Alessandra Casazza

Alessandra Casazza, Manager, Resilience Hub took up her appointment on 15 April 2020. She has over 20 years of experience working with UNDP at country, regional and global level and with the private sector, both in New Zealand and in her home country (Italy).

Alessandra has been serving at the UNDP Regional Service Center for Africa in Addis Ababa as Team Leader (OiC) of the Inclusive Growth team since May 2019, and as Regional Programme Advisor on Inclusive Growth and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), since December 2014.  Prior to moving to the Africa region, Alessandra served as Policy Advisor for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Inclusive Growth at the UNDP Asia-Pacific Regional Center in Bangkok (2012–2014), and as Policy Specialist on Capacity Development at the UNDP Bureau for Development Policy (BDP), in New York (2008- 2012).

Alessandra also served at the country level; in August 2006, she joined UNDP Sri Lanka as Programme Manager and worked very closely with the Ministry of Finance on development planning and the MDGs agenda. She joined UNDP Timor-Leste in 2000 as Programme Officer (JPO), to work on poverty reduction and community development; in Timor-Leste Alessandra worked on a large programme on the demobilization and reintegration of ex-combatants, the return of refugees from West-Timor, infrastructure rehabilitation and rural development.

Prior to joining UNDP, Alessandra worked for KPMG Italy as Auditor and Advisor on Corporate Social Responsibility and Business Ethics, where she focused on mainstreaming sustainability into business practices in the extractive industry sector. She began her professional career in New Zealand, working as Auditor at Audit New Zealand, auditing public sector entities on behalf of New Zealand’s Auditor-General.

Alessandra has an MSc in development economics from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London, UK, and a laurea magistrale (MSc) in economics and business administration from the University of Perugia, Italy.