Emily compiles and analyzes public finance and water infrastructure data for the WFX team as well as supports everyday operations.
Ms. Barnett joined WFX in 2022 as a graduate fellow while pursuing a Master of Public Policy from the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy. She brings a variety of experiences having spent most of her career in nonprofit program evaluation and risk management. Prior to her graduate studies, Ms. Barnett worked for a start-up nonprofit in Nicaragua and Panama where she supported several initiatives based in public health, water infrastructure, and microfinance. It was through these experiences working with farming cooperatives and other local entrepreneurs that she learned the power of community-led program design and partnership.
Ms. Barnett spent almost five years with a Chicago-based nonprofit, Heartland Alliance, as part of the Enterprise Risk Management team. She has significant experience building out workflows and reporting processes to aid program teams. She is active in the University of Chicago community where she currently serves as a Copy Editor for the Chicago Policy Review and Teaching Assistant for a graduate course, Analytical Politics.
She holds a Bachelors of Science in Business from Indiana University.