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The program of Linkontro 2026
The struggles of the present. The hope for the future.
Through journeys of resilience, responsibility, and innovation
Nico Acampora
Nico Acampora
Founder, PizzAut
Domenico “Nico” Acampora is the founder of PizzAut, an Italian project recognized as an innovative model for the employment inclusion of autistic people. A professional educator, for more than twenty years he has developed programs aimed at autonomy and social and workforce inclusion, contributing to the spread of advanced practices in the field of neurodiversity. Through PizzAut, he has created a system that brings together training, food service, and rights, turning inclusion into a concrete and replicable experience. Today he is regarded as one of the most authoritative voices in Italy on the topic of employment inclusion for people with autism.
Francesco Arduini
Francesco Arduini
Head of Telco, Media, Retail, & Consumer Goods, Microsoft Italiy
Francesco Arduini is Head of Telco, Media, Retail, & Consumer Goods at Microsoft Italy. Together with his team, he works side by side with CEOs and C‑level executives to design and deliver cloud and Artificial Intelligence adoption journeys, accelerating the transformation of large organizations across the strategic industries he oversees. His work focuses on GenAI and agent‑based programs, including vertical copilots, process automation, agentic operations, and governance models—guiding companies from idea generation and business case development through to measurable business value.
Previously, he led the Microsoft Consulting organization in Microsoft Italy and served as a Senior Manager at Accenture, working on large‑scale transformation programs both in Italy and internationally.
Thanks to his extensive experience in applied innovation within complex enterprise environments, he brings a deep understanding of the dynamics and methodologies required to put technology at the service of people and enable sustainable business growth.
Corrado Augias
Corrado Augias
Journalist, writer, and television host
Corrado Augias (Rome, 1935) is a journalist, writer, and television presenter. A long-standing face of RAI (Telefono Giallo, Città Segrete) and later of La7 with La Torre di Babele, he is the author of numerous bestsellers spanning essays and investigative works. For Mondadori he published the series known as the “city stories,” including I segreti di New York (2000), Londra (2003), Roma (2005), and I segreti del Vaticano (2010). His works also include: Inchiesta sul Cristianesimo (Mondadori, 2008), Le ultime diciotto ore di Gesù (Einaudi, 2015), I segreti di Istanbul. Storie, luoghi e leggende di una capitale (Einaudi, 2016), Il grande romanzo dei Vangeli (Einaudi, 2019), Paolo. L’uomo che inventò il Cristianesimo (Einaudi, 2023), La vinta s’impara (Einaudi, 2024), and La musica per me (Einaudi, 2025). (c) Pasqualini, Musacchio – MUSA
Mark Baum
Mark Baum
Chief Collaboration & Commercial officer & SVP, Industry Relations, FMI – The Food Industry Association
Mark Baum is Chief Collaboration & Commercial Officer and SVP, Industry Relations at FMI – The Food Industry Association, advancing collaboration across the food retail supply chain. With 35+ years in food, beverage and CPG, he is a recognized commercial strategy expert. He serves on the Board of KeyImpact, is an IVP with Loft Growth Partners and a Founding Champion of NextUp.
Matteo Bonù
Matteo Bonù
Food Industry Leader, NIQ
As Food Industry Leader at NielsenIQ, he is responsible for managing strategic relationships with the leading food and consumer packaged goods companies in Italy. In his role, he supports both national and multinational organizations in analyzing consumer behavior and understanding decision-making processes at the point of sale, while also coordinating multi-country research projects.
He holds a degree in Marketing from the University of Milano-Bicocca.
Liz Buchanan
Liz Buchanan
President of North America, NIQ
Liz Buchanan leads the North American business for NielsenIQ, a global information services firm serving the consumer goods and retail industries. In this role, she is accountable for the U.S. and Canadian markets, across all NIQ business lines and customer segments.
During her 19 years at NIQ, Liz has held various leadership roles in customer success, sales, product development and technology deployment. Most recently, she oversaw NIQ’s customer-facing analytics and servicing teams around the world and led the successful rollout of the NIQ self-serve analytics platform, NIQ Discover, across 85 countries.
Liz has worked extensively across the U.S. and global markets and has specific expertise in data governance and stewardship, data management processes, technologies and analytics. She regularly consults with customers to help them achieve their transformation goals in this rapidly evolving space.
Liz sits on the board of directors for ComEd, an Exelon company, and several Chicago-based non-profits including Nourishing Hope, Chicago Humanities, Cradles to Crayons and World Business Chicago.
Liz is an active champion for civic causes, regularly dedicating her time advocating for diverse political representation through fundraising, organizing and policy work at the local and national level. Liz is a Class of 2022 Leadership Greater Chicago (LGC) Signature Fellow and a member of the Economic Club of Chicago.
Andrea Cabrini
Andrea Cabrini
Editor in Chief, Class Cnbc
Andrea Cabrini has been Director of Class CNBC (Sky channel 507) since 2001 and Co‑Director of MF Milano Finanza, with responsibility for coordinating digital media. A financial journalist and television host for more than thirty years, he covers topics related to economics, financial markets, banking, and asset management.
He hosts the format CEO Talks, featuring exclusive interviews with leading Italian and international CEOs. He is also a speaker and moderator at a number of national and international events, including the G7 Multistakeholder Conference and the ECB Banking Supervision Forum.
