Francesca Zoppi

I attribute my success to never giving up. It was a lot of sacrifice, a lot of compromises as well, but I really have a mission, and I really want to leave a legacy in my life. This gives me a lot of motivation and continues to give me a lot of motivation. You have to find people that somehow also support you in your mission. You have to be really selective with your teams and peers around you. But really, you have to have your goal and the passion, and that is going to give you the motivation. In my case, it was that I really have this mission of bringing a sustainable and inclusive world, so I'm trying to do my best to deliver on this.

One of the best career advice I received was from my previous supervisor, who I reported to as a director of the United Nations and the president. The advice was to let it go. When you lead, you have to lead with a purpose, but sometimes you meet a lot of people in the way that they always try to give you obstacles. The advice was, Francesca, let it go, because you have your end goal, so just focus on your end goal. I believe this is really important, and it's something that I always share with my peers as well. You really have to be focused on your end goal and the impact that you want to make, and sometimes you just get distracted by dynamics and by energy that you don't need, so you really have to be focused and try your best to achieve your goal.

The world is still dominated by men, especially at our level, like the senior director level, although we've been trying to do a lot of work on this. I would say not to give up, of course. Be focused on your end goals, and really believe in the thing that you want to achieve.

Sustainability right now, in this actual world, is not an easy topic. There is a lot of defunding in this right moment, so you really have to be strategic on how to sell the project and also sell the topic that you're trying to bring on the table. I work with a lot of government and private sector, but also foundations. Unfortunately, we are living in a moment that it's not the best moment for this industry, but I really believe that you have to take a challenge as an opportunity, and you have to be strategic. As a woman, sitting at some important tables sometimes, I'm raising a lot of no, but I'm also trying to be strategic. The challenge is an opportunity, and I try to find new ways of working in this industry. And apparently, it's going good. I think that being strategic and trying to be innovative as well is really important.

Work-wise, I believe that I work in an environment where there is a lot of cultures and cultural backgrounds, people from different cultures, so cultural sensitivity is a pillar. Therefore, to respect other people is really a pillar, and to accept and respect and make the most of other people's expertise, because we all have a different skill set. For me, it's important to work as a team. And also transparency is important, because once you are transparent, you will achieve everything.