We posed five questions to Faculty members to get to know them better.
Today they tell their stories:
Alberto Casna
Head of Marketing & Business Development at Brightside Capital
"Instinct and intuition are invaluable, but withoutACCURATE ANALYSIS you run the risk of not really addressing the problem."
1. Can you introduce yourself by telling us your first and last name and what you do?
Alberto Casna, since 2021 I have been responsible for marketing and business development in Brightside Capital. Since 2016 I have also had the privilege of giving lectures and testimonials related to the world of marketing in some of the most important business schools in Italy.
2. What will you teach in this master’s program and why do you think this subject is important within it?
I will deal with marketing strategy, the processes behind the development of the strategy itself and the importance of properly measuring the results of the efforts put into the field. Just having a process in my opinion is one of the most underestimated points of this work: we rely too often on instinct, on intuition, leaving aside the analysis phase that instead is fundamental to really solve a problem.
3. What was the spark that prompted you to work in this field?
The meeting of the personal journey of soul-searching and the realization that lasting social change comes from the integration of intention, ethics and concrete action.
4. What is one thing you wish you had known at the beginning of your career that you can now pass on to master’s students?
That giving does not mean “doing good” in the abstract, but taking deep responsibility: listening, understanding contexts and accepting the complexity of change processes.
5. What is a false myth about your industry that you would like to eliminate and what innovative aspect would you like to promote?
That marketing is a cost, when by its nature it brings benefits especially in the long term, so it should be interpreted as an investment. Just this small change of mindset brings with it a different and in my opinion more sensible approach to this world.
Enrica Lobina
Director in Wisedāna Foundation
"I have always believed that the common good is built through STRUCTURED RELATIONSHIPS, capable of generating shared value. The real challenge is to make them EFFECTIVE and TRANSFORMATIVE."
1. Can you introduce yourself by telling us your first and last name and what you do?
My name is M. Enrica Lobina and I have been working in the nonprofit and philanthropic sector for over 20 years in roles as a manager and strategic consultant. I work in fundraising, institutional development, and accompanying organizations and foundations on paths of growth and transformation. I strive to generate systemic change through developing trusting relationships and building innovative high-impact models. I am currently in charge of Wisedāna Foundation, an international organization inspired by Buddhist values that promotes systemic philanthropy geared toward social innovation.
2. What will you teach in this master’s program and why do you think this subject is important within it?
In the Master’s program, I will address the topic of strategic leadership and philanthropic ecosystems. In an ever-changing context, it is crucial to be able to read the dynamics of power, influence and vision that run through the world of philanthropy. We need a clear and up-to-date perspective on how this field is evolving, including in dialogue with what is happening internationally: not only as a sector but as a lever of change in systems and in the relationships between the different actors at play.
3. What was the spark that prompted you to work in this field?
I have always believed that the common good is not built through isolated gestures, but through structured relationships capable of generating shared value. The real challenge is to make these relationships effective and transformative, capable of mitigating power distortions and rebalancing the inequalities they generate. Philanthropy, for me, is the space where we can build and sustain systems that make this possible, and it is what drives me to work passionately in this field.
4. What is one thing you wish you had known at the beginning of your career that you can now pass on to master’s students?
I wish I had known that:
- relationships are the real capital of this work (we need generative alliances based on vision, care and deep listening),
- complexity is not an obstacle to be simplified, but a structural dimension of the systems in which we operate (and that we do not deal with it alone),
- Making transformative choices takes courage, passion and confidence.
5. What is a false myth about your industry that you would like to eliminate and what innovative aspect would you like to promote?
One myth to overcome is that “little is enough to do much”: real change does not improvise; it requires time, intentionality and shared expertise. The innovation I care about is one that puts relationships at the center: a philanthropy based on trust, mutual learning and co-responsibility, capable of transforming systems beyond immediate solutions.
Beatrice Marzi
Consultant in Strategic Philanthropy for Brightside Capital and Operations & Philanthropy Senior Manager in Wisedāna
"The problem is not the lack of generosity, but the lack of LISTENING, TIME and VISION."
1. Can you introduce yourself by telling us your first and last name and what you do?
My name is Beatrice Marzi and I work in the field of strategic philanthropy. I have a background weaving international cooperation, fundraising, evaluation and learning. I am currently a consultant for entrepreneurial families and foundations, and head of strategic philanthropy for the Wisedāna Foundation. Over the years I have accompanied donors, nonprofits, and institutions in different international contexts, working on models of trust-based philanthropy and systemic change.
2. What will you teach in this master’s program and why do you think this subject is important within it?
In the Master’s program, I will work on international cooperation and humanitarian communication, with a focus on aspects of geopolitics, power dynamics, and how narratives influence perceptions of contexts of fragility, the people involved, and philanthropic actions. The goal is to work on forms of communication capable of restoring complexity, but more importantly understanding it. Moreover, I believe that humanitarian communication is an important issue because it is an integral part of philanthropic and humanitarian intervention: it guides decisions, resources, relationships, and strategies. If used unconsciously, it can reinforce paternalistic approaches; if acted responsibly, on the other hand, it can support practices that are more equitable, respectful, and oriented toward real, lasting, but above all systemic change.