He is responsible for the Media Experience course aimed at university students at Bocconi University and SDA Bocconi School of Management.
He brings ten years of experience from Mediaset’s news divisions, where he served as Editor‑in‑Chief and anchor of TG4. He studied Political Science at the University of Milan and became a journalist after completing a master’s program at IFG – Institute for Journalism Training in 1986.
He is 60 years old, has two children, and lives in Milan.
Marco Caldarelli
Marco Caldarelli
Director, Bain
Marco Caldarelli is a member of Bain’s Consumer Products and Retail practices, with deep expertise in growth strategy, customer strategy, route-to-market, marketing and sales excellence, revenue management, zero-based budgeting, and operating models. He has more than 15 years of experience working with clients to develop actionable and enduring results.
Marco is known for caring for his clients’ businesses as his own and for designing and delivering pragmatic, high-impact, and original solutions. In some instances, clients have asked him to temporarily manage some of their business units during transition periods.
During his post-MBA career at Bain, he has developed deep expertise in multiple markets, spending substantial time across the United States, Western and Eastern Europe, and Turkey. He has significant experience supporting large clients in multi-initiative, multi-year transformation programs, including value creation plans, corporate strategy, micro-battle–led transformation, digital transformation, and cost transformation.
Marco has designed and successfully implemented company-wide transformation programs across various business models, including B2B, B2C, e-commerce, recommendation-based businesses, three-tier distribution systems, contract sales, and inside sales.
He has worked across a broad range of consumer products categories and technologies, including food, alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, and semi-durable goods such as design furniture and small domestic appliances. He also has deep expertise in chilled, frozen, and shelf-stable categories.
Marco holds an MBA from Bocconi School of Management in Milan and a summa cum laude degree in Mechanical Engineering. Prior to joining Bain, he served as an Officer in the Italian Air Force.
Stefano Cini
Stefano Cini
Commercial Director FMCG, NIQ
Stefano Cini is Commercial Director, FMCG at NIQ Italy and has been supporting manufacturers and retailers for over 20 years in interpreting the evolution of the Consumer Goods sector through data‑driven insights and strategic vision. He works closely with top management to identify new growth opportunities, optimize brand and category performance, and address increasingly complex market dynamics.
Stefano has held leadership roles in sales & marketing analytics, reputation management, and thought leadership, standing out for a style that combines analytical rigor with strong storytelling skills, innovation with a pragmatic approach, and strategic vision with operational execution.
Since 2024, he has led NIQ’s FMCG commercial strategy in Italy, with the goal of helping manufacturers and retailers move beyond traditional metrics, adopt new ways of reading the market, and build sustainable competitive advantages in a constantly evolving environment.
Veronica De Romanis
Veronica De Romanis
Professor of European Economics, LUISS Rome and Stanford University Florence
Veronica De Romanis studied economics at La Sapienza University of Rome and Columbia University in New York. She served for over ten years as a member of the Council of Experts at the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance. She currently teaches European Economics at Stanford University in Florence, Luiss University in Rome, and at the School of Geopolitical Training of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers.
From January 2023 to December 2024, she served as an advisor to the Minister of Economy and Finance on the Reform of European Governance. From April 2015 to March 2023, she was an Independent Director of Cementir Holding S.p.A. (Rome).
Since autumn 2017, she has been a member of the Steering Committee of the Italian Public Accounts Observatory at the Catholic University of Milan; since 2019, a member of the Scientific Committee of the Istituto Affari Internazionali; and since 2025, a member of both the Italian Delegation of the Trilateral Commission and the Scientific Committee of FeBAF.
She is a columnist for the daily newspapers La Stampa and Il Foglio. Among her publications, she is the author of Il Metodo Merkel (2009, Marsilio), L’Austerità fa Crescere (2017, Marsilio), Il Pasto Gratis (2024, Mondadori), and L’economia della paura (2026, Mondadori).
Lisa Di Sevo
Lisa Di Sevo
CEO e Managing Partner, PranaVentures
Her mantra is “Done is better than perfect.” Lisa is CEO and Managing Partner of PranaVentures, a venture capital firm specializing in early-stage investments. Always passionate about technology, she took her first professional steps in the Innovation Division of H3G, where she became acquainted with the world of venture capital and startups. She has solid experience in the sector: from 2007 to 2017 she was an Associate at dpixel, a venture capital advisory firm, and Investor Manager at PrimoCapital SGR. In addition, from 2009 to 2015 she led Telecom Italia’s Open Innovation program as Project Leader. She is currently President of SheTech, a non-profit association dedicated to training and female empowerment in the technology sector.
Antonio Fazzari
Antonio Fazzari
General Manager & COO, Fater
Antonio Fazzari, 52, from Rome, has 28 years of experience in the marketing and sales of fast-moving consumer goods and pharmaceuticals. After a long career in Italy and abroad at Procter & Gamble, since 2020 he has been General Manager of Fater, a joint venture between P&G and Angelini Holding, operating in Italy with brands such as Pampers, Lines, and Ace in 25 countries worldwide. Antonio holds a “Senior Coach” certification from the Institute of Leadership and Management and has taught “Marketing” at LUMSA University in Rome and “Coaching” at LUISS University in Rome. He is the author of the book In Viaggio con il tuo Talento, published by Franco Angeli, and is the founder and partner of Case for Change, a training and strategic consulting company.
