annual Meetings of the IMF and World Bank, such as the IMFC presentation and the ASEAN roundtable of finance ministers. Hélène was also responsible for steering various workstreams, such as Integrated Policy Framework (IPF) Metrics, Joint Finance Health Ministers Task Force, and gender. Her corporate service has extended to senior roles on the Fund’s generative AI coordination committee and Intranet Governance council. 

Before working in the Office of the Chief Economist, Hélène was an Advisor in the Office of Risk Management (ORM) of the IMF, where she coordinated the work on the IMF’s first Enterprise Risk Management policy approved in December 2022. Prior to ORM, Hélène was the deputy division chief for macroeconomic policy in the Strategy Policy and Review (SPR) department of the IMF, where in addition to helping manage two of the largest SPR review divisions, she also led several operational and analytical departmental and cross-departmental projects during the COVID-19 crisis—including Board presentations on EM prospects and risks and distributional effects of UMP, a management surveillance meeting on the effects on EMs of higher Fed rates and stronger dollar; and four IMF working papers. Her research interests include macro-financial topics, debt and growth, and cross-border spillovers. 

Helene attended Ecole Polytechnique and received her Ph.D. in Economics in 1998 from the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS). She taught at ENSAE and worked in a think-tank in Paris before joining the IMF in 1999. She grew up in various countries on the African continent, including Madagascar, Mauritania, Somalia, Burundi, and Cote d’Ivoire.

Nicoletta Batini is an Italian economist, notable as a scholar of innovative monetary and fiscal policy practices. She pioneered work on the dangers of fiscal austerity and on how to curb debt successfully during financial deleveraging. Prior to the IMF, she was Advisor of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee, Professor of Economics at the University of Surrey, and Director of the International Economics and Policy Office of the Treasury in Italy. She has handled extensive consultancy roles internationally. She holds a Ph.D. in international finance (Scuola Superiore S. Anna) and a Ph.D. in monetary economics (University of Oxford).

Mr. de Las Casas joined the IEO in April 2013. Between 2009 and 2013 he was an Advisor at the IMF Executive Board. He previously worked for ten years as an economist at the International Economics and International Affairs Department of the Banco de España. He holds Masters Degrees in Business Administration and International Business, from University of Brighton and Universidad CEU San Pablo, and in International Relations, from IE Business School.

Mr. Jérémie Cohen-Setton joined the IEO in June 2021. He worked previously as Research Fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, Affiliate Fellow at Bruegel, Assistant Economist at Her Majesty’s Treasury during the U.K. G20 Presidency, and Economic Consultant at the Asian Development Bank.

He has contributed to research and public policy regarding monetary and fiscal policies in advanced economies, the effects of US trade policies, and European macroeconomic issues, which featured in the New York Times, Financial Times, and Le Monde. In 2018, Jérémie coedited the book Sustaining Economic Growth in Asia with Thomas Helbling, Adam Posen, and Changyong Rhee.

Jérémie holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of California, Berkeley and M.A. in Economics and Public Policy from the Paris School of Economics and the École Normale Supérieure.

 

Photo: Delphine Tomaselli

Mr. Anthony De Lannoy joined the IEO in May 2021. Between November 2016 and April 2021 he was Executive Director and Alternate Executive Director at the IMF Executive Board. He previously worked as Deputy Director of Economic and Financial Policy in the Office of the Minister of Finance in Belgium, Advisor to the Executive Director at the IMF Executive Board, and in the National Bank of Belgium. He holds a Masters in Applied Economics from University of Antwerp and a Masters in International Business Economics from KU Leuven.

Brendan Harnoys Vannier joined the IEO in March 2025. He worked previously at the Finance for Development Lab, the Global Development Network, and the Banque de France. He also taught macroeconomics and international macroeconomics throughout Parisian Universities and Engineering Schools.

Prior to joining the IEO, his work and research concentrated on issues related to the International Financial System and the risks of economic and financial crises; debt sustainability and financial stability; and public development banks and sustainable development.

Brendan holds a PhD in Economics at the Paris School of Economics and the Ecole Normale Supérieure, an engineering diploma in economics, finance and management from Ecole des Ponts ParisTech, and a M.A. in Analysis and Policy in Economics from the Paris School of Economics.

Mr. Wojnilower joined the IEO in 2016. He previously worked at the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). Mr. Wojnilower holds a Ph.D. in Economics from George Mason University and a Master’s in Public Administration from George Washington University.

Ms. Arevalo Arroyo joined the IEO in October 2023. She previously served as an Advisor at the IMF Executive Board and worked in Board Operations as Fund staff. Prior to joining the IMF, Andrea served as Deputy Manager of International Monetary Affairs and as an Economist in Banco de Mexico. Andrea holds a Master of Public Policy from the University of Chicago and a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Centro de Investigacion y Docencia Economicas (CIDE) in Mexico.

Mr. Li joined the IEO in September 2020. He was previously a research analyst in the African Department (AFR) of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Mr. Li is an active member of the AFR Nowcasting team and he specializes in Traditional Statistics and Machine Learning. He holds a Master’s in Applied Economics from Johns Hopkins University.

Ms. Rollins joined the IEO in 2023 from Citi, where she was a VP-level Risk Manager specializing in reputation risk. Before Citi, Carmen worked on operational risk with a London-based boutique consulting firm. Prior to that, she spent nearly a decade at the IMF, focusing on various aspects of operational risk and data analytics.

Carmen holds an MS in Mathematics and Statistics from Georgetown University and is a Ph.D. candidate in Data Analytics at the Complutense University of Madrid.

Ms. Saveikyte joined the IEO in August 2023. She previously worked as a research analyst in the Finance Department, General Resources and SDR Policy Division of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). She holds a Master’s degree in International Economics and European Studies from Johns Hopkins University.

Prior to joining our team in 2021, Lukasz worked at the IMF Resident Representative Office in Warsaw, CASE – Center for Social and Economic Research, and the National Bank of Poland. He holds a Doctorate in Economics and Finance from the Warsaw School of Economics.

Prior to joining the IEO in February 2024, Jay worked as a Research Data Analyst at Stanford University and an Investment Officer at the Central Bank of Mongolia. He completed a master’s degree in economics at Texas A&M University on a Fulbright scholarship and holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematical statistics from Purdue University.

Kelsie joined the IEO in January 2024. Before joining the IEO, Kelsie worked at a non-profit organization as a Program Evaluator and Data Analyst, and the Central Bank of Belize as an economist. She holds a master’s degree in economics from Ohio University.

Before joining the IEO in July 2025, Gabriel previously worked at the Massive Data Institute of Georgetown University as a research analyst and at the Inter American Development Bank as an esg risk data analytics consultant in Panama. He currently holds a Master’s degree in Data Science for Public Policy from Georgetown University.

Elena joined the IEO in September 2021.

Arun joined the IEO in August 2001. Prior to joining the IEO, he worked in the Government of India, mainly in the Ministry of Finance. He holds a B.Com degree from the University of Delhi.

Vionie Canas joined the IEO as an administrative coordinator in January 2024. Vionie was previously working at an insurance firm as the head of the customer service/sales department. Vionie has a degree in Business Administration with a minor in Law from Marymount University.