FOUNDING MEMBERS
Click on the image to read the member’s biography
Richard Hodges
President of LoveItaly
Dr. Richard Hodges is currently President of the American University of Rome. He studied archaeology and medieval history at Southampton University, where he also gained his PhD in 1977 on the trade and ceramics of the North Sea region. He has taught at the Universities of Sheffield (1976-95), Siena (1984-87; 2008), Copenhagen (1988), and East Anglia (1995-) where he holds a professorship. He has been Director of the British School at Rome (1988-95), Director of the Prince of Wales’s Institute of Architecture (1996-98), Scientific Director of the Butrint Foundation (1994-12), and Williams Director of the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (2007-12).
He is a board member of the Packard Humanities Institute (2004-present). Dr. Hodges has worked in Italian archaeology since 1978, participating in the Biferno valley survey (1978-79), the San Vincenzo project (1980-98) and the Montarrenti project (1982-87). Amongst his publications are (with Riccardo Francovich) Villa to Village (2003), (with John Mitchell) San Vincenzo Maggiore and its workshops (2011), (with Sauro Gelichi) From One Sea to Another. Trading Places in the European and Mediterranean Early Middle Ages (2012) and Dark Age Economics: a New Audit (2012). He was awarded the Order of the British Empire by the Queen in 1995.
Richard Hodges
President
Stefano Pighini
Vice President of LoveItaly
Stefano Pighini is a business Angel with many years of experience as manager in charge of development and M&A in companies such as Philip Morris, Pirelli, ENI and Enel. He has been the administrator of leasing and factoring companies, pension funds and has dealt with several important financial activities. He took part in the initial listing in the stock market of Eni and Enel in Milan and New York, and Pirelli Tyre in Amsterdam. Currently, he is the CEO and President of companies active in the field of renewable energy.
He is active in the field of not-for-profit associations; he was Secretary, Treasurer and Vice Chairman of UCID, Union of Christian entrepreneurs and managers of Milan and Rome, Treasurer and President of the Federation of Blue Ribbon and President of the Association for the development of entrepreneurship. He also is chairman of LVenture Group
Stefano Pighini
Vice President & Treasurer
Tracy Roberts
Vice President of LoveItaly
After graduating in Linguistics from University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), Tracy went on to live in Rome, Italy where she started her own business (1984 to 2011) called the English Yellow Pages, a directory of English-speaking professionals, businesses and services in Italy. In 1988, Tracy co-founded Interazione, a public relations firm. Her primary role in the company focused on development and management of clients’ relations with the international press as well as government and institutional relations.
From 2002-2006, Tracy was the Executive Director of The Rome Chamber Music Festival and participated in the creation of what is considered one of Rome’s most important annual musical events. She was responsible for overseeing all aspects of the organization, including international fundraising, corporate sponsorship, management and public relations.
Tracy Roberts
Vice President & Co-Founder
Luigi Capello
Co-Founder of LoveItaly
Founder LUISS ENLABS, Chief Operating Officer LVenture Group, Entrepreneur and Business Angel. Luigi is founder and CEO of LVenture Group – a Venture Capital Holding listed on the Italian Stock Exchange – and project creator of the first Italian case of integration between a VC investor and an accelerator called “LUISS ENLABS – The Startup Factory” – established in 2013 through the joint-venture between EnLabs and LUISS Guido Carli University.
He is co-founder of Italian Angels for Growth (IAG), the first organized group of Italian Business Angels. He has managed important private equity funds and founded several successful startups. He is Professor of “Entrepreneurship & Venture Capital” at LUISS Guido Carli University where he graduated in Economics and Business. He has attended the EPCG, Executive Program for Growing Companies, at Stanford University.
Luigi Capello
Co-Founder
Gloria Arditi
Gloria is an architect that works in various fields of architecture. She was born in Milan and studied architecture at the Università La Sapienza, in Rome where she graduated with honors in Architectural Composition under the tutelage of Paolo Portoghesi. She later worked in the Studio of John Outram Associates and participated in two competitions to design buildings in London.
Gloria then worked on the New York restoration project for the Statue of Liberty and of Ellis Island and studied at Columbia University where she wrote a thesis on the Restoration of the Edifices of the Modern Movement and published a book on Gio Ponti: Venti Cristalli di Architettura. Gloria received a PhD in Technology of Architecture from the University Ludovico Quaroni, La Sapienza.
