Rafael was born in Santa Rosa-RS, Brazil. He received his B.A. in Economics from the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande Sul (UFRGS) in 2004. In 2006, he received his M.A. in Economics from the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG). His Master’s thesis is on measuring poverty mobility and dynamics of income inequality. From 2006 to 2008, he worked for the International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth (IPC-IG) at the United Nations. Currently, he is a PhD candidate in Economics at the UIUC. His dissertation is on the effect of the Bolsa Família program on employment decisions and entrepreneurship in Brazil.