Community Jameel welcomes Daniela Giardina, who joins the Abdul Latif Jameel Water and Food Systems Lab (J-WAFS) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) as executive director.
Working alongside Professor Rohit Karnik, appointed as director of J-WAFS earlier this year, Daniela will be instrumental in driving J-WAFS' mission and impact, helping to shape the lab's programmes, long-term strategy and goals.
Previously at Oxfam America, Daniela directed disaster risk reduction and climate resilience initiatives, oversaw multimillion-dollar initiatives, managed international teams and complex donor portfolios and ensured rigorous monitoring across programmes.
With a doctorate in sustainable development from the University of Brescia in Italy and a master’s degree in environmental engineering from the Politecnico di Milano, Daniela has nearly two decades of experience working with nongovernmental organisations and research institutions on humanitarian and development projects.
Taking up their positions during the tenth anniversary year of J-WAFS' co-founding by MIT and Community Jameel, Professor Karnik and Daniela succeed founding director Professor John Lienhard and executive director Renee Robins, who retired earlier this year.
Professor Lienhard and Renee's foundational leadership and vision helped establish J-WAFS as the epicentre of water and food research at MIT.
Since 2015, the lab has made grants totaling approximately USD 25M, supporting more than 300 faculty, research staff and students.
Through its Solutions programme, supporting efforts to commercialise innovative water and food technologies, J-WAFS has spun out 12 companies and two open-sourced products.