Elena Ianchovichina is Head of Frontier Knowledge in the World Bank’s Jobs Cross-cutting Solutions Group. Prior to that she was the Deputy Chief Economist and Lead Economist for the World Bank’s Latin America and the Caribbean and the Middle East and North Africa regions, Senior Economist in the Economic Policy and Debt Department, and Young Professional in the East Asia and Pacific Region and the Trade Research Unit of the World Bank. Her work focuses on various dimensions of inclusive growth, such as the geography of urban employment, inequality, subjective well-being, middle-class dynamics, polarization and conflict, foreign direct investment, trade policy, and ways to boost female employment. She is the author or co-author of numerous publications, including many articles published in international refereed journals, World Bank reports, and several books. Born in Bulgaria, she received her PhD from Purdue University, which named her a Distinguished Woman Scholar in 2022.