Enzo Frasio
Enzo Frasio
Managing Director Italy, NIQ
Graduated in Economics and Business Administration from Bocconi University in Milan, he began working at GfK Italy immediately after completing his studies, building over the years solid commercial and managerial experience.
He currently serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer of NielsenIQ Italy and GfK Italy, and is also President of ASSIRM.
Throughout his long career in the market research industry, Enzo Frasio has held multiple roles of increasing responsibility, including at international level. He has worked across very diverse markets, from TECH to FMCG, as well as Automotive and Retail, and has spent significant time abroad—from Africa to Asia—coordinating specific international projects.
Fabrizio Gavelli
Fabrizio Gavelli
President and Managing Director, Ferrero commerciale Italia
Born in Forlì, Fabrizio Gavelli joined the Ferrero Group in October 2024 as President and CEO of Ferrero Commerciale Italia. He brings over 30 years of experience in the fast-moving consumer goods market, having held roles of increasing responsibility in companies such as P&G, Reckitt, and Danone Company. Throughout his career, he has worked across various business divisions with both local and global responsibilities in Italy, the UK, Slovenia, the Netherlands, and Poland. Gavelli spent nearly 20 years at Danone Company, ultimately serving as President and CEO for Italy and Greece.
Gilles Gressani
Gilles Gressani
Director, Grand Continent
Considered “one of the leading European intellectuals of the new generation” (France Culture), Gilles Gressani is a respected political analyst and strategist. He is the editor of Le Grand Continent, president of the Geopolitical Studies Group at the École normale supérieure, and a lecturer at Sciences Po.
Stefano Mancuso
Stefano Mancuso
Scientist and Scientific Communicator
Considered “one of the leading European intellectuals of the new generation” (France Culture), Gilles Gressani is a respected political analyst and strategist. He is the editor of Le Grand Continent, president of the Geopolitical Studies Group at the École normale supérieure, and a lecturer at Sciences Po.
Letizia Mencarini
Letizia Mencarini
Full Professor of Demography , Università Bocconi
Full Professor of Demography at the Department of Political and Social Sciences, and Research Fellow at the IEP (Institute for European Policy Making) and Dondena (Dondena Centre for Research on Social Dynamics and Public Policy) research centers of Bocconi University. She is among the experts of Population Europe, Leading Women Scientists of AcademiaNet, and Eurofound. She is the national coordinator of the GGS-II (Generations and Gender Survey) in Italy. She is among the founders of Neodemos.it. She coordinates research projects on low fertility, family demography, and intergenerational relations. She is the author of numerous publications in international scientific journals, as well as in Italian newspapers and magazines, and of popular science books on demographic and gender issues in Italy, such as Genitori cercasi. L’Italia nella trappola demografica (with D. Vignoli, 2018), Valorizzare le donne conviene (with D. Del Boca and S. Pasqua, 2012), and Live long and prosper (with Arnstein Aassve and Elisa Del Frari, 2025).
Andrea Petronio
Andrea Petronio
Senior Partner and Head of Retail for Italy, Bain
Andrea Petronio is a Senior Partner at Bain’s Milan office. He is a Senior member of the EMEA Retail Practice and leads the Retail Practice for Italy, Turkey, and Greece. Andrea has worked extensively across all retail sectors, partnering with the largest market-leading companies in Italy and across EMEA. His experience spans all major retail segments: food grocery retail, restaurants and fast food, health and beauty, DIY, consumer electronics, pet care, drugstores, apparel, and department stores. Andrea graduated cum laude in Statistical and Economic Sciences from the University of Bologna and, prior to joining Bain, worked at Nestlé (Italy, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, and India) and at KPMG.
Michela Ponzani
Michela Ponzani
Professor of Contemporary History, Università degli Studi di Roma Tor Vergata
Michela Ponzani (Rome, 1978) teaches Contemporary History at the University of Rome “Tor Vergata”. An author and television presenter of cultural programs for Rai Storia and La7, she has been a fellow of the Luigi Einaudi Foundation in Turin and a consultant to the Historical Archive of the Senate of the Republic. Formerly a Visiting Fellow at the Remarque Institute of New York University, she was part of the research group of the Italian-German bilateral Historical Commission. In 2024 she was awarded the honor of Officer of the Order of Merit by President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella. Among her publications: Figli del nemico. Le relazioni d’amore in tempo di guerra 1943–48 (2015). For Einaudi she published, with Rosario Bentivegna, Senza fare di necessità virtù (2011), Guerra alle donne. Partigiane, vittime di stupro, “amanti del nemico” (1940–45) (2012 and 2021), Processo alla Resistenza. L’eredità della guerra partigiana nella Repubblica 1945–2022 (2023 and 2025), Caro presidente, ti scrivo. La storia degli italiani nelle lettere al Quirinale (2024), and Donne che resistono. Le Fosse Ardeatine dal massacro alla memoria 1944–2025 (2025). Giovani, liberi, partigiani. Storie di ragazze e ragazzi in lotta per un futuro migliore (De Agostini), 2026.
