Meet the Team

The annual Doing Business reports are researched and written by a team of experts. This year's team is shown below.

World Bank, 1818 H Street, NW
Washington DC, 20433
Fax. (202) 473-5758
Email: doinggusiness@worldbank.org

Svetlana Bagaudinova, a senior private sector development specialist, joined the Doing Business team in 2006. Prior to joining the World Bank, Ms. Bagaudinova worked at Booz Allen Hamilton, where she specialized in energy and infrastructure projects. Ms. Bagaudinova holds a master's degree in sociology from Moscow State University and a master's degree in international business from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. She speaks Russian.




Karim Belayachi joined the Doing Business team in June 2007 and works on the Starting a Business indicator. He holds a master's degree in policy analysis and economic development from Indiana University's School for Public and Environmental Affairs. He also holds a bachelor of arts degree from Wabash College. Prior to joining the World Bank, Mr. Belayachi worked in the monitoring and evaluation department at Grameen Foundation, focusing on the Middle East & North Africa region. He speaks French, Spanish and Arabic.




Penelope Brook took on the role of Director of the Indicators Analysis Department, responsible inter alia for Doing Business, in April 2008. Throughout her time at the World Bank Group, Penelope has focused on private sector development and infrastructure sector reform, with a particular emphasis on the pro-poor aspects of reform processes and sector policies. Earlier in her career, Penelope was engaged in the reform process in New Zealand, working in both the public and the private sectors on issues ranging from utility and labor market reform to the settlement of indigenous land and resource claims. She holds a DPhil in economics from Oxford University.



Frédéric Bustelo joined the Doing Business team in September 2006. He led the Getting Credit indicator (Information Index) for two years, and currently leads the Registering Property indicator. Mr. Bustelo holds an industrial engineering degree from the Buenos Aires Institute of Technology and a master’s degree in public administration in international development from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard, where he was a Fulbright scholar. Prior to joining the Doing Business team, he worked to improve efficiency and transparency in the Argentine public sector. He also worked with the Grameen Foundation in Buenos Aires and with the multinational steel group Techint. He speaks French and Spanish and is conversant in Portuguese and Italian.

Maya Choueiri joined the Doing Business team in May 2007 to work on developing the Infrastructure indicator. She holds a master of science in electrical engineering and a master of science in management science and engineering, both from Stanford University. During her undergraduate studies, Ms. Choueiri spent a semester as a visiting student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She speaks Arabic and French and is conversant in German.




Santiago Croci joined the Doing Business team in March 2008 and works on the Getting Credit - Legal Rights indicator. Prior to joining the team, he worked on an insolvency and creditor rights initiative at the Legal Vice-Presidency of the World Bank. He also worked on development issues at the Competitiveness Capacity Building Initiative of the Organization of American States. Mr. Croci holds a law degree in corporate law from Montpellier I University (Montpellier, France) and a master’s degree in international law from Paul Cézanne University (Aix-en-Provence, France). He speaks French and Spanish.



Sarah Cuttaree joined the Doing Business team in August 2008 and works on the Enforcing Contracts indicator. She is a barrister-at-law, admitted to the Bar of England and Wales (Lincoln’s Inn) and the Bar of Mauritius. She read law at the University of Warwick (U.K.) and also holds a Master of Laws degree in Financial and Securities Regulation from Georgetown University (U.S.). As a litigation and transactional lawyer, Ms. Cuttaree has professional experience in business regulations and commercial transactions in developing countries, including Mauritius and the Indian Ocean region. She speaks French.



Marie Delion joined the Doing Business team in 2003 and works on the Registering Property indicator. She previously worked at World Bank Institute for six years. She studied international commerce and has a CGE "O" Level from Cambridge and a bachelor's degree in computer science from Univesity of Maryland University College. Prior to joining the World Bank in 1999, Ms. Delion worked for Siemens in Cameroon and KPMG in New Caledonia. She speaks French.




Jacqueline den Otter joined the Doing Business team in March 2006 and works on the Trading Across Borders indicator. She previously worked in the World Bank's Netherlands executive director's office, where she worked with its constituency countries, ministries, and embassies. Ms. den Otter holds a master's degree in international commerce and policy, as well as a bachelor's degree in business administration (finance) from George Mason University in Arlington, Virginia. She lived in Italy and Brazil, and speaks Dutch, Italian and Spanish.




Allen Dennis joined the Doing Business team in 2006 and leads the Trading Across Borders indicator. He has worked on trade and investment climate issues since joining the World Bank as a Young Professional in March 2005. Prior to joining the World Bank, Mr. Dennis served as an economic affairs officer with the World Trade Organization, where he co-authored the Trade Policy Review reports of Bulgaria, the European Union, and Nigeria. He holds a PhD in economics from the University of Nottingham, United Kingdom. Mr. Dennis has published and presented papers at several academic and policy-oriented conferences. He speaks French.



Alejandro Espinosa joined the Doing Business team in 2007 and works on the Dealing with Construction Permits indicator. He holds a degree in government and international relations from the Universidad Externado de Colombia, a certificate in economic policy from American University, and a master’s degree in applied economics from Johns Hopkins University. Prior to joining the Doing Business team, he worked as a consultant in the World Bank’s African region, where he specialized in managing databases on trade and education. Mr. Espinosa also worked as a research assistant at the Inter-American Development Bank in Washington DC. He speaks Spanish and Mandarin.


Carolin Geginat, an economist, has been with the World Bank since 2003 and joined the Doing Business team in October 2006 to develop the new Infrastructure indicator. Ms. Geginat holds a master's degree in economics from the University of Cologne and a post-graduate degree from the Institute of World Economics in Kiel. Before joining the Doing Business team, she worked on issues of debt and fiscal sustainability in low-income countries. In particular, Ms. Geginat was working on the implementation of debt relief arrangements for a number of African countries through the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Debt Relief Initiative (HIPC). She speaks German, French and Spanish.


Cemile Hacibeyoglu joined the Doing Business team in June 2007 to work on the Registering Property indicator. Previously, Ms. Hacibeyoglu worked with the U.S. Civilian Research & Development Foundation helping scientific entrepreneurs from Eurasia enter U.S. markets. She has also worked with the Cohen Group, a business consultancy, and the Turkish Industrialists’ and Businessmen’s Association on investment climate and risk assessment. Ms. Hacibeyoglu holds a bachelor of arts in applied languages from Bilkent University in Turkey and a master's degree from the Security Studies Program at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service. Ms. Hacibeyoglu speaks Russian, Turkish and French and is conversant in Azerbaijani, Bulgarian, German and Spanish.

Maisha Hyman joined the Doing Business team in October 2008. Prior to joining the team, Ms. Hyman spent ten years at the Independent Evaluations Group of the World Bank – first as a research-based Program Assistant for several large studies, and later as Sr. Program Assistant for the Sector Evaluations division. Maisha holds a bachelors degree in French from the University of the District of Columbia and is currently pursuing a graduate degree in Human Resources Management. She speaks French.




Sabine Hertveldt, a senior private sector development specialist, joined the Doing Business team in January 2006. Previously, she practiced employment law and investment arbitration for seven years with Allen & Overy LLP in Brussels and White & Case LLP in Washington, DC. She obtained a law degree from Ghent Law School (Belgium), a DEA/DESE combined Master's degree in European law and politics from the University of Nancy (France), and a Master's degree in law from Columbia Law School (New York). During her studies at Columbia Law School, Ms. Hertveldt was a Fulbright scholar and fellow of the Belgian-American Educational Foundation. Ms. Hertveldt is a member of the Brussels Bar and New York Bar, clerked at the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg and interned at the United Nations in New York. She speaks Dutch and French and is conversant in Spanish.

Nan Jiang joined the Doing Business team in December 2008 and currently works on the Paying Taxes indicator. Ms. Jiang holds an honors degree in engineering from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, and a master's degree in management science and engineering from Stanford University. Prior to joining the World Bank, she worked in the fixed income department at Société Générale Corporate & Investment Banking, London. She also worked in ABB Singapore, the Asia-Pacific headquarter of ABB Group, a leader in power and automation technologies. Ms. Jiang speaks Chinese.



Palarp Jumpasut joined the Doing Business team in 2007 to manage relationships with local partners. She holds a bachelor of arts in economics from the University of Manchester and a master of science in financial markets from the Illinois Institute of Technology. Before joining the World Bank, she worked for SNL Financial, a financial information and research firm.





Dahlia Khalifa, a senior economist, joined the Doing Business team in June 2007. She has 22 years of experience in economic and policy analysis, investment banking, and strategic communications. Ms. Khalifa has established and managed financial services companies offering corporate finance, brokerage, private equity investing, management consulting, and technical assistance advisory services with an African and Middle Eastern regional focus. She works extensively with non-profit organizations, founded Egypt's International Economic Forum, and served as Vice President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt. In addition to her bachelor's and master's degrees in economics and master's degree in international law, she is currently finalizing a doctoral degree in international relations at Georgetown University. Ms. Khalifa has been an adjunct professor at the American University of Cairo and George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs. She speaks Arabic.

Eugenia Levine is an Australian lawyer and is currently working on the Enforcing Contracts team. Ms. Levine holds Bachelor of Laws (Honors) and Bachelor of Arts degrees from Monash University in Australia and a Master of Laws (Honors) degree from Columbia University in New York. Prior to joining the Doing Business team, Ms. Levine worked at a leading Australasian law firm in Melbourne, and with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Moscow. Ms. Levine has also previously interned at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and the United States Federal District Court. She speaks fluent Russian and intermediate Spanish.


Graeme Littler joined the Doing Business team in 2003 and works on the website. He previously worked for the Emerging Markets Data Base, which the International Finance Corporation sold to Standard & Poor's in 1999. He was the editor of the monthly Emerging Stock Markets Review and the annual Emerging Stock Markets Factbook from 1995 to 2000. Prior to joining the World Bank Group in 1993, Mr. Littler edited the International Securities Regulation Report and other publications. He holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Victoria, Canada, and Ph.D. in economics from George Mason University, Virginia.



Jean Michel Lobet joined the Doing Business project in October 2006 and leads the Protecting Investors indicator. Prior to joining the World Bank Group, he held positions related to legal reform in other international organizations in Washington, DC. As a consultant for the Inter-American Development Bank, he worked on labor law issues and, for the Organization of American States, he led and developed the Mutual Legal Assistance Project. Mr. Lobet holds a law degree in corporate law from Montpellier I University (Montpellier, France) and a master’s in international law from Panthéon-Assas University (Paris, France). He speaks French and Spanish.



Oliver Lorenz joined the Doing Business team in April 2007 and works on the Enforcing Contracts indicator. Mr. Lorenz studied law in Jena, Berlin, and Paris. Before joining the World Bank, Mr. Lorenz practiced corporate and EU regulatory law in Berlin and Paris. Mr. Lorenz graduated from the Institut d’Etudes Politiques in Paris and holds a degree in EU law from Sorbonne University. He speaks German and French.





Valerie Marechal joined the Doing Business team in November 2007 and works on the Getting Credit - Legal Rights indicator. She holds a double law degree from King’s College London and the Sorbonne (France). She obtained her master’s degree in law and development from the School of Oriental and African Studies (U.K.). Prior to joining the team Ms. Marechal was researching judicial reform at the American Bar Association, focusing on Latin America and Africa. She also has work and volunteer experience in Ecuador. Ms. Marechal has lived in the U.K., France, Belgium, Spain, and Ecuador. She speaks French and Spanish and is conversant in Russian.



