Maria-Gabriella Sarah

Birthplace: Beirut, Lebanon
Director General Services Strategy and Development, European Space Agency (ESA)

“It is by capturing the global challenges the world is facing, and addressing them in an efficient and effective way with appropriate space applications, that we will prepare a better future for the next generations.” 

Maria-Gabriella Sarah trained as an electrical engineer in France and joined the European Space Agency in 2002 in the Science Directorate. 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 leads partnerships with non-space businesses and 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.