Sophia Robele
Research Partner

Sophia Robele is a global development professional with nearly a decade of experience in the UN system working with governments, multilateral agencies, civil society and academia at the global, regional and country level. As part of the World Food Programme and UN Development Programme (UNDP), she has led strategy design, research, analysis, communications, knowledge management and process innovation for diverse teams on complex policy challenges ranging from food security and climate risk to health systems and corruption. 

Most recently, Sophia served as a Foresight Specialist with the UNDP Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific, where she supported the design and implementation of processes to embed anticipation, long-term thinking and imagination into UNDP’s decision-making and service offers to governments. Her complementary work with the UNDP Sustainable Development Goals Integration team helped UN senior leaders build capabilities for navigating complexity and uncertainty and guide partners in more transformative decision-making, drawing from systems thinking, foresight, and mindfulness-based practices. 

Sophia is deeply interested in modes of thinking, collective decision-making, and collaboration that enable more equitable development outcomes and governance structures. As an experienced researcher and multi-faceted communicator, she has written on topics including the polycrisis and long-term thinking, institutionalizing strategic foresight, and harnessing dialogue to unlock systems transformation. She has also led action research and network-building within the UN system and beyond to advance more decolonial and anti-racist development models.

Sophia holds a Master of International Affairs from Columbia University and a Master of International Development from Sciences Po (Paris).