Fitsum is an Economist based in the World Bank Ethiopia Country Office. In this role, he brings nearly 20 years of experience working in development across the private sector, academia, policy think-tanks, non-profits and multilateral organizations. He has fulfilled various roles, including supporting governments with early childhood research and operations as an Early Years Fellow and research, training, consulting and teaching at the university level. At the Ethiopian Economics Association – Ethiopian Economic Policy Research Institute, he conducted research on education, health, poverty, migration, social protection and gender, addressing topics such as child mortality, fertility, women self-help groups, and education sector reviews. Fitsum holds master’s degrees in economics and developmental psychology from Addis Ababa University and was a visiting scholar at University of California, Berkeley.