Gloria curated, edited and wrote for two prestigious design publications: Disegno Industriale/Industrial Design, DIID, which was nominated for the Compasso D’Oro, and for IL PROGETTO, dedicated to architecture, art, communications and design.
Gloria conducted in-depth research and the appraisal of fine artwork together with Denis Mahon and Ferdinando Bologna. Their efforts resulted in the display of the work in an exquisite exhibition in 2004 at the Capodimonte Museum in Naples.
In 2006 she was appointed Vice President of the Palatina- Istanbul Association, UNESCO Agency – and wrote a proposal on the restoration of Villa Tarabya (a masterpiece of the Deco’ Italian Architecture in Istanbul) for the Italian Foreign Ministry. Together with the Studio Gentiloni Silveri, she participated in the restoration of various historical buildings in Rome. For the Celebration of S. Paul’s Nativity, Gloria helped find financing for urgent works of the Papal Basilica of S. Paul Outside the Walls.
Gloria’s ancestor, Michele Arditi, (18th and 19th century), was the founder and director of the Archeological Museum of Naples and under his guidance, the city of Pompeii was fully discovered. He invented the ‘Open-Air Excavations’ with thousands of people working in the same site at the same time.
Gloria Arditi
Dario Beccarini
Dario is an Art historian, Cultural Heritage manager, Entrepreneur and EU strategies researcher. He has an MA (with hons) in Science of Cultural Heritage and Art History from Roma Tre University. In 2013 he became a scholar for the Peretti Foundation project “Cataloging the Fund of Drawings preserved in Civiche Raccolte d’Arte di Milano by Caravaggio’s Master Simone Peterzano.”
Dario is a Master of Expertise in European Funding and Projects and Internationalization of Enterprises. He is the Co-founder and Partner of Prometheos S.r.l., a family company that deals with fine art collection management and trade with old and rare books. Currently, Dario is involved, as an external jr. consultant, in the establishment and organization of the European Project Office of the Soprintendenza Speciale per i Beni Archeologici di Roma (part of the Italian Ministry of Heritage, Cultural Activities and Tourism). Dario also continues to carry on with his entrepreneurial activity as art consultant, with the creation and organization of exhibitions and museums and in the publication of scientific texts.
Dario Beccarini
Sabina Castelfranco
Sabina Castelfranco was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, to Italian parents, but grew up in Spain, the United States and Britain. After obtaining her BSc. degree in Economics at the London School of Economics, she returned to Italy where she began working as a journalist. She became a professional journalist during her years at Vatican Radio, which she decided to leave after seven years to become a freelance journalist working for news organizations including CBS News, Al Jazeera International, BBC, CNN, Voice of America and RAI.
She also works in radio and TV news, often focusing on special investigative projects and documentaries. She contributes to numerous radio and TV broadcasts, newspapers and magazines, ofter times writing in English, Spanish and Italian. She became passionate about the need to safeguard cultural heritage in Italy during the production of a special report for CBS News’ “60 Minutes” on the need to use private funds for this purpose and decided more needed to be done!
Sabina Castelfranco
Roberto Culicchi
Roberto holds an Italian law degree from the University of Pisa (1990) and a Master of Laws (LL.M.) from New York University, School of Law, New York (1995). Roberto Culicchi is an Of Counsel in the Hogan Lovells Milan office and head of the equity capital market practice. Roberto has assisted some of the most respected and recognized companies in Italy, acting for either the Global Coordinators or the Issuers/Selling Shareholders in the public offerings and/or private placements and listings of shares on the Italian Stock Exchange.
Roberto has been involved in a variety of different securities transactions, including secondary offerings, rights issues, block trades, public tender and exchange offers and debt issues. He is a regular speaker at seminars and conferences on equity capital markets. Roberto is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Italian Crowdfunding Network, an association which strives to provide a correct development of crowdfunding in Italy by promoting awareness of the phenomenon and networking among industry professionals, favoring innovation, competitiveness and sustainability in the market.
