Natasha D'cruze, MSc

Natasha Agnes D’cruze, MSc, is a PhD student in Demography at the University of Pennsylvania. Before joining the Graduate Group of Demography, she worked as a Research Associate with the Household Finance Practice at Dvara Research, where she contributed to developing a measurement index for financial inclusion among low-income households. In the past, she has worked as an action researcher on the digital and Aadhaar-based delivery mechanisms of social welfare schemes in Jharkhand (India), where she did field research and collaborated with civil society organizations and village communities to help advocate for better local accountability.

D’cruze has worked on the ground to study Ayushman Bharat, the national public health insurance scheme, in Jharkhand. She has also explored topics in evaluating development through the capability approach lens during her engagement with the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI). Born in Patna, India, she holds an MSc in Development Economics from SOAS, University of London, and a BA in Economics from Delhi University.