Manuela is Head of the Skills Identification and Development Unit, within the Knowledge Hub department of the European Training Foundation (ETF), the EU Agencies supporting countries outside the European Union (EU) in the area of human capital development, life-long learning policies and skills identification and development. As Head of Unit, Manuela is responsible for steering ETF’s work in the area of skills relevance and anticipation, development of skills and validation, leading the knowledge co-creation and sharing across ETF partner countries, with the EU and the international community. Manuela joined ETF in 2008 and in her career at the ETF covered several assignments, including being responsible for the area of governance, the implementation of several projects in the area of monitoring and assessment of VET systems and human capital development policies, and leading in 2018-19 the development of the ETF’s strategy 2027. Prior to working at the ETF, Manuela served as social sector specialist at the Asian Development Bank, and as a Junior Professional at the World Bank. Manuela holds a PHD in International Political Economy – and two Master degrees, in Economics and international relations, and in Educational sciences. She is an alumni of the Indian Institute of Management (IIMC) of Calcutta (2000), and a graduate of the executive course on Foresight and vision building of the University of Manchester (2017) and of the Business Coaching Academy of Business Coaching Italia (2020).