Andres F. Martinez joined the Doing Business team in April 2008 and works on the Closing a Business indicator. He holds an honors degree in law from the Universidad de Buenos Aires. He also completed a two-year master’s degree program in commercial law at the Universidad Austral (Argentina), which included being a visiting scholar at the Sturm College of Law at the University of Denver, Colorado. Before joining the Doing Business team, Mr. Martinez practiced litigation and corporate law at Estudio Beccar Varela in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he was a senior associate representing domestic and international clients. He speaks Spanish.



Frederic Meunier joined the Doing Business team in January 2010 and works on the Dealing with Construction Permits indicator. He obtained a degree in economics from Sciences Po and studied at Georgetown University. He holds a master’s degree in economics from the College of Europe (Belgium) and a master’s degree in international business from Essec business school (France). Prior to joining the team, he worked at Société Générale Corporate & Investment Banking, where he focused on project finance and public private partnerships. He speaks French and is conversant in German.



Alexandra Mincu joined the Doing Business team in January 2008 and works on the Protecting Investors indicator. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Law from the University of Bucharest and the Maitrise from University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne. With a considerable focus on the European Union, a Master's Degree in European Union Law and a traineeship with the Legal Service of the European Parliament, Alexandra spent the last two years working for the Romanian administration dealing mainly with institution building EU funded programs. She speaks Romanian, French and Spanish and is conversant in Hungarian.



Joanna Nasr joined the Doing Business team in October 2007 to work on the Closing a Business indicator. Ms. Nasr holds a Bachelor’s degree in economics and a Master degree in financial economics, both from the American University of Beirut. Ms. Nasr holds also an advanced postgraduate degree in government (comparative politics) from the London School of Economics and Political Science, where she was a Chevening scholar. Ms. Nasr has published several articles in the field of economics. She speaks French and Arabic.




Oleksandr is from Ukraine. Previously, he worked at Sayenko Kharenko Law Offices in Kyiv, where he advised on capital markets and banking and finance issues. Prior to that, he worked at Salkom Law Firm in Kyiv focusing on intellectual property law and dispute resolution. He studied international law at the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv and holds a Master of Laws degree from Columbia Law School, where he was a Fulbright scholar. Oleksandr speaks Ukrainian, Russian and French.




Dana Omran joined the Doing Business team in February 2006 and leads the Dealing with Construction Permits indicator. Prior to joining the World Bank, Ms. Omran worked for the King Abdullah II Design and Development Bureau and the International Atomic Energy Agency, Office of External Policy Coordination. A John Carroll and Phi Beta Kapa scholar, Ms. Omran graduated from the Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University with a bachelor’s degree in science and technology in international affairs and a certificate in contemporary Arab studies. Ms. Omran holds a master's degree in International Security from the Security Studies Program at Georgetown University. She speaks Arabic and French.


Caroline Otonglo joined the Doing Business team in August 2007 and leads the Paying Taxes indicator. Previously, she worked at KPMG Kenya, where she provided tax advisory and compliance services across diverse industries. Prior to that, she was at Musyoka and Wambua Advocates in Nairobi and at Citibank, Nairobi. She holds a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Nairobi, a post-graduate Diploma in Law from the Kenya School of Law and a Master of Laws degree from Harvard Law School. Ms. Otonglo is a qualified accountant and a qualified corporate secretary. She is admitted to practise law in Kenya and in New York State, as well as being a member of the East African Law Society. Caroline speaks Swahili and is conversational in German.


Yara Salem joined the Doing Business team in October 2007 and leads the Starting a Business indicator. Prior to joining the World Bank, she established and managed a consultancy office, worked for the Palestinian Foreign Ministry and for the Ministry of Trade and Economy as the Director responsible for development of private sector projects. Ms. Salem has extensive field experience working with the World Bank and UNDP on private sector development issues in fragile states and post-conflict countries including Sudan and Somalia. She is a U.S. Presidential scholar and holds BA from The Jordanian University in business administration and master’s degrees in commercial diplomacy from the Monterey Institute of International Studies and a master’s degree international relations and development economics from Birzeit University. She speaks Arabic and is conversant in French and Japanese.