Roberto Culicchi
Jessica Edwards
Jessica holds a BA in Theology from the University of Oxford and has extensive experience in the television industry, tailoring products for different cultural audiences. She is currently working towards her MA in Sustainable Cultural Heritage at the American University of Rome (AUR). As part of her plan of research studies, and within the framework of an agreement between ICCROM and the AUR, Jessica’s curricular internship will be hosted at ICCROM this summer.
As an intern for the Office of the Director-General, Jessica will carry out research for the project “ICCROM New Building & Exhibition”, drawing on the experience of the “Fundraising for Cultural Heritage projects” module of the AUR Master, taught by Dr Peter Gould. She will also work on finalizing the “Italy’s Cultural Heritage Fundraising Tools” (2013) research report, carried out by Invitalia in collaboration with ICCROM. Both Projects will contribute to the research for her Master’s Thesis on cultural heritage fundraising and philanthropy in Italy.
Jessica Edwards
Victoria Ericks
Victoria graduated from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) with a degree in Art History with additional graduate coursework in ethnographic – documentary filmmaking. She began her career in the arts and media communication fields working alongside a well-established videographer while also learning the business of artist management. Comfortable in creative areas of art and media, she easily shifts from one to the other seamlessly incorporating experience garnered from one in support of the next.
This capability prompted her to take on her first entrepreneurial project, opening a studio in space design and collection curation. Shortly after moving to Rome in the mid 1980’s, she joined the ABC News production team where she contributed to high-quality, compelling programming aired on network news shows in the U.S. Later, as a Field Producer for the German television network Deutsch-Weller, she covered stories on social-political issues throughout central Italy. In recent years, Victoria has served as project manager for different painting exhibitions. Since 2005 she has been a partner and a co-founder of InRomeNow, an online publication reporting on culture, services, events and travel in and around Rome. Currently, she is once again active in the visual arts as a curator, and arts consultant. In 2014 she curated a photography exhibition hosted at Museo di Roma in Trastevere – other curatorial projects are underway. She is an activist for women’s rights/human rights, and fund-raises as Ambassador to Italy for an international non-profit organization.
Victoria Ericks
Francesco Sforza
Francesco Sforza Cesarini was born in Rome. He went to high school in the UK and to college in the US at the Jesuit University in San Francisco where he graduated with a BBA in 1988 and an MBA in 1989. He worked in finance from 1990 to 2011 in Switzerland, Portugal, France, the UK and Italy. In Milan he worked at Caboto Sim, in Rome for BNL and JP Morgan. He currently manages a real estate company and a family office in Rome.
Over the years he has travelled extensively and is passionate about history. He is president for Lazio of the Associazione Dimore Storiche Italiane, a private association that helps private owners to preserve historical buildings and the heritage they represent. He is passionate about civic involvement and founded the Associazione Rione Ponte e Dintorni which actively participates in debates and projects with the local authorities for the betterment of the quality of life of Rome’s central district.
Francesco Sforza Cesarini
Andrea Gaiba
Andrea is an international entrepreneur and investor in new media/internet, entertainment/gaming and software. He holds a degree in electrical engineering and telecommunications from the University of Padua. Andrea is a Partner at IAG, the largest network of angel investors in Italy. He is also a founding partner of Italian Brand Factory, a company of acceleration, incubation and investment in the excellence of made in Italy.
Andrea Gaiba
Giovanni Gazzola
Giovanni Gazzola is an investor with more than 20 years of experience in ICT. He has worked for many companies such as Olivetti and GFI. He managed institutional clients in the Public Administration (Minister of Treasury and Ministry of Justice) and Communication (Telecom). Giovanni has lead many successful national working groups.
Giovanni Gazzola
Marco Grassi
Marco Grassi, a mechanical engineering graduate, is an investor in smart-community platforms and start-ups with 25 years of experience in Information Communication Technology companies such as Telefonica, IBM and Atradius Credit where he served in management positions in Italy and abroad. He lead successful international projects and company turnarounds for equity funds and family trusts.
He is currently leading co-research projects on Big Data and Business Intelligence with research centers such as the European Institute of Technology in Trento (UNITN) and the Department of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering of the Sapienza University in Rome. He is an activist in several initiatives to bring innovative technologies to Cultural Heritage and social environment projects. Marco is member of Innovation and Technology workgroups in Confindustria and has been Executive Board member of non-profit management associations.