Alessandro Pozzi
Alessandro Pozzi
Professor, Politecnico di Milano
Alessandro is an Adjunct Professor of Geopolitics for Defense and Security in the Master’s degree programs in Mechanical Engineering at the Polytechnic University of Milan, and a lecturer at the POLIMI Graduate School of Management. After 27 years of managerial experience at Intesa Sanpaolo and UniCredit, he integrates strategic vision, geopolitical analysis, and economic-financial expertise. He attended the 75th IASD Session, the highest joint-service training institution of the Italian Ministry of Defence. He is a member of the Centro Studi Esercito and of the International Institute for Strategic Studies. He is a leading reference figure for the analysis and dissemination of geopolitical issues that influence markets and corporate strategies.
Massimo Quaglini
Massimo Quaglini
Managing Director, Edison Energia
Massimo Quaglini was born in Monza on May 11, 1960. After earning a degree in Business Administration from Bocconi University in Milan in 1984 and a brief experience at Kraft, he joined the Montedison Group (today the Edison Group) in 1985, where he progressively took on increasing responsibilities in the Finance area (in Italy and abroad) across companies in different sectors—from manufacturing to services, ultimately including the Energy sector—becoming in 2004 Director of Administration, Planning and Control for the Edison Group. In April 2007 he was appointed Executive Director of the Energy Management Business Unit and Chief Executive Officer of Edison Trading, with responsibility for the optimization of Edison’s assets and portfolio, proprietary trading, branches in Eastern Europe, and the commodity derivatives desk. In November 2017, following the merger of Edison Trading into Edison SpA and Edison’s acquisition of Gas Natural Vendita Italia, he became Chairman of the new company and served as Project Director for the integration of these activities into the Edison Gas & Power Market Division. On May 1, 2019, he was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Edison Energia SpA and Executive Vice President of the Gas & Power Market Division of Edison SpA. He also holds several other positions within companies of the Group.
Joseph Stiglitz
Joseph Stiglitz
Professor of Economics, Columbia University
Joseph E. Stiglitz is an American economist and a professor at Columbia University. He is also the co-chair of the High-Level Expert Group on the Measurement of Economic Performance and Social Progress at the OECD, the co-chair of The Independent Commission for the Reform of International Corporate Taxation (ICRICT), Chair of the Founding Committee for the International Panel on Inequality, and the Chief Economist of the Roosevelt Institute. Stiglitz was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2001. He is a former senior vice president and chief economist of the World Bank and a former member and chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers. Stiglitz founded the Initiative for Policy Dialogue, a think tank on international development based at Columbia University, in 2000. He has been a member of the Columbia faculty since 2001 and received that university’s highest academic rank (University Professor) in 2003. In 2011 Stiglitz was named by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world. In 2024 he was named an Honorary Academician by the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences and in 2025 Pope Francesco named him a Chair of the Jubilee Commission of Experts to address Debt and Development Crises. He is the author of numerous books, including, most recently, The Road to Freedom: Economics and the Good Society.
Maniele Tasca
Maniele Tasca
General Director, Selex Gruppo Commerciale
Currently, Maniele Tasca has held the position of general manager at SELEX Gruppo Commerciale S.p.A. since 2009.
Maniele Tasca’s academic background includes a degree in Business Administration from Bocconi University. His career path began between 1994 and 2003, in the consumer goods and retail sector at the Bolton Group and the strategic consulting firms Boston Consulting Group and Bain & Company.
In the following years, from 2004 to 2008, he joined the Alpitour Group. He initially held the position of Marketing Director and later rose to the position of Managing Director of the Retail Division.
In addition to his executive roles, Maniele Tasca has assumed important leadership responsibilities. He currently serves as Managing Director of the Board of Directors of ESD Italia and Board Member of the European Central EMD.
He also holds advisory positions as a member of Inselex and serves as Attorney General of the Italian A&O Consortium.
He is vice president of Gs1 Italia. As a representative of Selex, he actively participates in the Boards of Directors of ADM and Federdistribuzione.
Gianfranco Vassallo
Gianfranco Vassallo
Director of Revenue Operations, Booking.com
Gianfranco began his career in 2004 as a Pricing Analyst at General Electric in Budapest. In 2008 he joined Elsevier in Amsterdam as Accounts Receivable Manager, later specializing in debt collection for the Middle East and Africa. He subsequently joined Booking.com, where he was tasked with leading improvements in collections performance across the same regions. In parallel, he served as process lead for the Booking Holdings Group, leading an Order-to-Cash migration project from SAP ECC to SAP S/4HANA. Over time, he became responsible for Billing, Accounts Receivable, and Legal Collections, and also established functions for Credit Risk, Partner Master Data Management, and Tax Compliance and Operations. In addition, he served for several years as a Senior Board Member in credit management associations such as FCIB, delivering instructional webinars on a voluntary basis to teach credit management techniques. In 2019 he was appointed Director of Revenue Operations. Among his achievements, he developed machine learning models for credit risk and a Revenue Assurance Program based on the analysis of processes, systems, and interfaces, identifying inefficiencies and optimizing revenues while reducing losses. Managing very large data volumes at Booking.com, a key focus for Gianfranco has been automation and robotics, ensuring efficiency, scalability, and error reduction across processes.
