Djeniffer was born in São Nicolau, in the archipelago of Cabo Verde off the west coast of Africa, and moved to Connecticut when she was eight years old. After graduating with an economics degree from Yale, she began her professional career in corporate finance at IBM and then transitioned to the public sector by moving back to Cabo Verde to work for the government in the Ministry of Finance. As a transaction manager dealing with privatization and public-private partnerships, she supported the government in various projects, including state-owned enterprise reform. Delivering the government’s development agenda helped her gain cross-industry exposure in sectors such as transportation, energy, and housing. Key highlights of her time with the finance ministry included the sub-concession of the country’s main ports and the divestment of the national airline. During the summer of 2019, she interned with the African Development Bank on industrialization and trade development strategy. Djeniffer is working on solidifying her public policy skills in order to play a more active role in solving development issues at a local or international level.