I work for ATG Europe as Change and Adoption Officer at ESA, the European Space Agency based in Noordwijk, the Netherlands. I work within the IT Department. I take care of organising and delivering IT Trainings for the employees explaining them how to use specific software for their automated office work. I also assist my users in embracing the New Ways of Working applying the principles of the PROSCI Change Management methodology. Indeed, I am a PROSCI Certified Change Practitioner since June 2022. I am also a communications professional since I have a background in Marketing and Communication. Indeed, I supported my team with outreach and communication tasks such as writing the newsletter and the articles for the intranet; collaborating in managing the e-learning portal; designing and editing videos, interviews, posters, and flyers with the Adobe Creative Suite. I am also dealing with communication and outreach activities as a volunteer for two charity foundations: Sunshine in Nosy Komba which aims to support children in Madagascar, and the ESA Humanitarian Relief Fund (HRF) which aims to offer relief to many people in need. I am helping them in designing and managing the communication strategy and social media channels. Supporting these organisations is a quite enriching experience, and I am very happy to offer the token of my contribution.

I have always been fascinated by space. I followed with great interest for many years the ESA missions via their social media pages. In 2015, I carried out an internship as Event Management Intern for 6 months at the ESA Education Office at ESA/ESTEC in Noordwijk, the Netherlands. After that I also worked as Marketing Assistant for Sapienza Consulting in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, and for Design and Data in Cologne, Germany. In 2020, once I completed my Ph.D. in Management and Innovation with specialisation in Marketing at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Milan, Italy, I decided to apply for a contractor position for ATG Europe. They were looking for someone with teaching experience to be hired and trained in the usage of some software for the automated office work. Indeed, I had more than a year of teaching experience carried out while I was doing my Ph.D. in Milan. I passed through several selection steps with ATG Europe. Finally, I was hired, and I started working for ATG Europe at ESA/ESRIN, the European Space Agency's site based in Frascati, Italy. I worked there for one year. Then, in May 2021 I moved to ESTEC, ESA's site based in the Netherlands. It's been two years now that I am covering this position as Change and Adoption Officer at ESTEC in Noordwijk, the Netherlands. Hence, even without a technical background, thanks to my passion and interest for space, I managed to land this dream job at ESA.

I was so lucky to meet on different occasions some of my favourite astronauts: John McFall, Matthias Maurer, André Kuipers, Luca Parmitano, and Samantha Cristoforetti. I met John McFall, the world's first astronaut with a disability, at a very interesting workshop dedicated to Diversity and Inclusion. John gave us an inspiring speech about how his dream of becoming an astronaut was born and how he overcame significant physical challenges, and became a Paralympic Champion, before becoming an astronaut. He is a true example of perseverance, resilience and strength. I was happy to meet Matthias Maurer and André Kuipers when I was volunteering at the ESA Open Day 2022. They delivered two very interesting talks, during which they told us about their past missions on board the International Space Station (ISS). Whereas I met Luca Parmitano and Samantha Cristoforetti on two normal working days of mine, at ESTEC. Luca Parmitano passed in front of the main building's reception in his astronaut's suit, and I first thought I was suffering an hallucination. I am so used to see him on TV screens or on the web, and I couldn't believe that I had him in front of me. I managed to greet him and congratulate him for his exceptional work. In relation to Samantha Cristoforetti, I met her in the main canteen. In the beginning, I didn't even realise that she was sitting as a common employee at one of the tables. A man who was with her, came close to me to ask for a spare chair and he attracted my attention. I followed him with my eyes and suddenly I realised that he was sitting at the table with Samantha Cristoforetti. She was so kind to accept to take a picture with me. I congratulated with her for her great job as a role model to solicit women to engage in the STEM-field. Indeed, we need more women role models, because the space activities are still a male predominant sector. I hope that the statistics will change in the coming years and that it will become more common to think of a woman when talking about an astronaut, engineer, or astrophysicist. In the meanwhile, however, we can raise the awareness that the space sector does not require exclusively STEM skills and can hire also other types of qualifications as it was for me.