Professor Mario Calderini, spokesperson for Torino Social Impact, internationally recognized as an expert and innovator on sustainability, social impact, and Purpose Driven Innovation, has joined the Expert Group on Social Economy and Social Enterprises of the European Commission through Social Impact Agenda for Italy, where he is a member of the Board of Directors.
This is an important milestone in supporting and promoting social economy and social enterprises in Europe, aimed at contributing to a European ecosystem oriented toward generating positive and measurable social impacts.

The GECES supports the work of the European Commission on important directives. Among its tasks are:

• Assisting the Commission in the implementation of measures outlined in the Commission’s Communication: “Building an economy that works for people: an action plan for the social economy”;
• Advising the Commission on how to best implement policy measures in the field of industrial policy for the social economy, particularly in the development of the Transition Pathway for the “Proximity and Social Economy” industrial ecosystem;
• Assisting the Commission by providing advice and expertise in the follow-up to the implementation of the Council Recommendation on the development of the framework conditions for the social economy in Member States;
• Assisting the Commission in preparing legislative proposals and policy initiatives in the field of social economy and social enterprises;
• Reflecting on how to better integrate social economy and social enterprise issues into the Commission’s policies and funding;
• Facilitating the exchange of experiences and good practices in the field of social economy and social enterprises and contributing to awareness-raising.

SIA, through its Secretariat, congratulates Professor Mario Calderini, recognizing the depth and expertise he will bring to the European working group.

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In 2021, Mario Calderini was included by Apolitical in the list of the 100 most influential academics in the world on public policy.

He holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Manchester and is a full professor at the School of Management of the Politecnico di Milano, where he teaches Impact and Sustainability Management.

He is the director of Tiresia, the Research Center for Social Impact Finance and Innovation at the Graduate School of Management of the Politecnico di Milano, which he founded in 2013.

In 2024, he was appointed by the European Commission as a member of GECES, the expert group on “Social Economy and Social Enterprises.”

During the Draghi government, he served as Cabinet Advisor to the Minister for Technological Innovation and Digital Transition and was a member of the Commission for Sustainable Infrastructure Finance, established by the Minister for Sustainable Infrastructures and Mobility. Previously, he was a scientific advisor to the Minister of Research and Innovation for four successive governments and Sherpa for the G7 Government. He was also a member of the G8 Task Force for Impact Investing. He is an advisor to the European Commission on social impact finance and entrepreneurship. He helped promote the social innovation agenda in Italy, launching the sector’s first public consultation. He was part of the government advisory group that drafted the Third Sector Reform.

He has been a member of the Advisory Board of Unicredit and the Sustainability Advisory Board of the Bolton Group. He sits on the Global Advisory Council of the Sella Group and is a board member of Fondazione De Agostini, Fondazione Cottino, Fondazione Human Age Institute, and Fondazione per il Dono.

He is the spokesperson for Torino Social Impact.