A Career in Preventing Childhood Violence: A Conversation with Dr. Daniela Ligiero
By Luisa Ferrari
Dr. Daniela Ligiero came to Georgetown as a speaker for the Conversations in Global Health series. She serves as an international advocate and CEO at Together for Girls, an international partnership, which includes 6 United Nations agencies and 22 countries, focused on ending child violence. During her talk, Dr. Ligiero also described her life events and the decisions that led her to her current position as one of the leaders in promoting the safety of children.
Dr. Ligiero’s career path took her to a number of different agencies within the U.S. government and international organizations, including the State Department and UNICEF. During her different positions she was able to identify lack of data as a common limiting factor to global progress. At Together for Girls, they have begun to address this issue and collect data by partnering with countries to conduct surveys on violence against children. Without meaningful data, it is impossible to make informed policy decisions. I will carry this lesson with me working to combine innovation with evidence to advocate and create my own programs that improve all of the social determinants that impact healthcare.
Dr. Ligiero’s career began focused in the realm of science, after receiving both a masters and Ph.D. from the University of Maryland College Park. We often perceive policy and science as pertaining to two entirely different worlds. However, Dr.Ligiero is the proof that not only are the two interdependent, but having a working background in both science and policy may be the solution to improving both. Dr. Ligiero explained how when she fell in love with the policy sector during a fellowship in the Senate, her science background was a crucial tool for understanding scientific reports and gaining the confidence of the science community to create evidence-based policies.
Globalization has created a world where both people and different sectors are inextricably interconnected. As someone with a science background interested in pursuing health policy, Dr. Ligiero’s talk furthered my belief that it is essential that schools promote interdisciplinary programs. Programs like the science, technology, and international affairs curriculum at Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service are revolutionary and should serve as a framework for creating other multidisciplinary classes. Multidisciplinary programs allow students to conceptualize overlaps between sectors and work between them to further the global development agenda. From healthcare and business to the arts and politics, the opportunities for these types of multidisciplinary courses are endless. Thanks to Dr. Ligiero, as I look to the future with hopes of studying health law, I know I do not have to give up my passion for science.
Luisa Ferrari (NHS’20) is a junior in the School of Nursing and Health Studies majoring in Global Health and minoring in French.
This blog was written by a student in Georgetown’s Conversations in Global Health course, which brings leaders in global health to Georgetown to discuss their careers and work.