Margarita Gómez

Experience

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  Ministry of Public Security’s Office of International Affairs (DGAI).

  Oct 2007 - Oct 2008

  International Analysis Director

  -Established four representations in strategic countries (United States, Colombia, Spain and Guatemala) to promote cooperation and sharing of information, intelligence and knowledge.-Generated an international agenda on strategic security issues, analysis of scenarios, risk and criminal networks, and comparative studies.

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  Secretariat of Public Security

  Nov 2008 - Mar 2013

  CIES is the first specialized centre of its kind in Mexico; it was founded in response to the need for multidisciplinary research on public security and to forge ties and strategic alliances with universities, other research centres, civil society organizations and the private sector, as well as local authorities-Personally created and established the External Advisory Board of the Ministry of Public Security and coordinated its annual meetings. The board has 27 members, including Michael Chertoff, former U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security; Barry McCaffrey, former director of the U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy; Karen P. Tandy, former DEA administrator; Ulrich Kersten, former chief of Germany’s Federal Criminal Police and Norman D. Inkster, former commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.-Led the Federal Police Evaluation Project in collaboration with the United Nation Office on Drugs and Crime.-Supervised and coordinated the first 14 research studies conducted by the CIES with the assistance of over 80 researchers from Mexican and international universities and research centres.-Led and signed agreements with over 20 universities and research centres for cooperation in the areas of security studies, research fellowships, internships and professionalization programs. Show less The Federal Ministry of Public Security is responsible for combating organized crime and all crimes that threaten the State, such as money laundering and forgery, cyber-crimes, extortion, kidnapping, terrorism and the trafficking of people, drugs and firearms.-Created the Police Development System to promote the professionalization of the country’s police forces. Developed the Professionalization Program, which takes into account the experiences of countries like Chile, Colombia, the United States, France, the United Kingdom and Germany, and stipulates the training requirements all the country’s officers must meet in order to join, remain with and rise up the ranks of the police.-Recruited over 9,000 new police officers with university degrees into investigative and scientific areas; introduced vetting evaluations, a public policy without precedent in Mexico. -Coordinated over 200 federal and local police chiefs as part of the development of systematic operating procedures for security institutions designed to facilitate the accountability and reduce the discretional nature and subjectivity of officers’ behaviour. -Developed and coordinated the International Evaluation of Federal Police in conjunction with the UN and eight security experts from Germany, the United States, the United Kingdom, India, Spain, Colombia and Mexico. Show less

  • Director-General of Academic Affairs, Centre for Security Research and Studies (CIES)

    Jun 2012 - Mar 2013

  • Advisor to the Minister of Public Security (Deputy Director-General)

    Nov 2008 - May 2012
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  BHR Consulting in México

  Apr 2013 - Sept 2014

  Founder and Chief Executive Officer

  BHR Consulting is a Think Tank focused on the analysis, design and development of public policies about security and education.-Designed, coordinated and implemented the evaluation and reform of the Military Education System of the Mexican Army and Air Force, with the aim of modernizing and reinforcing the Mexican Army’s capability to form leaders with democratic values and professional excellence. -Collaborated on the design of the education program named Talentum. The objective of this program is to boost the education of talented high-school students coming from low-income families and adverse environments. The public policy implemented had the goal of improving the academic performance of the students as well as non-cognitive skills through mentoring, use of technology and specialized counseling. -Contributed to the academic research of the impact that non-cognitive skills have on academic performance and school attendance. Personally designed the methodology and elaborated the qualitative and quantitative analysis in order to provide specific recommendations. Show less

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  Behavioural Insights Team

  Jul 2015 - Dec 2015

  Research Fellow at the Behavioural Insights Team

  -Evaluated and designed possible interventions to reduce the informal economy in Mexico, applying behavioural science to new public policies; customer journey analysis; design of in-depth interview questionnaires; literature review; support on field work, and elaboration of policy recommendations. -Collaborated on the first exploratory analysis of the Jamaican Ministry of Finance reform, using organizational change insights and communication diagnostics. -Elaborated randomized control trial protocols to identify what works to increase tax compliance in Costa Rica, Poland, Guatemala and Mexico. -Implemented a set of behavioural interventions to reduce obesity and increase teacher quality in the UAE. -Coordinated high-level meetings between BIT and the Mexican Presidential Office. Show less

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  Laboratorio Nacional de Políticas Públicas

  May 2016 - Oct 2019

  Founder and Head of the Innovation, Behavioural and Experimentation Unit

  The Unit has the goal to promote the use of evidence based public policies and to apply three innovative components in the design and implementation of public policies: Behavioural Science, Design Thinking and Experimentation.-Led and project managed ten projects with federal/local government and with private international firms-Founding the Unit, I started with an initial seed investment of 27k USD. I have generated upwards of 1m USD in consulting revenues-Increasing gender equality and diversity in government by using quantitative and qualitative analysis to identify the main barriers women face to reach senior positions.-Reducing corruption and promoting compliance in federal government ministries using a behavioural intervention based on innovative experimental methods and the use of technology. -Understanding police behaviour to design and implement public policies to improve public-service motivation. -Gender and diversity focused projects for the World Bank and the IADB, promoting female participation in economic activities and in STEM careers.-Directly lead and manage a team of 8 applied researchers. Created an extensive network of hundreds of professional experts, practitioners and academics to collaborate on evidence-based public policies and joint research. -Conceived, planned and hosted the first International Conference of Behavioural Science and Public Policy (CCOMPP) in March 2019. The conference included speakers from BIT, the IADB, IDEAS42, the World Bank, the DIFD-UK, Duke University, and the University of Copenhagen, amongst others. There were over 400 attendees from the private and public sectors. Show less

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  People in Government Lab (PeopleGov) at the Blavatnik School of Government

  Oct 2019 - Sept 2022

  Founder and Executive Director

  Margarita Gómez, Inaugural executive director of the People in Government Lab, the School’s innovation-in-government project aiming to improve the motivation, responsiveness and effectiveness of people working in government.