Giulia Leila Travaglini

Giulia Leila Travaglini is a Ph.D. candidate in political science at Columbia University. Her research lies at the intersection of American politics and international political economy, with a focus on business–politics relations, political psychology, and policy feedback as applied to environmental and climate politics. She specializes in quantitative research methods, including data analysis, survey methods, and the use of AI tools.

Ms. Travaglini is affiliated with the Columbia Climate School’s Decarbonization, Climate Resilience and Justice Network and with the Consortium on American Political Economy. Her dissertation project, The Green Transition: Companies, Environmental Politicians, and Workers, examines the political dynamics surrounding decarbonization policies, with particular attention to the trade-offs between environmental goals and economic interests. Her job market paper shows that even as managers adopt more pro-climate positions, firms often pursue strategic ambiguity to satisfy shareholders, which undermines coalition-building for climate reform. This work forms the foundation of her planned book manuscript, Enemy-Allies of the Green Energy Transition: Corporate Structure and Strategy, which will expand to consider corporate governance structures and CSR, offering concrete policy recommendations.

During her Ph.D., Ms. Travaglini has also developed policy expertise as Research Coordinator at Communities Speak. She previously worked at the European Central Bank (ECB) and the Italian National Institute for Social Security (INPS), and has been a member of the Forum Disuguaglianze e Diversità (FDD) and an alumna of Tortuga.econ. In addition, she co-founded and co-hosted the podcast Espresso with the Experts, which featured conversations with Columbia professors and alumni on pressing issues in politics and economics.