Yesim Sayin Taylor is the director of fiscal and legislative affairs at the District of Columbia’s Office of Chief Financial Officer.  She leads the team that is responsible for assessing the impact of proposed legislation on the District of Columbia’s budget.  She also testifies on and assesses proposals that affect the tax revenues of the District of Columbia. Yesim writes and publishes on public finance and tax policy, both for the District of Columbia and on issues that largely effect the developing world.  Recently she has investigated what makes a resident leave the District of Columbia—a location with a large transitional population, high living expenses and relatively high income taxes.  Her work showed that tax rates have little explanatory power in people’s decision to leave the city.  In international development, she has written public expenditures reviews in education and health, performed project feasibility studies, and has most recently written on the human development challenges in Mali after the recent political crisis.