Fernando José Saenz Aguilar

Fernando Saenz is a Senior Research Associate at J-PAL LAC, where he supports the implementation of randomized controlled trials by managing data processes and ensuring data quality throughout the data collection lifecycle. He works closely with the Research vertical team, field teams, partners, and principal investigators, including Karen Maccours, to monitor data integrity and contribute to high-quality research operations across multiple projects in Guatemala.

Prior to joining J-PAL, Fernando worked as a Research Assistant at the Association for Research and Social Studies (ASIES), supporting the Department of Economic Research and Consultancy on studies related to circular economy, remittances in rural communities, and labor market informality in Guatemala. He also worked as a Data Analyst at the National Institute of Statistics of Guatemala and as a Macroeconomic and Financial Analyst at Zona Trading. For his undergraduate thesis, he collaborated with the Natural Sciences and Technology Research Institute (IARNA) at Universidad Rafael Landívar, applying environmental accounting frameworks to estimate technical efficiency in the use of natural resources across the Guatemalan economy.

Fernando holds a bachelor’s degree in business economics from Universidad Rafael Landívar. He is an alumnus of the GLOBAL UGRAD ’24 exchange program, having completed a semester at Georgia College and State University. He has completed World Bank online courses in behavioral science for public policy and research reproducibility and is currently pursuing the MITx MicroMasters in data, economics, and design of policy.