Elisabetta Ghisini
Hometown: Milano
Elisabetta is an expert in Global Marketing and Cross-Cultural Communications. Currently, Elisabetta serves as CMO of ContinuumLab.ai, a venture studio focused on launching AI startups with operations in the US and Italy. She loves to share her passion for storytelling as a Professor of Practice at Hult International Business School, where she teaches Management Communications and Leadership. As the President of COMITES, Elisabetta is very involved in the Italian community in San Francisco and is the founder of ReteRosa, an organization dedicated to the advancement of Italian female professionals in the Bay Area. She puts her degree in Comparative Literature from the Università Statale di Milano to use every day.
Serena Zanello
Hometown: Torino
Trained as an architect in Turin Italy, Serena Zanello practices as an architectural and design consultant in San Francisco, California. Serena’s work, known for its artistic sensibilities, creative scope and innovative vision, has garnered attention from both national and international clients over the last decade.
After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in Architecture from the “Facoltà di Architettura, Turin”, Serena worked at famed design house Pininfarina on a broad spectrum of interior and products. A boutique hotel project brought an offer from the Starbucks Coffee Company in San Francisco to join their design department. Her team worked on the design of over 100 stores in her tenure there. She now teaches Interior Architecture and Furniture Design at the Academy of Art University, San Francisco, as well as collaborating with a non-profit organization “Leaparts”, where she teaches architecture workshops for kids in San Francisco elementary schools.
In 2017 she launched a new design collection called ‘SINCE1984’, based on a modular furniture system, which was successfully funded by Kickstarter.
Maico Campilongo
Hometown: Scalea
Maico was born in Maratea, Italy but calls Verbicaro his real home. He comes from a closely knit family. Maico attended university in Pisa. Over the past twenty years, Maico has served in many roles in a myriad of careers from cook to elected official for his hometown. However, it is his four years in commercial consulting that he points to as key to his success today. On a trip to California to visit his brother, Franco, he was fascinated by the energy of Silicon Valley and decided to move to the United States. In 2006, Maico and Franco met the talented chef that would become their other co-owner. Maico works closely with front of the house leadership to continuously improve operations and strengthen the Terun brand. He also oversees facilities management, information technology, public relations, and marketing to elevate restaurant operations and guest experience. In his spare time, Maico is a relentless cyclist, just like his two partners.
Lucina Di Meco
Hometown: Sanremo
Lucina Di Meco is a women’s rights and gender equality expert, advocate and author. Her latest research, #ShePersisted. Women, Politics & Power in the New Media World, analyzes the relationship between women political leaders and social media and was featured on The Washington Post, Time Magazine, El Pais, and Politico, among others. Through her 15+ years career in international development and gender equality, Lucina worked for a wide range of international nonprofits, foundations, think tanks and UN agencies. She currently serves as Senior Director for Girls’ Education & Gender Equality at Room to Read, and Advisory Board Member at Fund Her. Lucina has a Magna Cum Laude in Political Science from the University of Turin, a Master’s in Development Economics from the University of East Anglia, and a Diploma in Gender Studies from the Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales.