Manish Bapna joined the World Resources Institute (WRI) as its Managing Director in June 2007. His interests and expertise are in international development with a particular focus on rural poverty and natural resources.

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Bapna oversees institutional and program strategies, approves new lines of work and is responsible for the day-to-day management of the organization at WRI. Under his leadership, WRI has developed its current 5-year strategic plan and is in the process of deepening its engagement in both China and India. Prior to this, Bapna was the Executive Director of the nonprofit Bank Information Center (BIC), whose mission is to protect rights and promote sustainability in the projects and policies of international financial institutions. Bapna presided over considerable growth at BIC, including sizable increases in staff, funding and influence, especially in developing countries.

Bapna previously served as Senior Economist and task team leader at the World Bank. During his tenure at the Bank, he led multidisciplinary teams in the design and implementation of community-driven water, watershed and integrated rural development projects in Asia and Latin America. Several of the projects he helped design have been recognized by the Bank as highly successful. Bapna joined the World Bank as a Young Professional.

Bapna also advised several nonprofit development groups including Seva Mandir (a leading grassroots nonprofit in India) and Women’s World Banking (a microfinance support organization). In an earlier incarnation, he worked as a strategy consultant for McKinsey & Company in the financial services and technology sectors.

An oft-quoted source in influential newspapers, Bapna has been cited in front-page articles in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and International Herald Tribune. He has regularly testified before U.S. Congressional Committees on the role and effectiveness of development aid and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Bapna has an MBA and MPA from Harvard University and a SB from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is married to Geeta and they have a daughter named Laila.