Vera Lummis

Vera Lummis is a Master’s candidate in International Policy at Stanford University, specializing in Cyber and AI Policy. She is also a member of the 2025-2026 AI Policy Working Group at the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (HAI). Her work focuses on shaping the policies and tools needed to deploy artificial intelligence and data-driven innovations responsibly, particularly in low-resource contexts.

Vera joins the MIP program after seven years in the international social sector - based in the Philippines, the United States, and Kenya - and brings deep expertise in building public-private partnerships to apply data, technology, and evidence for social impact. She previously led the Digital Innovation portfolio at GiveDirectly, where she spearheaded multi-country initiatives enabling the use of big data, AI/ML, and mobile technologies to deliver $35 million in digital cash transfers to more than 100,000 people affected by crises across Africa and Asia. At GiveDirectly, Vera launched three research studies with academic partners, including at the University of California, Berkeley, evaluating the impacts of digital technologies and AI/ML in humanitarian and safety net programs, and presented this work at the UN Africa Climate Summit and the World Bank AI for Social Protection Summit. Prior to GiveDirectly, Vera was a Senior Associate at IDinsight, where she worked with public and social sector organizations in Southeast Asia to generate data and evidence that improved policy implementation in public health, workforce development, and climate-focused programs. At IDinsight, Vera built a monitoring, evaluation, and learning system for a regional climate-tech accelerator, conducted mixed-methods field research to inform the design of an industry-led Philippine job training program, and co-developed the Philippine Department of Health’s national monitoring framework for the rollout of Universal Health Care legislation.

Vera graduated from Princeton University with honors, earning a B.A. in Public and International Affairs and a minor in Entrepreneurship.