Santiago Bilinkis
Tech Entrepreneur & AI Thought Leader | Co-Founder of Officenet (Acq. by Staples) | Bestselling Author | Singularity University Alumni
Esther Duflo
2019 Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences | MIT Professor & J-PAL Co-Founder | President, Paris School of Economics | Global Authority on Poverty & Evidence-Based Policy
One of the world's most influential economists, Esther Duflo won the 2019 Nobel Prize for revolutionizing how poverty interventions are tested and scaled — her J-PAL network has reached over 400 million people. Now at the forefront of climate justice and global tax policy, audiences gain a rare data-driven framework for decisions that actually change outcomes.
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Esther Duflo biography
Esther Duflo is one of the most consequential economists alive today — a Nobel laureate whose work has not only advanced the frontiers of development economics but fundamentally changed how governments, international institutions, and organizations design policies that actually work. French-American and based across two continents, she holds the Abdul Latif Jameel Professorship of Poverty Alleviation and Development Economics at MIT, serves as President of the Paris School of Economics, and holds the Poverty and Public Policy Chair at the Collège de France. This breadth of institutional leadership places her at the center of global economic policymaking in a way few academics ever achieve.
Nobel economics speaker Esther Duflo is best known for co-pioneering the use of randomized controlled trials in development economics — a methodological revolution that transformed how social interventions are tested, validated, and scaled worldwide. Alongside Abhijit Banerjee and Michael Kremer, she received the 2019 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for this experimental approach to alleviating global poverty, becoming the youngest-ever Nobel laureate in economics and only the second woman to receive the honor. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences noted that their methods now entirely dominate the field.
Co-Founder of J-PAL and the Evidence Revolution
Duflo is co-founder and co-director of the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) at MIT — a global research network spanning over 900 researchers at 97 universities whose evidence-based programs have reached more than 400 million people. Her research covers health, education, financial inclusion, governance, and climate policy, always oriented toward generating evidence rigorous enough to drive change at scale. With Abhijit Banerjee, she co-authored Poor Economics — winner of the Financial Times and Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award in 2011, translated into more than seventeen languages — and Good Economics for Hard Times. In 2024, she extended her reach with Poor Economics for Kids. Her honors span the John Bates Clark Medal, a MacArthur “Genius Grant,” the Princess of Asturias Award for Social Sciences, and honorary doctorates from Harvard, Williams College, and Clark University. She is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and a Corresponding Fellow of the British Academy. Most recently, her TED 2025 talk on taxing the ultra-wealthy to fund climate reparations for the world’s poorest nations sparked global debate among policymakers and economists alike.
As a speaker, Esther Duflo brings a rare combination of intellectual rigor, moral clarity, and practical urgency to the questions that matter most in global business and public policy: how evidence should drive decisions, what it takes to design interventions that actually produce results, and why the economics of inequality and climate justice demand a fundamentally different policy framework. Senior audiences — from corporate boards and government ministers to multilateral institutions and impact investors — leave her talks not just informed, but equipped with a more honest and more effective way of thinking about change.
Esther Duflo Speaking Videos
Nobel prize-winning economist Esther Duflo: 'You have no reason to fear low-skilled migration'
Nobel Lecture: Esther Duflo
Esther Duflo Keynote Topics
Most organizations and governments make decisions based on intuition, ideology, or incomplete data — and most interventions fail as a result. In this keynote, Duflo draws on decades of field research and her Nobel Prize-winning work to make the case for a different approach: one grounded in rigorous experimentation, honest measurement, and the willingness to be wrong before committing to scale. This is a masterclass in how leaders across sectors can build the evidence culture their organizations need to close the gap between good intentions and real results.
Drawing on her landmark book and years of fieldwork across Africa, South Asia, and Latin America, Duflo challenges the assumptions that underlie how wealthy institutions think about poverty — and replaces them with something far more useful: evidence. Why do people in extreme poverty make the decisions they do? What actually improves health outcomes, educational attainment, and economic mobility? And what can these answers tell organizations and leaders about the nature of human behavior, incentive design, and systemic change?
In a world of rising inequality, contested globalization, and mounting political polarization, Duflo argues that economics has both failed to communicate its insights and abandoned its responsibility to address the hardest questions. This keynote offers a rigorous, evidence-based reframing of the defining economic challenges of our era — trade, immigration, automation, and redistribution — and makes the case for what good policy actually looks like when it is grounded in data rather than ideology. Essential for audiences in finance, public policy, and corporate strategy.
