Usec. Navarro heads the Regional Development Office of the National Economic and Development Authority or NEDA. She holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of the Philippines-Diliman and an MPA major in Economic Policy Management from Columbia University-New York. Before coming to NEDA, Dr. Navarro was a Senior Research Fellow at the Philippine Institute for Development Studies or PIDS, where she conducted policy research since 2012. She was also Acting Vice President of the institute in 2015. In 2013,DevEx, an organization which helps make international development aid efficient, recognized her as among the 40 Under 40 Leaders in International Development in Manila. Before coming to PIDS, she worked on various projects funded by international aid agencies. Before that, she worked as a summer scholar at the International Monetary Fund-Statistics Department/Government Finance Division. Prior to her stint in the United States, she worked at the Philippines’ Build-Operate-Transfer Center (now Public-Private Partnerships Center) and the NEDA-Infrastructure Staff.