About Valentina
Hello!
I am a behavioural scientist specialized in how people and systems move through disruption.
My work is driven by a simple question that has fascinated me since I was a teenager:
How does adversity change us?
I grew up between Colombia and Italy, and during my early studies I explored Psychology in Italy and Cognitive Philosophy in Germany. In 2018, I moved to the Netherlands to study Environmental Psychology, driven by a strong interest in the human dimension of the environmental crisis.
A combination of curiosity and opportunity led me to pursue a PhD focused on how humans respond to global crises, uncertainty, and change, with a particular focus on climate change. To understand whether people feel capable of evolving in the face of such challenges, I developed the concept of Transilience.
After completing my PhD, and especially after my TEDx talk on Transilience, I was approached by people from very different fields who saw its relevance in their own contexts. This led me to develop Transilience® as an applied framework. Originally rooted in climate psychology, Transilience® explores the human capacity not just to adapt, but to persist, adapt flexibly, and transform in the face of disruption in real-world contexts.
Today, I bring this perspective into practice, working with leaders and organizations navigating complex transitions, and sharing with audiences a different way to understand the human side of change. I am particularly interested in the questions we tend to avoid, and in what becomes possible when we stop trying to return to what was, and start engaging with what is changing.
Outside of my work, I honor my Italo-Colombian roots with a strong passion for food and dancing. I love laughter, nature, sports (I am a big Formula 1 fan!) and have a deep appreciation for “il dolce far niente” - doing nothing, properly. I am naturally drawn to exploring new places, cultures, ideas, and people.
If this connects to your work and you want to explore how it applies to your current transition, take the the first step here.
