Francesca is a Senior Associate in WRI's Water Program. She leads program management and research initiatives for WRI’s water-related work, collaborating closely with WRI country offices like Ethiopia to advance and expand efforts bridging water security, landscape restoration, and climate resilience. Her work centers on improving data-driven decision-making and governance reforms to reduce water risk and promoting nature-based solutions — such as watershed restoration and sustainable land management practices — to secure long-term water supplies and livelihood opportunities. Francesca has worked at the intersection of environment, development, and climate change for a number of years, driven by the belief in a healthy environment for reducing poverty and food insecurity.

Before joining WRI, she spent three and a half years with the African Development Bank (AfDB), based in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, where she helped mobilize financing from major climate funds to better promote sustainable natural resources management, address environmental degradation, and advance climate change adaptation and mitigation.

Previously, her experiences include working with the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) and the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

Francesca earned a MSc in Development Studies from the London School of Economics (LSE) and a BA in International Studies from the University of Washington (UW).

She enjoys spending time in her two "home" countries of Italy and the US, in addition to discovering new places.