Laura Zakaras (Ph.D., English, University of Washington) is a communications analyst and editor with expertise in conveying research to policymakers.  She served for many years as the Director of the Research Communications Group at the RAND Corporation, where she offered training to researchers in how to communicate to decision makers.  She has contributed to hundreds of RAND reports and presentations on policy issues in civil justice, education, the arts, and national security.  She is now serving as editor for DPMG and holds an adjunct position at RAND. Early in her career, she taught undergraduate and graduate courses in writing and literature at the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Maryland, European Division.

William B. Hurlbut (M.A., Ohio State University) has more than 25 years of experience as a writer and editor, including more than 20 years of experience in international development and evaluation. He was editor and senior editor for the Independent Evaluation Group of the World Bank for 17 years, where he edited and contributed to hundreds of evaluations. Prior to his appointment at the World Bank he had a successful consulting career with clients that included USAID, DFID, Chemonics International, and CARE. He started his career in publishing as a magazine editor in New York City, where he worked for Time-Warner, Hearst, and Harper-Collins, among others.

He now provides consulting services in communications, writing, and editing to international clients, including the World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank, USAID, International Center for Biosaline Research, Tetra Tech, and others. His knowledge of development issues spans all sectors and regions. He has writing and editing experience with books, reports, white papers, training manuals, syntheses, summaries, articles, opinion pieces, and marketing materials. He has particular expertise in guiding evaluation writers on scope and structure; sharpening arguments and evidentiary base; designing graphs, visuals, covers, and promotional materials; and designing and producing magazines and newsletters. He is also a trainer, coach, facilitator, and public speaker who can motivate project teams to achieve high levels of productivity and quality.