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Nico Acampora
Nico Acampora
Founder, PizzAut
Domenico “Nico” Acampora is the founder of PizzAut, an Italian project recognized as an innovative model for the employment inclusion of autistic people. A professional educator, for more than twenty years he has developed programs aimed at autonomy and social and workforce inclusion, contributing to the spread of advanced practices in the field of neurodiversity. Through PizzAut, he has created a system that brings together training, food service, and rights, turning inclusion into a concrete and replicable experience. Today he is regarded as one of the most authoritative voices in Italy on the topic of employment inclusion for people with autism.
Francesco Arduini
Francesco Arduini
Head of Telco, Media, Retail, & Consumer Goods, Microsoft Italiy
Francesco Arduini is Head of Telco, Media, Retail, & Consumer Goods at Microsoft Italy. Together with his team, he works side by side with CEOs and C‑level executives to design and deliver cloud and Artificial Intelligence adoption journeys, accelerating the transformation of large organizations across the strategic industries he oversees. His work focuses on GenAI and agent‑based programs, including vertical copilots, process automation, agentic operations, and governance models—guiding companies from idea generation and business case development through to measurable business value.
Previously, he led the Microsoft Consulting organization in Microsoft Italy and served as a Senior Manager at Accenture, working on large‑scale transformation programs both in Italy and internationally.
Thanks to his extensive experience in applied innovation within complex enterprise environments, he brings a deep understanding of the dynamics and methodologies required to put technology at the service of people and enable sustainable business growth.
Corrado Augias
Corrado Augias
Journalist, writer, and television host
Corrado Augias (Rome, 1935) is a journalist, writer, and television presenter. A long-standing face of RAI (Telefono Giallo, Città Segrete) and later of La7 with La Torre di Babele, he is the author of numerous bestsellers spanning essays and investigative works. For Mondadori he published the series known as the “city stories,” including I segreti di New York (2000), Londra (2003), Roma (2005), and I segreti del Vaticano (2010). His works also include: Inchiesta sul Cristianesimo (Mondadori, 2008), Le ultime diciotto ore di Gesù (Einaudi, 2015), I segreti di Istanbul. Storie, luoghi e leggende di una capitale (Einaudi, 2016), Il grande romanzo dei Vangeli (Einaudi, 2019), Paolo. L’uomo che inventò il Cristianesimo (Einaudi, 2023), La vinta s’impara (Einaudi, 2024), and La musica per me (Einaudi, 2025).
Mark Baum
Mark Baum
Chief Collaboration & Commercial officer & SVP, Industry Relations, FMI – The Food Industry Association
Mark Baum is Chief Collaboration & Commercial Officer and SVP, Industry Relations at FMI – The Food Industry Association, advancing collaboration across the food retail supply chain. With 35+ years in food, beverage and CPG, he is a recognized commercial strategy expert. He serves on the Board of KeyImpact, is an IVP with Loft Growth Partners and a Founding Champion of NextUp.
Matteo Bonù
Matteo Bonù
Food Industry Leader, NIQ
As Food Industry Leader at NielsenIQ, he is responsible for managing strategic relationships with the leading food and consumer packaged goods companies in Italy. In his role, he supports both national and multinational organizations in analyzing consumer behavior and understanding decision-making processes at the point of sale, while also coordinating multi-country research projects.
He holds a degree in Marketing from the University of Milano-Bicocca.
Liz Buchanan
Liz Buchanan
President of North America, NIQ
Liz Buchanan leads the North American business for NielsenIQ, a global information services firm serving the consumer goods and retail industries. In this role, she is accountable for the U.S. and Canadian markets, across all NIQ business lines and customer segments.
During her 19 years at NIQ, Liz has held various leadership roles in customer success, sales, product development and technology deployment. Most recently, she oversaw NIQ’s customer-facing analytics and servicing teams around the world and led the successful rollout of the NIQ self-serve analytics platform, NIQ Discover, across 85 countries.
Liz has worked extensively across the U.S. and global markets and has specific expertise in data governance and stewardship, data management processes, technologies and analytics. She regularly consults with customers to help them achieve their transformation goals in this rapidly evolving space.
Liz sits on the board of directors for ComEd, an Exelon company, and several Chicago-based non-profits including Nourishing Hope, Chicago Humanities, Cradles to Crayons and World Business Chicago.
Liz is an active champion for civic causes, regularly dedicating her time advocating for diverse political representation through fundraising, organizing and policy work at the local and national level. Liz is a Class of 2022 Leadership Greater Chicago (LGC) Signature Fellow and a member of the Economic Club of Chicago.
Andrea Cabrini
Andrea Cabrini
Editor in Chief, Class Cnbc
Andrea Cabrini has been Director of Class CNBC (Sky channel 507) since 2001 and Co‑Director of MF Milano Finanza, with responsibility for coordinating digital media. A financial journalist and television host for more than thirty years, he covers topics related to economics, financial markets, banking, and asset management.
He hosts the format CEO Talks, featuring exclusive interviews with leading Italian and international CEOs. He is also a speaker and moderator at a number of national and international events, including the G7 Multistakeholder Conference and the ECB Banking Supervision Forum.
