Alessandra Olmi

Alessandra Olmi (Rome, November 26, 1957 – September 12, 2025) was a passionate researcher with a particular interest in topics such as gender studies, poverty, and social exclusion, interdisciplinary relationships between sociology and neuroscience.

In her professional career, starting from the 1980s, she worked as a sociopsychologist, engaging in numerous research and training activities in Europe, the United States, and especially Africa. Between the mid-1990s and 2010, she participated in many field research and cooperation projects, using participatory and interactive methods. She worked in both rural and peri-urban contexts in countries such as Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Mali, Niger, Mauritania, Cameroon, and Cote d’Ivoire. In these countries, she spent long periods of time, traveling between villages and building relationships of friendship and collaboration.

In addition to being a careful and skilled researcher, Alessandra had an extraordinary ability to communicate and connect with people. This talent made her particularly effective in conducting participatory research and in creating and coordinating international research networks.

From the very start of her professional career, Alessandra demonstrated a deep interest in gender studies, which was also reflected in her personal commitment to equality between women and men. In 1995, she participated in the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, where for the first time a Platform for Action was adopted, aiming to achieve global gender equality. In the following years, Alessandra continued to contribute with expertise and passion, attending the annual monitoring meetings organized by the United Nations in New York to assess progress toward the goals set in Beijing.