As Founder and CEO of the Women’s Economic Imperative (WEI), Dr. Margo Thomas serves as a catalyst for initiatives aimed at increasing opportunities for the economic empowerment of disadvantaged and under-represented groups around the globe.
Throughout her career spanning more than two decades as a senior official at the World Bank Group, Dr. Thomas has provided policy advice to over fifty national and sub-national governments.
Dr. Thomas successfully completed her appointment as the Chief of Secretariat for the United Nations Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel on Women’s Economic Empowerment in 2017. Under the Argentinian Presidency of the G20, she was appointed as Co-Chair of the 2018 Think 20 Task Force on Gender Economic Equity. Dr. Thomas was invited by the Japanese Presidency to continue her work and serve as Co-Chair of the 2019 Think 20 Task Force on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Under the 2020 Saudi Arabian Presidency of the G20, Dr. Thomas is a member of the COVID-19 Response Task Force and the Social Cohesion Task Force. Dr. Thomas has been appointed as an inaugural Global Solutions Fellow.
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Dr. Thomas’ research interests are driven by her extensive work and experience in providing policy advice to developing and transition economy governments. It is generally recognized that the inclusion of disadvantaged economic actors, particularly women, is critical for sustainable development and shared prosperity in keeping with the Sustainable Development Goals. Dr. Thomas believes that to increase the impact and sustainability of economic development work, it is necessary to better understand the contributory factors of governance, private sector development, institutional quality (broadly defined) and the political economy of policy reform. Hence her publications and continuing research interests focus on the following topics:
- Economic empowerment of women and other disadvantaged groups to promote sustainable