Lycia holds a PhD in public administration and government from the São Paulo School of Business Administration, at the Foundation Getulio Vargas (FGV Eaesp), supplemented with stints at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the University College London. She is currently a professor at FGV EESP, Deputy Director of FGV EESP CLEAR, associate researcher at the Center for Applied Microeconomics (C-Micro/FGV EESP) and the Center for Economics and Public Sector Policy (Cepesp/FGV). She has held positions at the World Bank in Washington, the UN in Geneva, the Presidency of the Republic of Brazil and the Government of Minas Gerais.