Marco Grassi
Claudio Honorati
In memory of Claudio Honorati who greatly supported Italian cultural heritage and creating opportunities for younger generations. Claudio was a key figure in the creation of our Association in which he strongly believed and to which he was deeply attached. He was dedicated to the mission of LoveItaly with great enthusiasm, confident that the energy of all of us together can make a difference. His memory will always be alive.
Claudio Honorati received his law degree at the University of Rome and was admitted to the bar in 1974. He has served as President and National Secretary of the Young Lawyers Association at the Rome Bar. He was a member of the Youth Panel for CNEL (Italian Counsel for Economics and Labour) and legal counsel for the Authority of Public Utilities of the City of Rome. From 1997 to 2013, he was Secretary of the Board of Directors of the Circolo Canottieri Aniene of Rome. During this period, he was responsible for the relationship with the City of Rome for the restoration of the Fontana dell’Acqua Acetosa that was financed by the Circolo.
The fountain is from the School of Bernini. He was also responsible for the subsequent preparation work and management of the area of the Fontana dell’Acqua Acetosa. He has a vast expertise in real estate and public utilities issues (with a main focus on privatization of local public utilities) and has organized seminars and coordinated publications relating to this sector. He regularly assists real estate investors in all contractual, corporate and financial issues arising from property related transactions. Claudio Honorati is Honorary President of the Dià Cultura Foundation, a non-profit organization promoting culture and ethics.
Claudio Honorati
In Memoriam
Domenico Laudonia
Domenico is an experienced entrepreneur and Early Stage Investor with relevant professional background in Strategic and Operative Marketing, Sales & Business Development, and domestic and international Venture Capital corporations. Currently, he is Co-Founder of Italian Brand Factory, the first Accelerator/Investor for “Innovative Made in Italy.” He is also a Partner in Italian Angels for Growth, the largest Italian Angel Investor Association.
Domenico is a mentor and advisor for top Italian Incubators and Accelerators: Unicredit StartLab, Fashion Technology Accelerator, Tech Peaks, LuissEnlabs, ImpactHub. He has held several executive director positions in both B2B, B2B2C and Direct To Consumers environments with P&L and ROI responsibilities within Large Corporations (Vodafone, Deutsche Bank, RAI Television, Qualcomm, Sisal Payment Institution). He also has key competences in Mobile Communication, Digital Media & Entertainment, Payments, Insurance & Financial Services, Start Ups and Venture Capital. Domenico has a Bachelor Degree in Industrial Engineering (Politecnico – Milan) and two Advanced Post Graduate Degrees in Private Equity, Venture Capital (AIFI) and General Management (SDA – Bocconi University) and in Total Quality Management (UC Berkeley).
Domenico Laudonia
Giovanni Storto
Giovanni Lo Storto is the General Manager of LUISS University of Rome. After serving as an administrative official in the Army, he then worked as a branch manager of Bartolini in the Italian Reinsurance Union and in the office of the CEO at Swiss Re. From 1997 until 2005 he worked as a teaching assistant, and later as an adjunct professor, in Economics of Insurance Company Management at LUISS Guido Carli and the University of L’Aquila. In 2015 he was appointed independent board member for doBank SpA where in 2016 he became president of the risk committee. He is also co-founder of the accelerator LUISSEnlabs. He translated into Italian the book Jugaad Innovation for Rubbettino Editore.
Giovanni Lo Storto
Roberto Magnifico
Roberto Magnifico is a corporate finance and financial markets expert. He has worked in New York, Rome, London, and has held positions in international financial institutions like Lehman Brothers, Banco di Roma, UBS, Barclays Capital and Dresdner Kleinwort Benson. Roberto has been a co-founder and advisor of many companies and associations. Currently he is a partner of Innovaction Lab, mentor, co-founder and investor in startups. He is also a board member of LVenture Group.
Roberto Magnifico
Alessandro Martello
Alessandro is a marketing and sales expert. He started his career in an Italian Bank based in Munich before moving to a large German FMCG firm based in Düsseldorf where he held the position of international marketing and export director until the end of 2013. In 2014 he decided to move back to Italy – he loves Italy – and started his own business as an investor in startups focusing on “made in Italy”: food, fashion and design.
