Catarina Braga (Brazil – GLODEP Cohort 2017–2019)

I am Brazilian and had spent most of my career in finance when I applied to GLODEP, driven by a long‑held desire to work in international development. When I received my admission letter, I knew I couldn’t miss the chance to study a subject I cared deeply about, alongside people from around the world, in three different countries.

Arriving in the Czech Republic felt like a turning point. The diverse curriculum, spanning development issues, economics, and quantitative methods, gave me the tools to enter a new field. But I believe I learned the most from my classmates. Coming from 17 countries, we lived and relied on each other daily, and their stories and perspectives transformed the way I understood the world.

That new outlook guided my next steps. During my final semester, I interned at the UN Office in Geneva, working at the Joint Inspection Unit on Disaster Risk Reduction evaluations. After graduation, I completed a traineeship in the statistics department of the European Central Bank and later spent three years working on climate scenario analysis at the Rocky Mountain Institute in Berlin. I am now a Program Officer at the UN Environment Program World Conservation Monitoring Centre in the UK, working at the intersection of nature, climate finance, and data metrics.

GLODEP gave me the foundation to build the career I always hoped for and shaped how I see the world. Nearly seven years after graduating, I remain deeply grateful for the professors, colleagues, and countries that marked this journey. Without this experience, I wouldn’t be where I am today.

Thank you, GLODEP!