Advisory Council

Dr Alessandra Buonfino

Alessandra is the former Head of International Development at the independent law firm Mishcon de Reya in London.

Alessandra was formerly Head of International Development at the independent law firm Mishcon de Reya in London, where she was responsible for international strategy, partnerships and new business.

Before joining Mishcon in 2017, she worked for the British Government. Her role was to set up and grow a new unit at the Department for International Trade and within the GREAT Britain campaign to encourage investment, trade and philanthropy from overseas high net worth families. Her work covered over 20 markets – from India to Brazil – facilitating hundreds of millions of pounds worth of trade and investment in sectors as diverse as healthcare, technology and fashion. Before this role, Alessandra was Head of Partnerships at the UK Government’s Cabinet Office, where she was responsible for strategic relations between 10 Downing street and a number of large corporates.

Prior to Government, Alessandra was Head of UK Government affairs at the retailer Tesco and has held a variety of leadership roles in think tanks, including as Head of Research for Demos.

She studied Archaeology & Anthropology at the University of Durham and has a MPhil in Development Studies and PhD in International relations from Cambridge University. She was listed in Management Today as one of 50 Power Part Timers in 2017.

Alessandra is a trustee of the cross-party think tank Demos and a trustee of the charity Water Unite. She sits on the Advisory Board for the Commonwealth Enterprise and Investment Council.