Born in Bahia-Brazil, but raised in Italy by her adoptive parents Flora and Maurizio, Caterina Luise has travelled the world, getting to know multiple continents. Since 2014 she has been known as Amanda, the name given to her at birth. “It was obvious with my personal history that my motto would be ‘getting to know the world and all its cultures, helping those in need’”. 

We spoke with Amanda at her current job at the Council of Europe, where she is working as a temporary staff member: after joining the Secretariat of the Partial Agreement to the Development Bank, she’s now working as a project officer at the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Unit, within the Department of Anti-Discrimination. “Drafting, research, data analysis and proof-reading are the most valuable skills needed for my current position”, she says. “The interesting thing in working for the Council of Europe is getting a broad knowledge of several human rights, democracy and rule of law issues in different domains, spanning drug trafficking, education policies, regional and minority languages, LGBTI rights and financial support to refugees, micro, small and medium-sized enterprises and areas affected by natural or ecological disasters.” Mobility is highly encouraged by the Council’s administration, as all agents are incentivized to discover the different roles and responsibilities, acquiring a broader knowledge of the issues tackled by the different departments and directorates. 

When it comes to human rights, her studies and internships have given her valuable insight. “The experience that was the dearest to me was the internship at Scalabrini Centre of Cape Town, supporting migrant and refugee women in their personal and business establishment in the Mother City. This experience has been the most important of my whole career”, Amanda says in retrospect. It implied technical knowledge in accounting, business organization and marketing as well as soft skills linked to ethics, economic thought, conflict resolution and multiculturalism. “Working face-to-face with vulnerable women and setting up a path for them to follow to ensure they could regain trust in their means and value, through personal development and the start of a new business career, was a dream come true”, Amanda underlines. “I particularly liked the approach of the organization, bottom-up rather than top-down, and the constant support all participants in the programmes received prior, during and after the completion of their path of growth. The learning cycle and the quality of the programmes offered, made it redundant to market the courses outside the organization, as word-of-mouth brought all potential and future participants to the centre.” 

Her journey to South Africa was the result of a very international outlook in her study career and her choice of internships. The Free University of Bozen-Bolzano was her starting point in 2010 because of its openness to languages and cultures. During her years attending the PPE programme, she took the chance to participate in an Erasmus exchange in Bayreuth, Germany. “Except for the moody weather, the university campus was great. The amazing characteristics of the teaching methods at the University of Bayreuth were the constant interaction the professors had with their students, their unconditional support in having them raise questions and the horizontal structure of learning. Moreover, several courses were offered in English, making it easier for foreign students to catch up on their German knowledge during intensive German classes, while not missing important curriculum milestones, which were proposed in English. The overall impression I had from this learning experience was extremely positive, and I would recommend the university to anyone willing to live the real campus experience in Germany.” 

After earning her BA in Economics and Social Sciences, she chose to acquire practical knowledge at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Bozen, as well as the Centre for the Opening and Development of Latin America (CADAL) in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Both experiences helped her to develop skills, the first linked to data and registry management in the public sector, whilst the latter enhanced her capacity to research and translate articles related to the development of a set of human rights in several countries in Latin America. “CADAL, being an NGO, introduced me to the struggles faced by these types of organisations, their constant need for support from other civil society organisations, local and regional political groups, and other, bigger NGOs. I felt really attracted to this empowerment and entitlement work, and realised that working for NGOs would be something I would like to pursue in the future.”

As a result, Amanda enrolled in the MSc in Development and International Relations programme at the University of Aalborg in Denmark, with a major in Global Gender Studies, in order to gain further theoretical knowledge in economic development and gender studies. This master’s programme granted her a 1-year on-campus stay, whilst the third and fourth semesters were carried out at partner institutions/universities. Amanda took this opportunity to gain more international experience and knowledge of the world, spending her third semester at the University of Sao Paulo (USP), attending several courses at the Institute of International Relations, whilst writing her thesis during the fourth semester in Santiago, Chile, and carrying out a non-remunerated internship at the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC/Cepal), of the United Nations group. 

In August 2016, she discussed her final dissertation on racial inequality in Brazil’s education system. Even with her extremely international curriculum Amanda found it challenging to get a job afterwards, so she opted for the life-changing experience in Cape Town that landed her in her current job in Strasbourg. “Of course, knowing many languages opens doors. In fact, I strongly believe that a huge part of my career was dictated by the flexibility of movement and the knowledge of several languages such as English, Spanish, German, Italian, Portuguese and French.” In fact, before moving to Strasbourg she didn’t speak any French, but, by choice she attended weekly French courses and only after 8 months of taking on her first mission at the Council, she passed the C1 exam.

“For my future career, I wish to be able to win a public selection competition at the Council of Europe, to become a fixed staff member of this organisation. Other career prospects include moving to Southern Africa or Central America on a field-office mission. I could see myself in such a position in 2-3 years’ time: I strongly believe that every now and then, officers in headquarters need to go back to the field for a reality-check, which is often lacking in the mind of some sedentary high-level officials. I don’t want to make the same mistake and would like to continue growing by exploring and experiencing first-hand the progress in the countries aided by international NGOs.”

Amanda has an important message for all current and future students at unibz: “There are so many different ways to make a career, and there are so many diverse approaches that allow one to achieve their results. Two of the most important lessons I have learned I have gathered throughout my personal and professional life are never to follow or carry out an action if it goes against your principles, and secondly, that we don’t meet people by accident; we cross paths for a reason. Even if the reasons might not be so evident at first, we can always learn from others, and sometimes even making mistakes because of others will help us grow stronger day by day in our professional and personal lives. Good luck to everyone!”

(vic)