Gonzalo Hernández Licona is a Mexican economist and distinguished scholar in the fields of poverty measurement, economic development and social program evaluation. Hernández Licona holds a PhD in economics from the University of Oxford, a master's in economics from the University of Essex and a B.A. in economics from the Mexico Autonomous Institute of Technology (ITAM).
Hernández Licona founded the National Council for the Evaluation of Social Development Policy (CONEVAL), a decentralized Mexican federal government institution. CONEVAL's main objective is to evaluate social programs and measure poverty in Mexico. Since November 2005, Hernández Licona has served as the Executive Secretary of CONEVAL, in charge of overseeing the Council's activities and executing the agreements reached upon by the Council's board.
In collaboration with other distinguished academics on CONEVAL's executive board, Hernández Licona participated in the development of a multidimensional poverty measurement methodology. This methodology accounts for multiple social deprivations and income wellbeing in Mexican households. It is currently employed as the official poverty measurement methodology in Mexico.
Due to his work as a scholar and as an evaluator, Hernández Licona has received multiple awards and recognitions. Amongst his most prestigious distinctions is the GPSA Award for Leadership and Social Accountability (2015), awarded to Hernández Licona by the Global Partnership for Social Accountability (a World Bank affiliate) for his contributions, and those of CONEVAL, in poverty measurement and evaluation of social programs under an accountability framework. Dr. Hernández Licona has also been awarded the International Award for Research in Health Policy “José Luis Bobadilla” (2017), Trimestre Económico “Daniel Cosío Villegas” Award (2000), the Banamex Economics Award (1996), and the ITAM Professional Merit Award- Public Sector (2013).
Prior to leading CONEVAL, Hernández Licona served as the General Director of Evaluation and Social Program Monitoring for Mexico's social development ministry (SEDESOL). While at SEDESOL he developed an innovative system for the evaluation and monitoring of federal social programs. Hernández Licona has also been a long time scholar at ITAM, having directed its B.A. program in economics from 1998-1999. He has also lectured multiple courses, and advised nearly 30 student thesis, six of them which have gone on to win the Banamex Economics Award. He has been a member of the National Researchers System since 1997 and holds more than 70 publications.
Due to his expertise, in 2015 Hernández Licona was appointed by the UNDP and the OECD member of the Monitoring Advisory Group for the Global Partnership for Effective Development Co-operation. Then in 2016, he was appointed by the Secretary-General of the United Nations as one of the 15 independent scientific experts in charge of developing the 2019 Global Sustainable Development Report.
Hernández Licona has also served on the International Initiative for Impact Evaluations' Board of Commissioner since 2009.
Work experience
Executive Secretary, National Council for the Evaluation of Social Development Policy of Mexico (CONEVAL), November 2005 – present Member of the independent group of scientists, Global Sustainable Development Report 2019, United Nations, November 2016 – present Member of the Governing Board, El Colegio de México (COLMEX), March 2016 – present Member of the Monitoring Advisory Group, Global Partnership for the Effective Development Co-operation, May 2015 – present Member of the Multidimensional Poverty Peer Network, Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI), June 2013 – present Member of the Expert Panel, México, ¿Cómo vamos?, 2013–present Member of the Evaluation Advisory Committee, Global Alliance for Vaccine Immunization (GAVI Alliance), October 2010- December 2016 Member of the advisory committee, Centro de Estudios Espinosa Yglesias, 2010–present Member of the Board of Commissioners, International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie), April 2007 – present Professor and researcher at the department of economics, Mexico Autonomous Institute of Technology (ITAM), April 1996 – present General director of evaluation and social program monitoring, Secretariat of Social Development (SEDESOL), July 2002- November 2005 Member of the Consultative Commission for the Modernization of the Minimum Wage System, National Commission for Minimum Wage, February 2001- August 2001 Director of Undergraduate Studies in Economics, Mexico Autonomous Institute of Technology (ITAM), August 1998- August 1999 Academic Representative, Commission for Labor Cooperation Agreement, June 1996- July 2001