Dr. Mendoza has an extensive background in international development policy and international cooperation, with a resumé that includes work with the United Nations, the Asian Institute of Management and the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.

Dr. Mendoza has collaborated with government officials, academics and representatives of the private and nonprofit sectors to advance reforms that could improve human development, reduce poverty, and elicit more inclusive economic and political development.

He has carried out research, technical assistance engagements and missions to developing countries including Ethiopia, Mongolia, Senegal, Thailand, Turkey, Kyrgyz Republic and Ukraine. Before joining the Ateneo School of Government, Dr. Mendoza was also an associate professor of economics at the Asian Institute of Management (AIM), where he also served as executive director of the AIM Rizalino S. Navarro Policy Center for Competitiveness. Working with a team of young researchers at AIM, he crafted and managed policy research on development issues relevant to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Together with Ateneo researchers, he co-authored a study on the impact of political dynasties on poverty and underdevelopment in the Philippine countryside. Dr. Mendoza also worked with Ateneo, La Salle, the University of the Philippines and an international group of researchers on Building Inclusive Democracies in ASEAN (Anvil Press, 2015), which won the Outstanding Book Award for 2016 from the Philippine National Academy of Science and Technology.