Presented at TED 2025 and debated at the G20, this is Duflo's most urgent and provocative keynote. She applies the same data-driven rigor that won her the Nobel Prize to the climate crisis — calculating the precise moral debt that wealthy nations owe to the world's poorest for the damages caused by historical emissions, and making a concrete, evidence-based case for how a global minimum tax on ultra-high-net-worth individuals could generate the $500 billion annually needed to fund climate adaptation in the developing world. A defining talk for any event focused on sustainability, global governance, or the future of capitalism.
Speaker topics
FAQs on Booking Esther Duflo
Why Esther Duflo?
Booking Esther Duflo for your event is a statement about the kind of thinking you want in the room. As a Nobel laureate, MIT professor, and one of the world's most respected policy economists, she offers audiences something rare: not opinions or inspiration, but evidence — and the intellectual framework to act on it. Her work has shaped the policies of governments and multilateral institutions across five continents, and her ability to translate frontier research into clear, actionable insight makes her as valuable in a boardroom as at an international summit. Whether your audience is grappling with inequality, climate strategy, policy design, or the challenge of measuring organizational impact, Duflo provides the kind of rigorous, data-driven perspective that changes how leaders think — and decide. Contact Aurum Speakers Bureau to explore availability and booking details.
What did Esther Duflo win the Nobel Prize for?
Esther Duflo was awarded the 2019 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences jointly with Abhijit Banerjee and Michael Kremer for their experimental approach to alleviating global poverty. Specifically, the prize recognized their pioneering use of randomized controlled trials — the gold standard of scientific testing, long used in medicine — to evaluate development policy in the real world. Their work demonstrated that questions about fighting poverty are best answered through carefully designed field experiments among the people most affected, and their methods have since transformed how development economics is conducted globally.
What is J-PAL and why does it matter?
J-PAL — the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab — is the MIT-based global research network that Duflo co-founded with Abhijit Banerjee and Sendhil Mullainathan. It is now one of the most influential research institutions in the world for evidence-based policy: a network of over 900 researchers at 97 universities who design, test, and scale interventions addressing poverty, health, education, financial inclusion, and climate. Programs evaluated by J-PAL-affiliated researchers have directly reached more than 400 million people, making it one of the highest-impact academic institutions in history in terms of real-world policy influence.
What topics does speaker Esther Duflo cover?
As a keynote speaker, Esther Duflo addresses evidence-based decision-making and policy design; the economics of global poverty and inequality; randomized controlled trials as a framework for organizational and public sector evaluation; the intersection of climate change and economic justice; and what it means to build institutions capable of learning from evidence. Her talks are particularly valuable for audiences in finance, international development, impact investing, public policy, and any sector where leaders need a more rigorous foundation for how they measure and act on results. Aurum Speakers Bureau can tailor her engagement to the specific themes and audience of your event.
How to book Esther Duflo as a keynote speaker?
Aurum Speakers Bureau can help you book Esther Duflo as a speaker for your next event, conference, or board meeting. Simply fill out our contact form to inquire about Esther Duflo's availability for a speaking engagement. One of our booking agents will respond to your request immediately and contact the speaker to let them know you want to hire them. We will assist you with obtaining speaking fees, booking information, and confirming availability for Esther Duflo or any other top keynote speaker or celebrity of your choice.
How much is Esther Duflo speaking fee?
Esther Duflo speaking fees are determined by several factors, including the event's date, whether it's a virtual or in-person event, the duration, format, preparation required for their speech, and more. The same applies to the cost to hire any other top expert speakers and celebrities. The Speaker Fee Range listed on our website is simply a guideline and is subject to change without notice. If you would like to hire Esther Duflo to deliver a keynote speech for your event, please fill out the contact form or email us at info@aurumbureau.com with as much detail as possible. One of our experienced agents will get in touch with you and let you know exactly how much it will cost to book Esther Duflo.
How can I contact Esther Duflo?
We only work with Esther Duflo on paid speaking engagements. Aurum Speakers Bureau can assist you in booking Esther Duflo and will handle all negotiations, contracts, and logistics associated with having Esther Duflo speak at your event. We will be your sole point of contact throughout the process. Get in touch with Aurum Speakers Bureau today, and we will reach out to any motivational speaker or celebrity you want to enquire about speaking at your event. If you wish to contact Esther Duflo for any other reason, we will be unable to assist you as we are not authorized to provide personal contact information.
Can I book Esther Duflo for a virtual keynote?
Yes, Esther Duflo is available for virtual keynotes and webinars. To book Esther Duflo for a virtual event, please complete the contact form or send us an email to inquire about the special fees for virtual engagements.
