The Perugia Foundation and the revitalization of Umbria. Interview with Cristina Colaiacovo, president of the Foundation
A graduate in management engineering from the Milan Polytechnic, Cristina Colaiacovo, after holding positions at UBS and Intesa San Paolo, lived and worked for two years in New York, gaining national and international experience in the world of finance. A second-generation entrepreneur of Colacem sustainable enterprise, she has been president of Fondazione Perugia since 2020, a member of the Board of Directors, Executive Committee and president of the Acri Sustainable Development Commission, and a member of the Cdp Support Committee.
Perugia Foundation has undertaken an ambitious program to revitalize the Umbrian territory in recent years. Can you tell us about the main initiatives you have activated and the results achieved?
In the scenario of profound and rapid transformations we are experiencing, Foundations play a key role in the social and economic development of their territories of reference. Since its establishment, Fondazione Perugia has also been committed to building a better future for its territory carrying out with increasing awareness this valuable task as a social engine. A mission based on listening to emerging priorities and oriented toward the growth and well-being of the community, to try to respond to issues ranging from culture to education, from supporting the Third Sector to training, from scientific research to art. On the social side, for example, the commitment continued with "InvestiAMOSociale," an ambitious program that aims to grow social entrepreneurship and support the development of innovative projects capable of responding to the needs of the territory and also generating impact in terms of social and labor inclusion of the most vulnerable. On the other hand, the social economy as a lever of territorial change inspired the "Social Innovation Manager" training course, to prepare professional figures capable of interpreting the challenges of territories in an entrepreneurial way. Particular attention was then devoted to the field of innovation, with the "SMAQ - Marketing Strategies for Quality Agribusiness", created to give support to the competitiveness of agribusinesses by accompanying them in the process of digital innovation.
Foundation also, is accompanying and supporting Local Authorities and Third Sector organizations to facilitate the acquisition of useful skills so that the NRP can be translated into a tool capable of generating real and lasting change in the territories of reference.
The call for proposals for the second edition of the Upskill Perugia project comes out on January 12. What are your expectations for the project in 2023?
The goal is to continue to foster the contamination of energies, unleashing the potential of young people and making it available to businesses. We expect to be able to stimulate, also in this new edition, the creativity that comes from young people to help counter the gap between the technical and professional skills required by the world of work and those available. The business world is being called upon to respond to the challenges of innovation, modernity and global competition: with this project we want once again to make available to the productive fabric the skills and ideas of young people from ITS, Istituti Tecnici Superiori, Technical Institutes of Higher Education, to enable businesses to strengthen themselves, enhancing in particular the sectors related to manufacturing. We hope that the synergy between human capital, businesses and training can help make our territory grow, thanks to the strength of the new energies we so badly need.
What are the Foundation's future areas of focus?
In 2023 Perugia Foundation will allocate about 8 million resources on activities consistent with the six strategic lines identified in the 2023-2025 Three-Year Planning Document recently approved by the Foundation's Steering Committee. The interventions will cover six areas that will guide activities for the next three years: economic well-being, research and innovation, social well-being, environmental sustainability, historical-artistic heritage, and culture and health. These guiding axes are the result of analyses and reflections conducted on the economic and social needs of the area, with the aim of creating widespread well-being. All this will be done by keeping alive and constant dialogue with our community, to make it increasingly welcoming, with a participatory vision of the future that puts ties and sociality at the center.