Alessandro is an Adjunct Professor of Brand Management in the International Master’s program of Brand and Corporate Communication at the “Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore – Milan”. Alessandro thoroughly enjoys his present work as a mentor and advisor in supporting young talent and startups.
Alessandro Martello
Fernando Napolitano
Fernando Napolitano is a prominent Italian businessman and champion of Italy’s robust SME and start-up sector. As the founder of the Italian Business & Investment Initiative. A 20 year veteran of Booz Allen Hamilton, Fernando served as Senior Vice President and Managing Director in Italy for a decade, where he led the Organization and Strategy practice, specializing in the telecoms, media, aerospace and energy sectors.
His previous professional experience includes marketing at Procter & Gamble Italia and Laben S.p.A, a division of Finmeccanica. Fernando currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors of Enel S.p.A. and a member of the international Advisory Board of Innogest SGR S.p.A., Italy’s largest venture capital fund. He is also Chairman of the steering committee of Fulbright BEST (Business Exchange and Student Training), a scholarship program for Italian PhD students in science and technology that promotes the advancement of innovative research. Fernando is a member of the Italy-USA Council, a member of the Advisory Board of Mind The Bridge Foundation in San Francisco, and is a former member of the American Chamber of Commerce in Italy, the Council for Foreign Relations and the Aspen Institute Italia. Fernando graduated summa cum laude with a degree in Economics from the University of Naples Federico II, holds a Master of Science Management from Brooklyn Polytechnic, and is a graduate of the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School. An accomplished author, he currently serves as a columnist for Panorama, the leading Italian business magazine, and is the co-author of the book, “Megacommunities: How Leaders of Government, Business and Non-Profits Can Tackle Today’s Global Challenges Together.”
Fernando Napolitano
Francesco Tamburella
Francesco Tamburella is a Consultant and Administrator of public and private companies in various sectors: banking, insurance, health care, construction, retail, art and culture. With the advent of new information technologies he specialized in innovative applications that enhance marketing and communication strategies related to digitalization and multimedia.
In partnership with consumer groups, Francesco pointed out ways to optimize customer service and prevent mistakes in losing market share. He designed the WOR – Web Opinion Reader – a data mining software for the evaluation of corporate reputation on the web; he organized the historical documentation of consumer archives, correspondence and disputes; he developed a system of analysis of critical issues related to business-consumer relations, defining a company profile Sustainable and Reliable in the context of Corporate Social Responsibility. Francesco founded and is Chairman of Comitas, an Association for the defence of Microenterprises. Comitas arose from the desire of many micro-businesses to obtain justice and fight abuse of the market. In collaboration with the Centro Studi, he created the Observatory of Environmental Compatibility for Cosmetics of which he is currently President.
Francesco Tamburella
Margherita Tedone
After getting her degree in law, Margherita developed a career in advertising and marketing strategies. For over 20 years she has specialized in the target of foreigners residing in Italy and tourists. She collaborates with important international magazines and events aimed at international community residents.
Margherita Tedone
Helga Weishaupl
Helga was raised in Munich, Germany and attended Mary Ward high school and the Sabel Academy. She studied French in Lausanne, Switzerland and then attended the Textielingenueurschule in Krefeld, Germany. Helga transferred to Rome to work in the textile design studio of Di Colbertaldo in via del Babuino.
Helga then relocated to Detroit, Michigan with her husband and two children where she attended the Department of Fine Arts at Wayne State University. In 1971, Helga returned to Rome and began designing again in the di Colbertaldo Studio. In 1990 to 1999, Helga started her own business designing and producing leather fashion. During her life, Helga practiced various sports: figure ice skating, skiing, tennis, windsurf, and on a competitive level sailing. At the moment, Helga is now retired and she dedicates her time to Yoga, Fashion, Gardening, travelling and her family.
Helga Weishaupl
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Honorary Members
Piero Angela
Franca Fendi
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Club Cicero Members
Christina Formichella
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Members
Sofia Caputo
Giorgio Cazzaniga
Maria Cristina Cinquini Zavanella
Maureen Fant
Cristiania Gaggioli
Paola Gatti
Maurizio Grassi
Italians Make it Better
Alejandra Lopez Varela
Giulia Marraffa
Sheila Frances McKinnon
Massimo Nardinocchi
Antonino Saccà
Nicoletta Staderini
Angela Tangianu