Mara Torres Pinedo is a Ph.D. candidate at the Institute for Global Prosperity at University College London. Her research focuses on how different individual attributes such as gender, migration status, and further socio-economic and risk perception characteristics, drive people’s institutional network connectivity to prepare, cope, and recover from disasters. Before starting her Ph.D., Mara achieved an MSc in Risk, Disaster and Resilience at UCL and a BA in International Relations. Before coming to the UK to pursue her postgraduate studies, Mara worked as a Development practitioner for over 9 years in her natal Mexico, as well as in Colombia, El Salvador, Honduras and the US.