Nicholas Burnett Managing Director Email: nburnett@r4d.org Office: +1 202-470-5740 Fax: +1 202-470-5712 Mobile: +1 571-337-6472 Languages: English (native), French (fluent), Spanish (functional) Contact R4D Press Office for Bookings Inquiries: +1 202-470-5733 Nicholas Burnett heads the global education portfolio at Results for Development Institute (R4D). His work centers on addressing tough challenges in the field of global education that are often neglected, especially using combinations of analysis, financing, model identification and connecting key stakeholders. His recent work has focused on innovation in education (through the Center for Education Innovations), education financing and innovative financing, the linkage between secondary education and skills for employment, out-of-school children, early childhood education, and education program evaluation and learning. In addition, as a former top UNESCO and World Bank education official, Burnett continues to contribute to global debates on education. Burnett currently chairs the Governing Board of the International Institute for Educational Planning, and is a member of the NORRAG Consultative Committee and of the Advisory Board of the Global Business Development Network. He is also a visiting Special Professor of International Education Policy at the University of Nottingham in the UK. Areas of Expertise Nicholas Burnett has over 30 years of experience handling education, including early learning, global education goals and monitoring, out-of-school children, skills development, governance, education financing and innovative financing. Education Ph.D. (1977), M A (1975) International Economics, The Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies Henry Fellow and Fulbright Award (1972) Harvard University BA (1971) - Philosophy, Politics and Economics, Oxford University, Balliol College
Professional Background Assistant Director-General of Education, UNESCO, Paris, 2004-2009 Director, Education for All Global Monitoring Report, UNESCO, Paris, 2004-2007 Founder, Burnett International LLC, Bethesda, MD, 2001-2004 The World Bank, Washington, DC, 1983-2000 Sector Manager, Human Development, West and Central Africa, 1997-2000 Quality Promotion Manager, Education Group, Human Development Department, 1996-97 Acting Manager, Education Group, Human Development Department, 1995 Economist, 1983-1994 Researcher, Economic Development Institute, 1972-73 Publications (Recent Selection) Paying for Performance: An Analysis of Output- Based Aid in Education, February 2016 The Economic Cost of Out-of-School Children in 20 Countries, November 2015 The Price of Exclusion: Social and Economic Costs of Out of School Children in Colombia, November 2015 Innovative Financial Services for Education, November 2015 The Economic Cost of Out-of-School Children in Southeast Asia, August 2015 Financing Upper Secondary Education: Unlocking 12 Years of Education for All, July 2015 Bringing Learning to Light: The role of citizenled assessments in shifting the education agenda, June 2015 Estimating the Costs and Benefits of Education from a Health Perspective, June 2015 Fixing the Broken Promise of Education for All: Findings from the Global Initiative on Out-of- School Children, UNESCO Institute for Statistics, UNICEF, January 2015 Innovative Financing for Out-of-School Children and Youth, January 2015 International Education Policies, Issues, And Challenges, International Development Policy, November 2014 What are the implications for UNESCO of the proposed post-2015 EFA goals, May 2014 Buying Down Loans for Education Final Report to the Global Partnership for Education, November 2013 Exclusion from Education: The Economic Cost of Out- of-school Children in 20 countries, November 2013 An emphasis on skills and competencies in Global Development Goals: Leaving no one behind, UNA-UK, October 2013 A Moral Obligation, An Economic Priority: The urgency of enrolling out of school children, April 2013 Will there be education goals after 2015? Education s fragile position on the global agenda, Commonwealth Education Partnerships, 2012 Skills for Employability in Africa and Asia, Innovative Secondary Education for Skills Enhancement Synthesis Paper, Results for Development Institute, October 2012 Post-2015 Education MDGs, Results for Development Institute and Overseas Development Institute, August 2012 A missed opportunity to reform UNESCO or could renewed US funding trigger it? in Laura C. Engel and David Rutkowski, UNESCO without US Funding: Implications for Education Worldwide, Center for Education and