3. What was the spark that prompted you to work in this field?
The spark came from working on the ground in contexts of social fragility and institutional instability. There I saw how often resources arrive without a real understanding of local needs, priorities, and expertise. I realized that the problem was not lack of generosity, but lack of listening, time and vision. From that moment, I began to question how to accompany donors and organizations toward more responsible practices, capable of holding ethics, effectiveness and human relations together.
4. What is one thing you wish you had known at the beginning of your career that you can now pass on to master’s students?
I wish I had understood earlier that there are no simple solutions to complex problems and that the desire to “hurry up” often produces damage, even when born of the best intentions. Today I would like to convey the importance of slowing down, asking better questions, planning for the long term, and viewing evaluation not as a check, but as a shared learning tool. And above all, that working in philanthropy means taking political and cultural responsibility, not just technical responsibility.
5. What is a false myth about your industry that you would like to eliminate and what innovative aspect would you like to promote?
A widespread false myth in the field is the idea that little is enough to do much. This often well-intentioned narrative risks oversimplifying the complexity of social problems and legitimizing interventions that are fragmented, under-resourced or lack continuity. Real change requires time, adequate resources, expertise and accountability throughout the process. The innovative aspect I wish to promote is an approach to philanthropy based on trust, learning and co-responsibility. A philanthropy capable of using advanced tools-from evaluation to artificial intelligence-without losing the human dimension of giving, and oriented toward generating public value over time, not just immediate or easily recounted results.
Frederick Chin
Co-director of Ashoka Italy and secretary general of Social Value Italy
"ASSESSING helps us understand what works, what has not worked, where we can IMPROVE, what we need to CHANGE."
1. Can you introduce yourself by telling us your first and last name and what you do?
My name is Federico Mento, and I am co-director of Ashoka Italy. Since 2020 and since 2015 I have held the role of secretary general of Social Value Italia.
2. What will you teach in this master’s program and why do you think this subject is important within it?
I will address impact evaluation, a topic that has become increasingly central over the past 10 years. In my view, evaluation is a powerful tool to foster reflexivity in organizations: evaluating is not just an accountability exercise, rather it is part of the strategic planning process. Evaluating helps us understand what works, what has not worked, where we can improve, what we need to change. Assessing helps us open ourselves to change. In a time marked by the constant acceleration of change, evaluating enables us to better manage the complexities in which we are immersed.
3. What was the spark that prompted you to work in this field?
A meeting in the summer of 2000. I began a period of volunteer work in an organization active in the prison, and that period, which was supposed to be a few months, lasted five years. That encounter was so transformative that it completely changed the trajectory of my life. They were “full” years from both a professional and human perspective.
4. What is one thing you wish you had known at the beginning of your career that you can now pass on to master’s students?
Certainly the centrality of the point of view of the people toward whom our intervention is directed. Often the risk is to project our expectations, our worldview onto others, as if they were empty vessels to be filled. Really listening is a fundamental requirement for building interventions that are effective, generating processes of empowerment and authentic autonomy.
5. What is a false myth about your industry that you would like to eliminate and what innovative aspect would you like to promote?
Certainly, I would like to overcome the false myth of low skills. There are very qualified people in civil society organizations, with academic backgrounds, diverse experiences. Those working in the third sector tend to use a measured, subdued register-we should learn, instead, to be more proud of who we are and what we do.
Filippo Scianna
President at Italian Buddhist Union
"Philanthropy is not just an operational tool, but a practice that guides the SENSE OF ACTION and the QUALITY OF IMPACT."
1. Can you introduce yourself by telling us your first and last name and what you do?
Filippo Scianna, president of the Wisedāna Foundation and the Italian Buddhist Union. I work on philanthropy, conscious leadership and social transformation processes inspired by ethical and spiritual values.
2. What will you teach in this master’s program and why do you think this subject is important within it?
My lectureship will have this theme: Philanthropic values: disbursement modalities and identity ” and will focus on the values that motivate philanthropy: mindfulness, responsibility, compassion, and systemic vision. I consider this subject fundamental because philanthropy is not just an operational tool, but a practice that guides the meaning of action and the quality of impact.
3. What was the spark that prompted you to work in this field?
The meeting of the personal journey of soul-searching and the realization that lasting social change comes from the integration of intention, ethics and concrete action.
4. What is one thing you wish you had known at the beginning of your career that you can now pass on to master’s students?
That giving does not mean “doing good” in the abstract, but taking deep responsibility: listening, understanding contexts and accepting the complexity of change processes.
5. What is a false myth about your industry that you would like to eliminate and what innovative aspect would you like to promote?
A false myth is that philanthropy is only about economic resources. The innovation I wish to promote is a conscious philanthropy that can combine inwardness, expertise and impact evaluation.
