Ileana is the Director of Food Safety, Regulatory and Quality at Candy People, North America. In her current position she deals with the safety, regulatory review and quality of confectionery products manufactured in Europe and sold in North America. Previously, Ileana worked with Ferrara Candy Company in the Global Supplier Quality Department. In that capacity she was responsible for overseeing supplier compliance with regulatory, quality and customer requirements for raw materials, ingredients, contract manufacturing and logistics.
As a girl, Ileana was always curious about how things worked. She created her own cooking recipes, designed her own experiments in the kitchen, learned how to mix different ingredients and even started her first sensorial panel with her family.
Ileana loved to read and devoured a set of encyclopedias her father had given her. Her love of learning led her to participate in the Science Club at her high school where she traveled to a research island managed by the Smithsonian Institute, to study animals and plants. At age twelve Ileana started her first year in high school and graduated at age sixteen.
Ileana encourages kids to ask questions about all aspects of science and not be shy about it. She wants children to have the best possible experience learning science.