Maria Pilar Lorenzo is a development professional, researcher and consultant on the nexus of social equity, government innovations and policy-making. She is the leading research supervisor for a research project funded by the Philippine Local Government Academy on the nexus of peace and local government innovations. Presently, she is also one of the consultants providing strategic advice for the ongoing National Rightsizing Program of the Philippine government. She obtained Master of Public Administration from the University of the Philippines (summa cum laude) and Advanced Master of Cultures and Development Studies as a VLIR-UOS scholar from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (cum laude). Her other recent scholarships and fellowships are with the Asia-Europe Foundation, International Organization for Migration Prague, United Nations Office at Geneva, Charles University, Institute for Anthropological Research in Africa, Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz, National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies, Japan International Cooperation Agency, and National University of Singapore.