Staff Updates
Pallavi Gupta
Pallavi has significant experience working with tech and non-tech innovations resolving critical challenges in the developing world. As Assistant Director of Programs for Shah Family Global Innovation Lab, Pallavi will support all phases of research projects and is responsible for developing and maintaining relationships with a portfolio of top NGO’s and donors to generate new opportunities for collaboration. Pallavi received the M.A. in International Development from the Heller School of Social Policy and Management, Brandeis University and the M.S. in Management Information Systems from the London School of Economics, UK. She has over ten years of experience working across engineering, management consulting and international development. Between 2005 and 2013, she worked as a software engineer with IBM Software Labs India, Autodesk Singapore and as a management consultant with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) London. In 2013, she founded a non-profit, FifthEstate, in Uttar Pradesh, India. The organization partners with state governments in India to create collaborations between innovative social models, government departments, civil society groups and corporations. Her work was acknowledged by the Chief Minister of India’s largest state and was invited to join the State Innovation Council of Uttar Pradesh. As a council member, she advised on the formation of policies on social innovation and encouraging corporate participation in social development. Pallavi is an Ashoka Fellow and has published in development and public policy as well as holds a patent in rational database technology.
Diana Harbison
As Assistant Director for International Development, Diana is excited to work with Engineering faculty and students to expand the role they play in international development. She has extensive experience developing and implementing projects in collaboration with host country partners, multi-lateral development banks, U.S. and foreign public and private industry stakeholders. Prior to joining Purdue, Diana held a variety of positions over the course of 15 years at the United States Trade and Development Agency (USTDA), an independent federal Agency tasked with supporting U.S. jobs through U.S. exports for infrastructure projects in emerging markets. She most recently served as Director of the Monitoring and Evaluation Office providing advice on all aspects of the Agency’s program, including identifying where programming was most effective. Mrs. Harbison previously served on programmatic teams managing multi-million dollar portfolios supporting infrastructure project development in the Middle East, North Africa, South and Southeast Asia. She is a Virginian, married to a Purdue alum happily raising a two-year old daughter.