Annalena studied architecture (B.A.) at the Technical University of Munich (from 2013 to 2018). During her Bachelor programme she spent 3 semesters in Rio de Janeiro (from 2015 to 2017) where she studied architecture and urbanism at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. During that time she co-organized different participatory community projects in the Complexo do Alemão, one of the city's largest favela areas. She also supported the community-based research organization „Raizes em Movimento“ in the Complexo do Alemão as an intern (from 2016 to 2017), addressing urban inequalities produced by structural discrimination, marginalization and stigmatization.Since 2018, Annalena is enrolled in the interdisciplinary master programme Urban Design (M.Sc.) at the Hafencity University in Hamburg. For her master thesis, she conducted a digital participatory action research project with youth from the Complexo do Alemão in Rio de Janeiro, investigating the state of citizenship rights in the community during the COVID-19 pandemic.Parallel to her studies Annalena gained professional experience by working as a student assistant in different architecture and urban planning offices as well as in research institutions, with a special focus on mediation, participation and communication.As a scholarship holder of the Carlo-Schmid-Programme, Annalena worked at the UNAIDS regional office for Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia in Lima, where she focusses on youth participation and the Fast Track Cities initiative (https://www.fast-trackcities.org/).Annalena is currently working for the United Nations Human Settlement Programme in Brazil (https://unhabitat.org/es/brasil).