He is responsible for the Media Experience course aimed at university students at Bocconi University and SDA Bocconi School of Management.
He brings ten years of experience from Mediaset’s news divisions, where he served as Editor‑in‑Chief and anchor of TG4. He studied Political Science at the University of Milan and became a journalist after completing a master’s program at IFG – Institute for Journalism Training in 1986.
He is 60 years old, has two children, and lives in Milan.
Marco Caldarelli
Marco Caldarelli
Director, Bain
Marco Caldarelli is a member of Bain’s Consumer Products and Retail practices, with deep expertise in growth strategy, customer strategy, route-to-market, marketing and sales excellence, revenue management, zero-based budgeting, and operating models. He has more than 15 years of experience working with clients to develop actionable and enduring results.
Marco is known for caring for his clients’ businesses as his own and for designing and delivering pragmatic, high-impact, and original solutions. In some instances, clients have asked him to temporarily manage some of their business units during transition periods.
During his post-MBA career at Bain, he has developed deep expertise in multiple markets, spending substantial time across the United States, Western and Eastern Europe, and Turkey. He has significant experience supporting large clients in multi-initiative, multi-year transformation programs, including value creation plans, corporate strategy, micro-battle–led transformation, digital transformation, and cost transformation.
Marco has designed and successfully implemented company-wide transformation programs across various business models, including B2B, B2C, e-commerce, recommendation-based businesses, three-tier distribution systems, contract sales, and inside sales.
He has worked across a broad range of consumer products categories and technologies, including food, alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, and semi-durable goods such as design furniture and small domestic appliances. He also has deep expertise in chilled, frozen, and shelf-stable categories.
Marco holds an MBA from Bocconi School of Management in Milan and a summa cum laude degree in Mechanical Engineering. Prior to joining Bain, he served as an Officer in the Italian Air Force.
Stefano Cini
Stefano Cini
Commercial Director FMCG, NIQ
Stefano Cini is Commercial Director, FMCG at NIQ Italy and has been supporting manufacturers and retailers for over 20 years in interpreting the evolution of the Consumer Goods sector through data‑driven insights and strategic vision. He works closely with top management to identify new growth opportunities, optimize brand and category performance, and address increasingly complex market dynamics.
Stefano has held leadership roles in sales & marketing analytics, reputation management, and thought leadership, standing out for a style that combines analytical rigor with strong storytelling skills, innovation with a pragmatic approach, and strategic vision with operational execution.
Since 2024, he has led NIQ’s FMCG commercial strategy in Italy, with the goal of helping manufacturers and retailers move beyond traditional metrics, adopt new ways of reading the market, and build sustainable competitive advantages in a constantly evolving environment.
Veronica De Romanis
Veronica De Romanis
Professor of European Economics, LUISS Rome and Stanford University Florence
Veronica De Romanis studied economics at La Sapienza University of Rome and Columbia University in New York. She served for over ten years as a member of the Council of Experts at the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance. She currently teaches European Economics at Stanford University in Florence, Luiss University in Rome, and at the School of Geopolitical Training of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers.
From January 2023 to December 2024, she served as an advisor to the Minister of Economy and Finance on the Reform of European Governance. From April 2015 to March 2023, she was an Independent Director of Cementir Holding S.p.A. (Rome).
Since autumn 2017, she has been a member of the Steering Committee of the Italian Public Accounts Observatory at the Catholic University of Milan; since 2019, a member of the Scientific Committee of the Istituto Affari Internazionali; and since 2025, a member of both the Italian Delegation of the Trilateral Commission and the Scientific Committee of FeBAF.
She is a columnist for the daily newspapers La Stampa and Il Foglio. Among her publications, she is the author of Il Metodo Merkel (2009, Marsilio), L’Austerità fa Crescere (2017, Marsilio), Il Pasto Gratis (2024, Mondadori), and L’economia della paura (2026, Mondadori).
Lisa Di Sevo
Lisa Di Sevo
CEO e Managing Partner, PranaVentures
Her mantra is “Done is better than perfect.” Lisa is CEO and Managing Partner of PranaVentures, a venture capital firm specializing in early-stage investments. Always passionate about technology, she took her first professional steps in the Innovation Division of H3G, where she became acquainted with the world of venture capital and startups. She has solid experience in the sector: from 2007 to 2017 she was an Associate at dpixel, a venture capital advisory firm, and Investor Manager at PrimoCapital SGR. In addition, from 2009 to 2015 she led Telecom Italia’s Open Innovation program as Project Leader. She is currently President of SheTech, a non-profit association dedicated to training and female empowerment in the technology sector.
Antonio Fazzari
Antonio Fazzari
General Manager & COO, Fater
Antonio Fazzari, 52, from Rome, has 28 years of experience in the marketing and sales of fast-moving consumer goods and pharmaceuticals. After a long career in Italy and abroad at Procter & Gamble, since 2020 he has been General Manager of Fater, a joint venture between P&G and Angelini Holding, operating in Italy with brands such as Pampers, Lines, and Ace in 25 countries worldwide. Antonio holds a “Senior Coach” certification from the Institute of Leadership and Management and has taught “Marketing” at LUMSA University in Rome and “Coaching” at LUISS University in Rome. He is the author of the book In Viaggio con il tuo Talento, published by Franco Angeli, and is the founder and partner of Case for Change, a training and strategic consulting company.
