Ms. Paras is currently Deputy Head of the KLIMA Policy Center at the Manila Observatory. She oversees all local and international projects in KLIMA. She is currently Country Lead for the Resistance and Resilience project. She was formerly Senior Policy Advisor for the EU Access to Sustainable Energy in the Philippines – Clean Energy Living Laboratories (EU ASEP-CELLS) project, also in MO; and Finance and Regulatory Expert for the Sustainable Financing of Just Transition work with the International Labour Organisation (ILO).

In 2009, she obtained her BS Business Economics degree from the University of the Philippines School of Economics (UPSE). In her stint in UPSE, she was the first woman Editor-in-Chief of SIDHI, the official publication of the School; Personnel Coordinator of the SE-RVC; Managing Editor of ECHOES, the publication of the UP Economics Society; and was member of the School of Economics Advisory Council (SEAC). Her thesis “The Economics of Love: Relationship Development as a Multi-Stage Coordination Game’ was nominated for the Gerardo Sicat Award for Best Thesis and is one of the most read thesis in the School.

Apart from her Manila Observatory stint, she is concurrently President of the Center for Policy Studies and Advocacy on Sustainable Development (The Policy Center). She was formerly, Lead Economist for the UPPAF-RESPOND, a Technical Assistance to the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) and the National Competition Law and Policy Expert at the PCC. She was formerly a Legal Development Programme Fellow of the Bloomberg Initiative for Global Road Safety in the World Health Organisation (WHO).

In 2018, she obtained her MSc Regulation (specialising in Utilities Regulation) from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) in the United Kingdom. She has been the only Filipino to date in this programme. 

Upon her arrival from the UK, she has worked with different agencies in government such as the DOF, DoTr, DOE, DOH, DENR, and NEDA. She was also legal consultant in the Supreme Court for Justice Ramon Paul Hernando and worked primarily on water cases.

Prior to her stint at MO, she was formerly, policy consultant and program manager at the Ateneo School of Government (ASoG) and handled projects on energy policy, climate change, financial and securities regulation, road safety, and reproductive health. She was also part of the team that did the National Energy Policy Review in 2016. Her professional career centered on research in various subject fields on governance and institutions. She has been engaged in research since her undergraduate years and started as research assistant to now BSP Governor, Benjamin Diokno.

Previous training includes completing the Global Road Safety Leadership Course from John Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, USA, in 2016. She obtained her Juris Doctor degree from the Ateneo de Manila University in 2013. Her other research interests are law and economics, competition, international trade, digital markets, and environmental regulation. She also loves music and sports playing the drums, piano, guitars, tennis, and basketball.

You can learn more about our Trustee via their LinkedIn profile.