Adrian is an Economist at the International Finance Corporation..
Adrian Fossaceca, MPA
As with millions of Venezuelans around the world, I also had to leave my home country to pursue an education abroad. Leaving my family at a young age to live in a foreign country was an arduous challenge; nonetheless, it motivated me to understand the reasons behind the lack of prosperity in the developing world.
During my early days as an undergraduate student, I would spend most of my time reading on topics such as growth diagnostics and economic complexity written by Ricardo Hausmann, Andrés Velasco, and Miguel Ángel Santos. I dreamed of learning directly from them in the future; I considered them role models. More importantly, they played a fundamental role in inspiring me to pursue a career in public policy, in order to acquire the necessary skills to make an impact not only on Venezuela, but also on the global south. Who would have thought I was going to meet them just a few years later as an MPA student at the LSE?
When I was accepted into the MPA program, I could not believe it. During my first weeks on campus, I was still not able to internalize the reality I was living in. Being in a cosmopolitan city like London, learning from the most renowned academics, and being surrounded by likeminded individuals that also wanted to make a change in the world certainly felt like living in a dream! One of the most amazing aspects of the MPA was learning from a variety of courses that mix the theoretical and practical nature of public policy. This is a critical part of the program: you are not lectured solely on theory, but also on its policy applications in real-life scenarios that you are likely to encounter in your future career as a public policy practitioner.
At the moment, I serve as a Country Economist in the Country Advisory & Economics Unit for Latin America and the Caribbean (CASAE) at the International Finance Corporation (IFC) of the World Bank Group. Our unit focuses on shaping the IFC strategy at the country level in these regions to create new markets, unlock investments, and maximize development impact by improving the quality of country and regional economic analysis. Many of the policy tools and skills that I learned in the MPA are heavily reflected in the work I perform, especially in the topics of private sector development, growth diagnostics, and financial sector development.
The MPA constitutes an important asset in my career since it equipped me with sophisticated public policy tools that can be applied to many areas. The program is broadly designed to attract motivated students and early career professionals that wish to impart positive change in their local communities, countries, and even the entire world. Most importantly, it will provide you with life-long friends that also share your drive to shape a better future.
Adrian is happy to connect via LinkedIn.