Pilar Salgado-Otónel joined the Doing Business team in February 2008. Ms. Salgado-Otónel holds a law degree from Universidad de Valparaíso, Chile, and master's degree in international legal studies from Georgetown University Law Center, where she was a Fulbright scholar. Prior to joining the Doing Business team, she served as a law clerk to the International Criminal Court in The Hague. Ms. Salgado-Otónel has also worked as in-house counsel at Compañía Sud Americana de Vapores and as an assistant professor in Public International Law at Universidad de Valparaíso. She speaks Spanish and is conversant in French.



Sylvia Solf is the program manager of the Doing Business project. Prior to joining the World Bank in 2003, she worked in portfolio management at the Inter-American Development Bank in Washington, DC. She also has experience working on private sector and social development in Mexico and Chile. Ms. Solf holds a master's degree from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. She speaks German, Spanish and French.





Jayashree Srinivasan joined the Doing Business team in February 2008 to works on the Infrastructure indicator. She previously worked in the South Asia Region of the World Bank in the Sustainable Development Unit, where she was a part of the Urban and Water team. Before moving to Washington DC in 2002, Ms. Srinivasan worked in the New Delhi office of the World Bank with the Rural Development Team. She holds a master's degree in community resource management and extension from Delhi University. She speaks Hindi and Tamil.




Susanne Szymanski joined the Doing Business team in March 2008 to work on the Infrastructure indicator. She holds a master’s degree in Business Administration and Economics from the University of Munich. Prior to joining the Doing Business team, she was Policy Analyst at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development working on trade policy and anti-corruption policy in public procurement. Ms. Szymanski also worked in the Eastern Europe and Central Asia region of the World Bank on water infrastructure projects. She speaks German and French.

Tea Trumbic joined the Doing Business team in November 2006. She has worked on the Paying Taxes indicator and now leads the Getting Credit (Information Index). Her prior experiences include working on EU accession policy at the Ministry of Finance in Croatia and on macroeconomic and fiscal policy for Middle East and North Africa (MENA) at the International Monetary Fund. Ms. Trumbic studied at Stanford University and the London School of Economics. She has lived in Serbia, Croatia, Romania, the U.K., the U.S., and France. She speaks Croatian, Serbian and French.



Marina Turlakova joined the Doing Business team in August 2008 to work on the Infrastructure indicator. Ms. Turlakova holds a bachelor's degree in Economics and Political Science from Wellesley College, MA, USA and has a master's degree in economics from the University of Cambridge, UK. Prior to joining the team Ms. Turlakova worked as an analyst at Cornerstone Research, an economic consulting firm providing economic and financial analysis to attorneys. She is fluent in Russian and conversant in German.




César Chaparro Yedro joined the Doing Business team in May 2007 and leads the Employing Workers indicator. He holds a law degree and an economics degree from Carlos III University (Spain) and spent a year of his studies at the University of Perugia (Italy). Mr. Chaparro obtained a master's degree in European studies from the College of Europe (Belgium). Prior to joining the World Bank, he practiced European and antitrust law at the law firm Garrigues Abogados y Asesores Tributarios in Madrid and worked as a legal advisor to the Colgate-Palmolive Company. He speaks Spanish, French and Italian.



Lior Ziv joined the Doing Business team in June 2007. Mr. Ziv worked for a year on the Enforcing contracts indicator and now works on the Paying taxes indicator. After graduating with a law degree from the University of Leuven in Belgium and spending an intermediary year as an exchange student at the University of Salamanca in Spain, he obtained an LL.M. from Harvard Law School. Mr. Ziv has volunteer experience in Israel, Guatemala, Ghana, Ukraine, Belarus and Azerbaijan. He speaks Dutch, French, Spanish, Hebrew, Russian and Portuguese.