Maria Pilar Lorenzo is a Research Associate affiliated with the Philippine Society for Public Administration. She is one of the two leading research supervisors for a research project funded by the Local Government Academy on the nexus of peace and local government innovations. She is also part of the five-consultant team providing strategic advice for the ongoing National Rightsizing Program in the Philippine government, specifically in the Education and Local Government sectors. Her other recent projects as a consultant and researcher are with the Department of Agrarian Reform, Electronic Financial Users' Circle, United Nations Development Programme, and Asian Development Bank. 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). She took up Licentiate courses in Rome, obtained her Bachelor's degree cum laude, finished high school with honors, and she is also a licensed teacher and a certified trainer. Her other recent scholarships and fellowships are with the 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.