Laura Frigenti was appointed Director of the newly established Italian Agency for Development Cooperation in January 2016. Before then she spent over 20 years in the USA where she held various positions at the World Bank Group and in other public organizations.
She joined the World Bank in 1994 and she held several technical and senior manager positions, including Country Director for Central America and the Andean Countries, Director of Strategy and Operations for both Latin America and Caribbean and Africa, Chief of Staff to the President and Director of the President’ s Office. During her career, Laura Frigenti designed some of the Bank’s most innovative programs, and was deeply involved in organizational reforms.
After leaving the World Bank in 2014, Laura Frigenti was Vice President for the Global Development Practice at InterAction the largest umbrella organization of US NGOs where she dealt extensively with issues related to public/private partnership, transparency and accountability, and private funding for development. She brings in-depth knowledge and expertise of Africa, Central Asia, Europe and Latin America region, with direct experience in leading the dialogue with political and business leaders in over 30 countries.
Before joining the World Bank, she worked at the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Directorate General for Development Cooperation; the Instituto per la Cooperazione Economica (ICEPS) where she led the think tank’ s effort around international development; the UN Economic Commission for Latin America & Caribbean in Chile and the Instituto di Studi Italo Africani.
Laura holds a Master’s degree in History and International Affairs from the University of Rome, la Sapienza.