Evaluation Policy, Indiana University, 2012 What comes after aid? The changing face of international finance for education, Commonwealth Education Partnerships, 2011 What challenges exist for Early Childhood Care and Education? What should we do about them?, 2010 Financing education: Thoughts on priorities for the next decade, Journal of Educational Planning and Administration, Vol. XXIV No. 23, 2010 How to develop the UNESCO the World Needs: The Challenges of Reform, Journal of International Cooperation in Education, Vol. 13 No.2, 2010 Innovative Financing for Education, OSI Education Support Program Working Paper 5, 2010 Getting inclusive education back on track after the financial crisis, Global, 2010 Media Placements and Blog Posts (Recent Selection) Budgets ignore poor children, The Nation (Thailand), February 2016 History 101: Leading Educator C.E. Beeby's Lessons Are Still Relevant Today, Work in Progress Blog, February 2016 Time to Think Outside the Box: Buy-Downs as an Education Financing Option, NORRAG NEWSBite, September 2015 3 Steps to Make Early Education More Accessible, Education Week, May 2015 Bridging the job skills gap around the developing world, Washington Post, June 2014 Education s Buy-Down Option, Project Syndicate, March 2014 Bridging the gap between schools and skill in Africa, CNBC Africa, August 2013 (Interview) Local graduates lack key skills for job market, Business Daily (East Africa), August 2013 New Project gives informal schools a shot in the arm, The Star (Kenya), August 2013 Innovative Financing in Education: Is It Over Before it Began? No, We Just Need to Pivot Our Thinking, NORRAG NEWSBite, August 2013 Learning from Innovators for Better Education, Education for All Blog, July 2013 Why non-state education and why CEI? Center for Education Innovations Blog, June 2013 New Learning Platform Focuses on Non-State Education, Voice of America, June 2013 Doha meeting to focus on out of school children, Gulf Times, April 2013 Education initiative gets off to good start, Gulf Times, April 2013 Heads in the sand: why it s time the global education community woke up to reality, ODI Blog, October 2012 Beyond 2015: Continuing and complementing the GMR, EFA Global Monitoring Report Blog, June 2012 From the GMR to UNESCO to Education Results for Development, NORRAG News, April 2012
Speaking Engagements (Recent Selection) Conference, March 2016, Vancouver, Canada Asia Education Summit on Flexible Learning Strategies for Out-of-School Children, February 2016, Bangkok, Thailand (Plenary World Innovation Summit for Education, November 2015, Doha Qatar (Panel Moderator) Back to School with Early Childhood Matters, September 2015, Washington, D.C., (Keynote Council for Education in the Commonwealth Conference, June 2015, London, UK (Keynote Education and Development: Challenges and Perspectives, April 2015, Geneva, Switzerland Pricing the Right to Education: The Cost of Reaching New Targets By 2030, March 2015, Washington, D.C., (Keynote Non-State Actors and Education: Engaging in the Debate, March 2015, Washington D.C., (Respondent) Conference, March 2015, Washington, D.C., School, Skills, and Livelihood: Linking Secondary Education to Employment, June 2014, Washington, D.C., The LEGO Foundation Idea Conference: Redefining Play, Re-imagining Learning, April 2014, Billund, Denmark Conference, March 2014, Toronto, Canada Innovative Financing Opportunities for Scaling Education Panel at Brookings Conference on Financing Education for All, February 2014, Washington DC, US International Education Funders Group Conference, February 2014, Zurich, Switzerland (Keynote Skills for Inclusive and Sustainable Growth in Developing Asia-Pacific: An International Forum, December 2013 Manila, Philippines ( Innovations and Innovative Financing for Education Presentation UNICEF Global Staff, November 2013 NYC, US ( Loan Buy-downs for Education Presentation at Global Partnership for Education Board November 2013, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia ( UK Forum on International Education and Training, September 2013, Oxford, UK International Development Policy Conference, September 2013, Geneva, Switzerland (Keynote Innovative Secondary Education for Skills Enhancement Africa Skills Development Conference, August 2013, Nairobi, Kenya ( International Education Funders Group, April 2013, London, UK Educate A Child Ministerial Conference, April 2013, Doha, Qatar (Keynote World Bank Human Development Forum, January 2013, Washington DC World Bank Early Childhood Development Conference, February 2012, Arusha, Tanzania (Keynote World Innovation Summit for Education, November 2011, Doha, Qatar (Keynote Global Partnership for Education Annual Meeting, November 2011, Copenhagen, Denmark UNESCO First World Conference on Early Childhood Care and Education, September 2010, Russia (Keynote World Economic Forum Education Entrepreneurship Forum, October 2010, Marrakesh, Morocco (Keynote
Affiliations Chair, Governing Board, UNESCO International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP), 2015- Present Visiting Professor, Center for the Study of International Cooperation in Education at Hiroshima University, Japan, 2014-2015 Special Visiting Professor of International Education Policy, University of Nottingham, UK, 2007 - Present Guest lecturer, George Washington University Graduate School of Education, Washington, DC, 2010-12 Guest lecturer, Central European University Course on Innovative Financing for Education, Hungary 2012-13 Advisory Panel, Hewlett Foundation Quality Education in Developing Countries Program, 2007 Present Council of Consultant Fellows, International Institute for Educational Planning, Paris, France, 2009 Present Advisory Board, Global Business School Network, 2013 Present Board member, Americans for UNESCO (A4UNESCO), 2014