I'm happy to introduce our newest staff writer, Ana Escalante, to the NextBillion community.

Ana has joined our team as a summer intern.? She has a long-held interest in international development, having observed first hand the effects of poverty and inequality in her community in Mexico.? During her time as an undergraduate, she spent six months at the Commission of Natural Protected Areas in the Yucatan, Mexico, where she helped to manage and implement a small-scale microfinance development project in the Celestun National Reserve.? The project trained local women in the sustainable harvest of blue crabs and provided them with the skills and training to handle the export of this product.Immediately prior to joining WRI, Ana completed a four month internship at the Amy Biehl Foundation in Cape Town, South Africa.

She is a recent graduate of University of the Americas in Puebla, Mexico, and holds a BA in International Relations.