Enzo Frasio
Enzo Frasio
Managing Director Italy, NIQ
Graduated in Economics and Business Administration from Bocconi University in Milan, he began working at GfK Italy immediately after completing his studies, building over the years solid commercial and managerial experience.
He currently serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer of NielsenIQ Italy and GfK Italy, and is also President of ASSIRM.
Throughout his long career in the market research industry, Enzo Frasio has held multiple roles of increasing responsibility, including at international level. He has worked across very diverse markets, from TECH to FMCG, as well as Automotive and Retail, and has spent significant time abroad—from Africa to Asia—coordinating specific international projects.
Fabrizio Gavelli
Fabrizio Gavelli
President and Managing Director, Ferrero commerciale Italia
Born in Forlì, Fabrizio Gavelli joined the Ferrero Group in October 2024 as President and CEO of Ferrero Commerciale Italia. He brings over 30 years of experience in the fast-moving consumer goods market, having held roles of increasing responsibility in companies such as P&G, Reckitt, and Danone Company. Throughout his career, he has worked across various business divisions with both local and global responsibilities in Italy, the UK, Slovenia, the Netherlands, and Poland. Gavelli spent nearly 20 years at Danone Company, ultimately serving as President and CEO for Italy and Greece.
Gilles Gressani
Gilles Gressani
Director, Grand Continent
Considered “one of the leading European intellectuals of the new generation” (France Culture), Gilles Gressani is a respected political analyst and strategist. He is the editor of Le Grand Continent, president of the Geopolitical Studies Group at the École normale supérieure, and a lecturer at Sciences Po.
Stefano Mancuso
Stefano Mancuso
Scientist and Scientific Communicator
Considered “one of the leading European intellectuals of the new generation” (France Culture), Gilles Gressani is a respected political analyst and strategist. He is the editor of Le Grand Continent, president of the Geopolitical Studies Group at the École normale supérieure, and a lecturer at Sciences Po.
Letizia Mencarini
Letizia Mencarini
Full Professor of Demography , Università Bocconi
Full Professor of Demography at the Department of Political and Social Sciences, and Research Fellow at the IEP (Institute for European Policy Making) and Dondena (Dondena Centre for Research on Social Dynamics and Public Policy) research centers of Bocconi University. She is among the experts of Population Europe, Leading Women Scientists of AcademiaNet, and Eurofound. She is the national coordinator of the GGS-II (Generations and Gender Survey) in Italy. She is among the founders of Neodemos.it. She coordinates research projects on low fertility, family demography, and intergenerational relations. She is the author of numerous publications in international scientific journals, as well as in Italian newspapers and magazines, and of popular science books on demographic and gender issues in Italy, such as Genitori cercasi. L’Italia nella trappola demografica (with D. Vignoli, 2018), Valorizzare le donne conviene (with D. Del Boca and S. Pasqua, 2012), and Live long and prosper (with Arnstein Aassve and Elisa Del Frari, 2025).
Andrea Petronio
Andrea Petronio
Senior Partner and Head of Retail for Italy, Bain
Andrea Petronio is a Senior Partner at Bain’s Milan office. He is a Senior member of the EMEA Retail Practice and leads the Retail Practice for Italy, Turkey, and Greece. Andrea has worked extensively across all retail sectors, partnering with the largest market-leading companies in Italy and across EMEA. His experience spans all major retail segments: food grocery retail, restaurants and fast food, health and beauty, DIY, consumer electronics, pet care, drugstores, apparel, and department stores. Andrea graduated cum laude in Statistical and Economic Sciences from the University of Bologna and, prior to joining Bain, worked at Nestlé (Italy, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, and India) and at KPMG.
Michela Ponzani
Michela Ponzani
Professor of Contemporary History, Università degli Studi di Roma Tor Vergata
Michela Ponzani (Rome, 1978) teaches Contemporary History at the University of Rome “Tor Vergata”. An author and television presenter of cultural programs for Rai Storia and La7, she has been a fellow of the Luigi Einaudi Foundation in Turin and a consultant to the Historical Archive of the Senate of the Republic. Formerly a Visiting Fellow at the Remarque Institute of New York University, she was part of the research group of the Italian-German bilateral Historical Commission. In 2024 she was awarded the honor of Officer of the Order of Merit by President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella. Among her publications: Figli del nemico. Le relazioni d’amore in tempo di guerra 1943–48 (2015). For Einaudi she published, with Rosario Bentivegna, Senza fare di necessità virtù (2011), Guerra alle donne. Partigiane, vittime di stupro, “amanti del nemico” (1940–45) (2012 and 2021), Processo alla Resistenza. L’eredità della guerra partigiana nella Repubblica 1945–2022 (2023 and 2025), Caro presidente, ti scrivo. La storia degli italiani nelle lettere al Quirinale (2024), and Donne che resistono. Le Fosse Ardeatine dal massacro alla memoria 1944–2025 (2025). Giovani, liberi, partigiani. Storie di ragazze e ragazzi in lotta per un futuro migliore (De Agostini), 2026.
