Martha Chen

Dr. Martha (Marty) Chen stands as a transformative figure in development economics and informal labor studies, serving as a Lecturer in Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School and Affiliated Professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. Her remarkable career spans over four decades, beginning with twenty years of grassroots work in South Asia with BRAC in Bangladesh and Oxfam America in India, before joining Harvard in 1987. As co-founder and International Coordinator Emeritus of Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing (WIEGO), she has revolutionized understanding of informal economies and their workers, particularly women. Her academic contributions include numerous influential books and publications examining informal employment, gender, and poverty, while her PhD in South Asia Regional Studies from the University of Pennsylvania provided the foundation for her extensive development work. Currently chairing both the BRAC Global board and the United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research board, she continues to shape global policy on informal employment and gender equality. Her exceptional contributions have been recognized with prestigious awards including the Padma Shri from the Government of India in 2011 and the Friends of Bangladesh Liberation War award from the Government of Bangladesh in 2012. Through WIEGO, which now includes over 1,000 affiliates across 90 countries, she has created a lasting impact on improving conditions for informal workers worldwide, while her scholarly work continues to influence development policy and practice globally.