Sidhya Balakrishnan

Sidhya led the research initiatives in Income Share Agreements and Guaranteed Income. As Director of Research, she led the research design and analysis for JFI’s basic income pilots and conducts research on the implications and alternatives to student debt. She previously worked in end-to-end pilot design, implementation, and analysis for government and international development partners at Educational Initiatives, an educational assessment organization in India. She has also worked with international development organizations like the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank in different capacities. She also holds a masters degree in international affairs with a focus on economic and political development and econometrics from Columbia University, and a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Lady Shri Ram College, University of Delhi.

Relevant work:

• From Idea to Reality: Getting to Guaranteed Income (a series)
• In the media: Vox feature on JFI’s Marica basic income policy research
• In the media: Vox interviews JFI researchers on Mayors for Guaranteed Income
• Paper: Borrowing Arrangements and Returns to Education
• Stockton SEED Pre-Analysis Plan
• JFI presents at North American basic income guarantee congress
• Report: DREAMers’ perceptions of ISAs
• JFI testifies before Alaska state legislature