Alessandro Pozzi
Alessandro Pozzi
Professor, Politecnico di Milano
Alessandro is an Adjunct Professor of Geopolitics for Defense and Security in the Master’s degree programs in Mechanical Engineering at the Polytechnic University of Milan, and a lecturer at the POLIMI Graduate School of Management. After 27 years of managerial experience at Intesa Sanpaolo and UniCredit, he integrates strategic vision, geopolitical analysis, and economic-financial expertise. He attended the 75th IASD Session, the highest joint-service training institution of the Italian Ministry of Defence. He is a member of the Centro Studi Esercito and of the International Institute for Strategic Studies. He is a leading reference figure for the analysis and dissemination of geopolitical issues that influence markets and corporate strategies.
Massimo Quaglini
Massimo Quaglini
Managing Director, Edison Energia
Massimo Quaglini was born in Monza on May 11, 1960. After earning a degree in Business Administration from Bocconi University in Milan in 1984 and a brief experience at Kraft, he joined the Montedison Group (today the Edison Group) in 1985, where he progressively took on increasing responsibilities in the Finance area (in Italy and abroad) across companies in different sectors—from manufacturing to services, ultimately including the Energy sector—becoming in 2004 Director of Administration, Planning and Control for the Edison Group. In April 2007 he was appointed Executive Director of the Energy Management Business Unit and Chief Executive Officer of Edison Trading, with responsibility for the optimization of Edison’s assets and portfolio, proprietary trading, branches in Eastern Europe, and the commodity derivatives desk. In November 2017, following the merger of Edison Trading into Edison SpA and Edison’s acquisition of Gas Natural Vendita Italia, he became Chairman of the new company and served as Project Director for the integration of these activities into the Edison Gas & Power Market Division. On May 1, 2019, he was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Edison Energia SpA and Executive Vice President of the Gas & Power Market Division of Edison SpA. He also holds several other positions within companies of the Group.
Joseph Stiglitz
Joseph Stiglitz
Professor of Economics, Columbia University
Joseph E. Stiglitz is an American economist and a professor at Columbia University. He is also the co-chair of the High-Level Expert Group on the Measurement of Economic Performance and Social Progress at the OECD, the co-chair of The Independent Commission for the Reform of International Corporate Taxation (ICRICT), Chair of the Founding Committee for the International Panel on Inequality, and the Chief Economist of the Roosevelt Institute. Stiglitz was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2001. He is a former senior vice president and chief economist of the World Bank and a former member and chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers. Stiglitz founded the Initiative for Policy Dialogue, a think tank on international development based at Columbia University, in 2000. He has been a member of the Columbia faculty since 2001 and received that university’s highest academic rank (University Professor) in 2003. In 2011 Stiglitz was named by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world. In 2024 he was named an Honorary Academician by the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences and in 2025 Pope Francesco named him a Chair of the Jubilee Commission of Experts to address Debt and Development Crises. He is the author of numerous books, including, most recently, The Road to Freedom: Economics and the Good Society.
Maniele Tasca
Maniele Tasca
General Director, Selex Gruppo Commerciale
Currently, Maniele Tasca has held the position of general manager at SELEX Gruppo Commerciale S.p.A. since 2009.
Maniele Tasca’s academic background includes a degree in Business Administration from Bocconi University. His career path began between 1994 and 2003, in the consumer goods and retail sector at the Bolton Group and the strategic consulting firms Boston Consulting Group and Bain & Company.
In the following years, from 2004 to 2008, he joined the Alpitour Group. He initially held the position of Marketing Director and later rose to the position of Managing Director of the Retail Division.
In addition to his executive roles, Maniele Tasca has assumed important leadership responsibilities. He currently serves as Managing Director of the Board of Directors of ESD Italia and Board Member of the European Central EMD.
He also holds advisory positions as a member of Inselex and serves as Attorney General of the Italian A&O Consortium.
He is vice president of Gs1 Italia. As a representative of Selex, he actively participates in the Boards of Directors of ADM and Federdistribuzione.
Gianfranco Vassallo
Gianfranco Vassallo
Director of Revenue Operations, Booking.com
Gianfranco began his career in 2004 as a Pricing Analyst at General Electric in Budapest. In 2008 he joined Elsevier in Amsterdam as Accounts Receivable Manager, later specializing in debt collection for the Middle East and Africa. He subsequently joined Booking.com, where he was tasked with leading improvements in collections performance across the same regions. In parallel, he served as process lead for the Booking Holdings Group, leading an Order-to-Cash migration project from SAP ECC to SAP S/4HANA. Over time, he became responsible for Billing, Accounts Receivable, and Legal Collections, and also established functions for Credit Risk, Partner Master Data Management, and Tax Compliance and Operations. In addition, he served for several years as a Senior Board Member in credit management associations such as FCIB, delivering instructional webinars on a voluntary basis to teach credit management techniques. In 2019 he was appointed Director of Revenue Operations. Among his achievements, he developed machine learning models for credit risk and a Revenue Assurance Program based on the analysis of processes, systems, and interfaces, identifying inefficiencies and optimizing revenues while reducing losses. Managing very large data volumes at Booking.com, a key focus for Gianfranco has been automation and robotics, ensuring efficiency, scalability, and error reduction across processes.