Dandan Chen has been the Program Leader for the Human Development Practice Group in the South Caucasus unit since 2013. She is based in Tbilisi, and supports the Bank engagement in education; health, nutrition and population; and social protection, labor and jobs in Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia. Dandan brings 17 years of Bank experience to the unit.

Before she joined Europe and Central Asia Region, Dandan worked at East Asia and Pacific Region (including three years in the World Bank Jakarta office), and Africa Region, serving a wide spectrum of clients from middle-income to post-conflict and low-income countries. Her key areas of expertise include intra-household resource allocation and human capital investment; determinants of human development outcomes (both demand and supply factors); and labor supply and skill acquisition.

In addition, Dandan’s operational work covers education system reform (from pre-school to tertiary education); entrepreneurship, innovation, and R&D; and training provision and skills development. Dandan strives to integrate specific economic knowledge into a broad range of operational strategies and advisory services. She has managed and delivered complex operations, carried out effective policy dialogue, and opened new engagement in multiple fronts.

Dandan holds PhD in economics (1999) from Duke University.