Devanne Brookins

Devanne Brookins is a PhD candidate in the International Development Group (IDG) within the Department of Urban Studies and Planning at MIT. Her research interests are focused on urban governance and development, the role of institutions in development, property rights and access to land, and related distributional concerns such as inclusion and marginalized populations. To that end, she is currently based in Accra, Ghana conducting research for her dissertation on institutional change, decentralization and land reform in Ghana. While at MIT, she has consulted with the Local Government and Decentralization Unit of the Urban Legislation, Land and Governance Branch at UN Habitat, the African Center for Economic Transformation, and The Urban Institute. Prior to coming to MIT, Devanne worked for AED as a program manager for a governance project in Senegal.  In addition, she worked for The Urban Institute designing and implementing technical assistance programs to improve local governance in Rwanda, Nigeria, and Uganda. She holds Masters degrees in International Affairs and Urban Planning from Columbia University.