Ludovica d'Andria

I am a private-sector economist specialising in organisational restructuring and business development with 10 years of experience working in Europe, North America, Asia and - more recently - Africa. Within my industry of expertise - Fashion & Textile, I have led projects and initiatives across multiple business areas from Design, Merchandising and Sales to Operations, Planning and Finance. 

In 2021, I moved to Kenya to combine my work experience with my passion in sustainable development. Currently, I work as Business Developer and Head of Strategic Partnerships at Artisan Fashion - a social enterprise connecting Africa’s artisans to esteemed luxury brands all over the world, while also consulting for the Poor Communities and Trade Program of the International Trade Center. Here, my main areas of work & research are: 1) improving trade opportunities and livelihoods among marginalised communities in Africa, 2) supporting the transition of SEs from linear to circular business models, and 3) implementing ESG reporting frameworks.

A firm believer in transforming the Fashion & Textile industry into a source of good, I am also a start-up consultant, and a visiting lecturer at the Polytechnic University of Milan raising awareness on how Fashion Design could serve economic development in emerging economies. More recently - I joined as panellist at the 7th Circular Economy Conference in Kenya and as judge for the 2022 Hult Prize, one of the world’s largest Social Entrepreneurship competitions (Topic: Redesigning Fashion creating a measurable positive impact on people and the planet and support the United Nations in meeting its Sustainable Development Goals by the 2030).