Alessandra Zampieri
Since 1 October 2022, Alessandra is the Director of the Directorate for Sustainable Resources of the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC). As the science and knowledge service of the European Commission, the JRC's mission is to support EU policies with independent evidence throughout the whole policy cycle. Alessandra’s career started in Brussels, where she joined the European Commission immediately after graduating in Economics from the University of Genoa.
She spent several years formulating maritime and aviation policies, first in the former Directorate-General for energy and transport and then in the Cabinet of Vice President De Palacio. In 2009, Alessandra joined the JRC as Head of the Maritime Affairs Unit, which was tasked with developing scientific and technological methodologies for EU policies related to the sea. She was subsequently appointed Head of the Demography, Migration and Governance Unit where she was responsible for the Knowledge Centre on Migration and Demography (KCMD), which aims to provide EU migration policymakers with policy-relevant knowledge and evidence-based analyses.
In her last assignment before being appointed Director, Alessandra was Deputy Director and Head of the Disaster Risk Management Unit of the JRC, in charge of strengthening the EU's capacity to cope with natural hazards and human-made disasters. In this role she supervised research activities in support of the European Commission priorities of a European Green Deal, Digital Transformation, and a Stronger Europe in the World.