Valeria studied Modern Foreign Languages and Literatures (English and German) at the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan, Italy, where she earned her Laurea degree in 1995. A primary second language specialist teacher, she previously pioneered early foreign language learning projects in Italy before being appointed by the Italian Foreign Office as a teacher of Italian Language and Culture abroad in 2007. She worked in bilingual schools for the Italian Consulate General in Hannover, Germany, for two years and then, in 2009, she was assigned to the Italian Consulate in London. She taught Italian as a foreign language in English Primary schools and presented her own teaching techniques in conferences for PGCE students and Language Assistants.