Anirudh Krishna is an internationally renowned expert on poverty, inequality and social mobility, looking at their impact on individuals and communities around the world. He is the Edgar T. Thompson Professor of Public Policy and Political Science at Duke University, where he has taught for more than two decades. Before returning to academia in 2000, he spent 14 years with the Indian Administrative Service, managing diverse rural and urban development initiatives. He has advised the World Bank, the United Nations, national governments and non-government organizations. His current work on social mobility and talent ladders includes on-the-ground research on five continents and is built on a foundation of 25 years of investigations, including projects that examined the dynamics of economic deprivation in more than 35,000 households in India, Kenya, Uganda, Peru, and North Carolina, USA. He has written several books, including The Broken Ladder: The Paradox and the Potential of India’s One-Billion and One Illness Away: Why People Become Poor and How they Escape Poverty.
