A programme of:
Javier González
Economist trained at the University of Cambridge, Javier González has devoted his career to rethinking the role of education as a driver of equity. His work bridges academia, public policy, and innovation to promote deep transformations in education systems across Latin America and the Caribbean.
Sobre Javier González
< View All ContributorsA Builder of Educational Justice in Latin America
Javier González is an economist with an MPhil and PhD in development economics from the University of Cambridge. With more than 20 years of experience, he has focused on comparative research, the design and implementation of public policies in education, inequality, social mobility, and innovation, taking on leadership roles in government, academia, and international organisations.
He is the Director and Co-founder of SUMMA, the Laboratory for Research and Innovation in Education for Latin America and the Caribbean, created by the IDB in 2016. From there, he collaborates with education ministries in 14 countries to promote research and educational policies rooted in social justice.
At the international level, he is a member of the advisory group for the OECD’s Schools+ network and has served as a senior adviser to organisations such as the IDB, UNESCO, World Bank, UK Research & Innovation (UKRI), Oxford Policy Management (OPM), and ASEAN. He has also served on advisory boards for UNESCO’s GEM Report, CORFO, Fundación Chile, Chile’s National Innovation Council, and the Brookings Institution.
In academia, he was affiliated with the University of Cambridge between 2014 and 2022 as a lecturer in political economy and development. He has also taught at SciencesPo (France), Brown University (USA), the Autonomous University of Barcelona, ECLAC, and the University of Chile, where he is a researcher at the Centre for Social Conflict and Cohesion Studies (COES). His research has been published by Oxford University Press, Routledge, Policy Press, UNESCO Press, and Catalonia.
In the Chilean public sector, he held senior positions during the administrations of Presidents Ricardo Lagos and Michelle Bachelet. He contributed to the design of laws, programmes, and reforms in education, taxation, and innovation from roles at the Ministry of Finance, CONICYT, and the Ministry of Education.
