Manish Bapna joined WRI as its Managing Director in June 2007.  His expertise is in international development with a particular focus on the sustainable and equitable use of natural resources. Most recently, Bapna served as Executive Director of the nonprofit Bank Information Center (BIC), whose mission is to protect rights and promote sustainability in the projects and policies of international financial institutions. Bapna presided over considerable growth at BIC, including increases in staff, funding and influence, especially in developing countries.

Bapna previously served as Senior Economist and task team leader at the World Bank. During his seven-year tenure at the Bank, he led multidisciplinary teams in the design and implementation of community-driven water, watershed and integrated rural development projects in Asia and Latin America.  Bapna also advised several nonprofit development groups including Seva Mandir (a leading grassroots nonprofit in India) and Women's World Banking (a microfinance support organization). In an earlier incarnation, he worked as a strategy consultant for McKinsey & Company in the financial services and technology industries.

A quoted source in influential newspapers, Bapna has been cited in front-page articles in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times and International Herald Tribune.  He has also regularly testified before U.S. Congressional Committees on the role and effectiveness of development aid and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Bapna has an MBA and an MPA from Harvard University and a SB from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He and his wife, Geeta, recently had their first child, a daughter named Laila, in May 2007.