Izabela Leao

Dr. Izabela Leao is a Rural Development Specialist at The World Bank.
She works on analytical and operational tasks in the areas of jobs and agriculture, rural economy, youth employment,sustainable food systems, conflict and fragility, and innovation, technology, and entrepreneurship.
She joined the World Bank as a Young Professional in 2013 and has currently works in Southern Africa and the African Great Lake Region, focusing on Angola and Burundi.
Prior to joining the World Bank Group, Dr. Leao spent five years at the United Nations, working on programs in the prevention of transnational organized crime and on programs of disarmament, demobilization and reintegration -focusing on economic reintegration of young ex-combatants, with a particular focus on skills training and employment creation in Colombia, Nepal, and Sierra Leone.
Additionally, in 2011, she cofounded a nonprofit organization in Sierra Leone focused on improving the lives of marginalized youth through educational and life skills training.
Sheholds a M.A.
from Pittsburgh State University focusing on labor migration and social protection policy, and a Ph.D.
from the University of Milan focusing on comparative politics and political economy.