October 2021 PWA Conference – People, Planet and Prosperity. The Gap in Gender Equality

Keynote Speaker

H.E. Elena Bonetti
Minister for Equal Opportunities and Family, Italy

Ms. Elena Bonetti is Associate Professor of Mathematical Analysis at the University of Milan. She graduated in Mathematics in 1997 at the University of Pavia, in 2002 Ms.Bonetti obtained a Ph.D. in Mathematics at the University of Milan. She is committed to the Scout Movement and has experiences in the field of education and youth. On 5 September 2019, Ms. Bonetti was appointed as Minister for Equal Opportunities and Family by the President of the Italian Republic.

Guest Speakers

Francesca Gesualdi
Counsel at Cleary Gottlieb Steen and Hamilton LLP

Francesca Gesualdi is Counsel at the international law firm Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP, currently based in Milan after working in the Rome and New York offices of the same firm. She holds a master degree from Harvard Law School (2006), where she studied on a Fulbright Scholarship, and a law degree from the Università degli Studi di Milano (2002).

She is dual qualified to practice law in Italy and New York. She regularly represents domestic and foreign clients (including Sovereigns, corporations and banks) in a wide range of disputes, involving corporate, corporate, commercial, regulatory, banking and financial matters, across numerous industries, including fashion, infrastructure and energy. Her recent experience includes acting as counsel on records in the two most prominent litigation on the Italian market in the past two years, concerning the lease and operation of the Ilva Taranto plant and the long-standing legal battle between Vivendi and Mediaset, which was eventually settled in 2021. In both cases, Francesca was the only women counsel on records for the client in court.

She leads and organizes various women attorneys’ initiatives and events, with a focus on empowering women and promoting inclusion in the legal profession. She is included in the list “1000 curricula eccellenti” (“1000 excellent CVs”) by Fondazione Marisa Bellisario (an Italian association for the promotion of women professionals).

Professor Paola Profeta
Full Professor of Public Finance at Bocconi University

Paola Profeta is Full Professor of Public Economics at Bocconi University, director of the AXA Research Center on Gender Equality, research affiliate of CESifo and CHILD and scientific advisor of Unicredit Foundation. She is also the Director of the Master of Science of Politics and Public Policy at Bocconi. Paola is President of the European Public Choice Society and member of the board of management of the International Institute of Public Finance.

She holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Universitat Pompeu Fabra and a BA in Economic and Social Sciences from Bocconi University. Before joining Bocconi as an associate professor, she was assistant professor at the University of Pavia and post-doc researcher at the Catholic University of Louvain. She has spent research periods at the Columbia University of New York, Nuffield College-Oxford University, Harvard Kennedy School, CESifo- Munich, University of Lugano, University of Rennes, University of Edinburgh and Trinity College Dublin.

Her research focuses on public economics, political economics and gender economics. She has published in leading academic journals, among which PNAS, Journal of the European Economic Association, Journal of Public Economics, Management Science, European Economic Review, Economic Journal, Oxford Economic Papers, Economic Policy, Journal of Public Economic Theory, International Tax and Public Finance, European Journal of Political Economy, Public Choice and she has written several international books, published by Cambridge University Press, Palgrave, Routlegde, Elgar. She is member of the editorial board of European Journal of Political Economy, International Tax and Public Finance and CESifo Economic Studies.

In 2020 she published the book “Gender Equality and Public Policy. Measuring progress in Europe” by Cambridge University Press translated into Italian by Egea.

She has coordinated research projects financed by international organizations, private foundations, universities and research centers. She organizes several international conferences on the topic of gender equality and female leadership. On the same topic, she is active in the national and international debate. She collaborates with the Department of Equal Opportunities of the Italian Presidency of the Council of Ministries and with numerous associations and institutions engaged in the promotion of gender equality and female leadership. She regularly writes editorials in Il Sole 24 Ore and collaborates with Corriere della Sera and blog La 27esima Ora

Gaia van der Esch
G20 Empower Sherpa 

Gaia van der Esch is a European (Italian and Dutch) policy expert, opinion leader and activist, committed to bring change through her ideas and leadership.

Under the G20 Italian Presidency, Gaia is the Sherpa of G20 EMPOWER, the G20 private-public Alliance for the advancement of female leadership. She provides in parallel strategy support with concern to the G20 to the European Commission office in Italy. Prior to this appointment, Gaia spent 12 years living in Africa, the Middle East, Europe and the U.S. Working in international aid, she held executive roles with international NGOs and thanks to her efforts and leadership was nominated by Forbes as part of their Europe 30 under 30 list (2017).

As a policy expert Gaia collaborates regularly with major media outlets and her work was published in the Corriere della Sera, L’Espresso, the Harvard Kennedy School Review, and the Harvard Ash Center for Democracy. She has been featured in a number of magazines, including the Corriere della Sera, VanityFair, Marie Claire, IoDonna, F, Treccani, Linkiesta and others. She is regularly invited as a speaker to international events, including the Web Summit, the Forbes Under 30 Summit, the World Humanitarian Summit, the Habitat III Summit, the Harvard European Conference and the Harvard Women in Power Conference. Gaia recently published her first book, “Volti d’Italia”, delving into polarization and politics in Italy, released in 2021 by Il Saggiatore.

Gaia holds a Bachelor’s of Philosophy from La Sapienza (2006) and two master’s degrees, in international relations from Sciences Po Paris (2011) and in Public Administration from Harvard (2020).

Participation is open to all registered members and guests.

Registered participants will receive the necessary ZOOM link to connect right after registration.
Check-in commences at 18:15, starts at 18:30 sharp.

Register Here