Traveling to help change the world
Head of the OECD’s Health Division since 2013, Francesca Colombo reassures the younger generation from her office in Paris: “I am also one of those people who has found her way as she went along. As a girl, I didn’t really know what I wanted to do when I grew up.” But she knew she wanted to do something that would make the world a better place. “I’ve always been idealistic and I realized that it was important to me to make a difference when I had the opportunity to work in developing countries,” she adds.
After graduating in Economics and Management from Bocconi University in Milan, Colombo went on to specialize in Development Studies at the London School of Economics and Political Science. As she says: “Thanks to this experience, I was able to apply for a fellowship funded by the British government but open to foreigners who had studied in the UK.” She went on to work in the planning department of Guyana’s Ministry of Health. “I had no idea how an economist could work in healthcare, and it was a eureka moment for me. It was a job that combined my love of science and my ethical values.”
Before joining the OECD, and afterwards too, she traveled extensively: Europe, South America, and Asia, analyzing health systems in high-income countries and working with governments. She applied to the OECD in 1999 and joined as a “Young Professional.” Of the selection process, she says: “The process itself is simple. You apply on the basis of vacancies advertised on the website and then you have interview after interview. But for anyone who wants to pursue this type of career, I would recommend that they first gain experience abroad, build up their CV and then carefully monitor the institutional websites.”
Colombo explains that the most interesting aspect of her job today is the international dimension: “Interfacing with governments and experts from different countries is the most stimulating part, an incentive to always improve.” Not surprisingly, Colombo is now one of the world’s leading experts on healthcare for the elderly. Since 2020, she has also been working on the COVID-19 crisis and solutions to make health systems more resilient.
In her career, she explains that strong female role models have also motivated her. She says: “I worked with New Zealand’s [former] Prime Minister Helen Clark, who was a force of nature. She was administrator of the United Nations Development Program and co-chair of the Independent Panel on Pandemic Preparedness and Response.”
Colombo explains that becoming a mother and juggling an international career has not been easy. She says: “I have three children and, especially when they were young, I wondered if I was giving them enough time. I tried to have it all: a job and a family. A lot of effort, but now that they are grown up, I hope they see me as a positive role model.”
“What do you say to young women today? Go for it! Out of 100 CVs that come across my desk, 80 are from men. I would like to see more courage. That’s why my door is always open to young people. Now that I lead a team, the greatest satisfaction for me is to see people take off. But to do that, you have to believe in yourself and create opportunities for yourself, because no one hands you a career on a silver platter.”
