Leys Dinarte-Diaz is an Economist in the Human Development Team at the World Bank's Development Research Group. Her research interests are in education, with a focus on violence and crime. In her projects, she examines how educational interventions can modify at-risk youth outcomes, including academic performance, socio-emotional skills, and violent behavior. Additionally, some of her projects analyze the interaction between crime and welfare, noting how illegal organizations usually harm countries’ economic growth path. Lelys has research projects in some fragility and conflict affected settings and other Latin American countries, including El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Jamaica, Colombia, Peru, South Sudan, Mozambique, and Ukraine.

Lelys is affiliate at CESifo Research Network and at the Households in Conflict Network (HiCN). She obtained her Ph.D. and M.A. in Economics from Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and her B.A. in Economics from ESEN in El Salvador, the country where she was born and raised.