Alessandra has worked for the past 30 years in the fields of sexual and reproductive health and rights, violence prevention, international development and public health.  She joined UNICEF Innocenti – Global Office of Research and Foresight in 2019 as the Gender and Development Manager to lead a research programme focused on ending violence against children and violence against women. Previously, Alessandra served as WHO’s Regional Advisor for the Americas on family violence prevention (2009-2019) and as Senior Advisor, Sexual and Reproductive Health at International Planned Parenthood Federation (1999-2003).  Alessandra is the recipient of a British Chevening scholarship and holds an MSc in Public Health for Developing Countries from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and an MA in Art Therapy from George Washington University.  She has held many voluntary positions, including Vice-President of the board of Promundo (currently Equimundo), Co-Chair of the Safe Motherhood Task Force of the Post-Abortion Care, as well as roles in the International Emergency Contraception Consortium, and the Latin American Consortium for Emergency Contraception.