Maria-Gabriella Sarah

European Space Agency

Director General's Services Strategy and Development

Description

Maria-Gabriella Sarah trained as an engineer in France at the CentraleSupelec Engineering school, and joined the European Space Agency in 2002 in the Science Directorate, after 4 years in American Consultancies. She held the position of first chief risk officer, developing and implementing the risk management framework ESA uses today. Maria-Gabriella also founded and chairs several international networks for risk management practitioners. She currently is responsible for partnerships with non-space organisations to promote the use of space technologies/applications on Earth. She has helped establish the ESA’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) catalogue, which aims to align all space projects with the 17 United Nations SDGs. She chairs the Risk Management Committee at the International Astronautical Federation and, as a full member of the International Academy of Astronautics, co-leads a global study on the socio-economic impacts of new space.