Ersilia Vaudo, a brilliant graduate in Astrophysics, expanded her academic credentials in 2020 by obtaining an Executive Certificate from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at the Harvard Kennedy School.
For over thirty years, Ersilia has been working at the European Space Agency in Paris, currently holding the position of ESA Chief Diversity Officer and Special Advisor on Strategic Evolution. Her professional journey, developed between Paris and the United States, has been marked by numerous strategic roles. Among her responsibilities, she distinguished herself in formulating the ESA's first space exploration program and served as the executive secretary of the scientific-technological committee responsible for selecting instruments for the ExoMars mission. From 2002 to 2006, she held the position of Deputy Head at the ESA office in Washington DC, with a focus on managing relations with NASA. Additionally, she was a member of the Board of Directors of Women in Aerospace US.
In 2020, Ersilia was an integral part of the "Donne per un Nuovo Rinascimento" Task Force, established by the Minister for Equal Opportunities and Family, contributing to the formulation of proposals related to "Research, STEM, and skills training," later included in the first National Strategy on Gender Equality.
President Macron appointed Ersilia Vaudo as co-chair of the recommendations on Talent and Future of Work within the "Scale-Up Europe" initiative, launched in 2020 to revitalize the Tech ecosystem in Europe.
In December 2020, she was appointed Curator of the XXII International Exhibition of the Triennale di Milano on the theme "Unknown Unknowns. An introduction to mysteries," held successfully from July 2022 to January 2023.
In addition to her institutional role, Ersilia is also the President and co-founder of the "Il Cielo itinerante" Association, dedicated to promoting STEM literacy by bringing astronomical knowledge to disadvantaged areas through a telescope mounted on a minibus, engaging children in areas characterized by hardship and educational poverty.
