Manuela Prina

Head of the Skills Identification and Development Unit, European Training Foundation (ETF)

Manuela is Head of the Skills Identification and Development Unit, within the Knowledge Hub department of the European Training Foundation (ETF), the EU Agency supporting countries outside the European Union (EU) in the area of human capital development, lifelong learning policies and skills identification and development.

She is responsible for steering ETF’s work in the area of skills relevance and anticipation, development and validation of skills, leading the knowledge co-creation and sharing across ETF partner countries, with the EU and the international community.

Manuela joined the ETF in 2008, covering several roles as leader of projects and teams; she led in 2018 the shaping of the new strategy for the agency and has been nominated head of unit in 2021. Prior to joining the ETF, Manuela worked for the Asian Development Bank where she joined as a Young Professional in 2004, and for the World Bank.

After her graduation in Educational Sciences in 1999, she continued her studies in international political economy and international relations, completing a master and a PHD program in 2007.

Mother of four children, a trained business coach and a professional reflexologist, her philosophy of life is ‘never stop learning’.