Ezgi Canpolat

• Visiting Postdoctoral Scholar, Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Harvard University

PhD in Cultural Anthropology

Ezgi Canpolat is a globally recognized anthropologist and innovation leader architecting climate solutions and AI for social good at scale. She was recently selected for the prestigious Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Residency among 105 global thought leaders-a convening that includes Nobel laureates and heads of international institutions-and currently serves as a Visiting Scholar at Harvard University's Center for Middle Eastern Studies, where she co-leads the Salata Institute for Climate and Sustainability-funded project The Political Economy of Energy Transitions in the Middle East. Her interdisciplinary work has been featured in major platforms including the Washington Post. At the World Bank, Canpolat leads regional programming on AI for Social Good and Climate Change across Eastern and Southern Africa, mobilizing millions in climate financing and shaping policy frameworks that impact millions of lives. She previously directed inclusive climate programming at the $10 billion Climate Investment Funds, where she co-founded the groundbreaking $11 million Women-Led Coal Transition initiative-the first gender-responsive coal transition financing mechanism globally. Across her global portfolio, she has forged strategic partnerships with some of the world's most influential institutions, including major international development banks; leading philanthropic organizations; and numerous national governments, research institutes, and civil society networks. Canpolat has authored numerous peer-reviewed articles, policy and research papers that influence both academic discourse and multilateral practice. She is the author of a forthcoming book, tentatively titled“Governing Diversity: Syrian Refugees, Humanitarianism, and the Politics of Belonging in the New Turkey.” She holds a PhD in cultural anthropology from the Graduate Center, City University of New York. She studied social entrepreneurship and innovation at scale at Harvard Business School and joined the MIT's AI Venture Studio, helping build the next generation of AI ventures for mass impact.

• –present Visiting Postdoctoral Scholar, Harvard University

• 2021 The Graduate Center, City University of New York, Cultural Anthropology

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