Marcel Schana

MSc Economics for Development
2021

I studied B.Sc. Economics and B.A. Philosophy at Ludwig-Maximilians University, Munich, and the Hebrew University, Jerusalem.

I co-founded Aid Pioneers, a German-based Ngo that organises logistics in crisis regions focusing on relief aid and support for children in need. We started in the reaction to the explosion in Beirut in August 2020 and managed to host an airlift weekly in less than ten days. We also support refugees in Lesvos and have a project in Sierra Leone. Here, we send donations to boost the local production side of menstruation articles.
Another project is in Northern Iraq, where we support education institutes with equipment. Currently, we have a team of 50 members and two vision labs. One develops a blockchain-based solution to track donations across the globe aiming to tackle corruption, and one lab that creates an e-voucher system for Lebanon to stabilize the local economy.

Due to my commitment, my interest in research is mainly in the following questions:
– How can we measure impact? (important, as logistics is often the bottleneck. We have to choose what to send. Also, significant as the impact is our overall motivation, which we seek to maximize)
– String attached or unconstraint support (e.g., effective altruism / give direct)
– How to transform first aid help (we call it firefighter-Stage) to long-term sustainable development aid (we call it architecture-Stage)
– Effects of shipped donations on local production sides
– How trade can help states to overcome their current situation

Contact: marcel.schana@gtc.ox.ac.uk