BAIAblog

Farewell Notes of Departing BAIA Executive Director Giorgio Ghersi

Tonight BAIA held its 15th event at the 631 O’Farrell Street in San Francisco. The topic of the event was a little bit outside BAIA tradition, but nevertheless very interesting: Italian Education as a Business: the Rise of Italian schools in the Bay Area.The event has been very successful and has shown one more time the key role BAIA is playing in creating contacts and networking opportunities for the Italian-American business community. Tonight is a special night also for a different reason: it is the last night for Giorgio Ghersi as Executive Director of the Association.

When the three founders (Giorgio, Michele and Matteo) started BAIA, they set up a few internal rules to ensure the association stays healthy, fresh, and open. One of the rules states that a new Executive Director has to be elected every two years by the Board. A few weeks ago, the Board has elected Matteo Fabiano as the new Executive Director to continue the great job done by Giorgio. While welcoming the new director, I believe it is important to give some additional visibility to the speech Giorgio gave tonight. Here are his words:

Giorgio Speech

Ladies and Gentlemen, good evening, and welcome to this BAIA event number 15 since our first in April 2006. Thank you for filling this room with such characteristic Italian warmth. With this event BAIA is completing its second year cycle of networking, presentations, and development of the Italian business community in the Bay Area.

BAIA, which stands for Business Association Italy America, was founded with the goal of becoming an open networking platform for businesses and professionals operating in the United States and in Italy. Through the means of an independent, nonprofit, member- and volunteer-based network, we aimed to create a professional forum through which information, knowledge and opportunities could openly, and effectively, be exchanged among entrepreneurs, managers and professionals in the United States and in Italy.

Tonight, thanks to our sponsors, Elliot & Mayock immigration law in San Francisco, C’era Una Volta restaurant in Alameda and Al Mare gelato italiano in Berkely, we are going to present the first panel related to “Italian Education as a business venture”.

From what I’m hearing, and as I can see myself tonight, this is a topic of great interest to our community, and this event may be only the first of a dedicated series.

BAIA tries to cover 360 degrees topics of interest to all of our membership and supporters, as it should be, given that it is the only independent Italian business association in the Bay Area, and we believe the community needs it.

Tonight I’m personally closing another cycle, which is two years of my Directorship of the Governance of this non-profit organization.

It has been a pleasure and an honor to serve BAIA in this role.

Many thanks to my Co-Founders, Matteo Daste and Michele Ursino, without whom BAIA would have never existed, and to all the other Directors and the whole Governance, with a word of particular sympathy for all the ones that started as volunteers or interns, as Sabrina, Alberto, Federico, or Flavio -in Italy- and stick at it, becoming active part of the Governance.

During these two years BAIA has risen to a role of great importance, with multiple chapters, international presence and relations, and institutional recognition.

I am confident that, under the new leadership of Matteo Fabiano, our next Executive Director, BAIA will continue to deliver, and grow further, thanks to its open governance structure, and to a common foundation of strong ethics and moral character among its founders and members.

Therefore, in the name of BAIA, I want to thank the entire community, and the institutional representatives present here tonight for their support, and wishes that such support and cooperation among all those who share the vision of a united, permanent, modern and transparent business association for Italians in the Bay Area will continue to grow and strengthen in 2008.

Thank you very much.

Giorgio Ghersi

I would like to express the gratitude of the Board and of all the BAIA members to Giorgio for the exceptional job he has done for the Association in the last two years and for the values he has been able to "inject" in the BAIA DNA: openness, honesty, and a sincere and profound sense of community.

Thank you Giorgio!

Franco Folini

An Interview with Gaetano Pellicano on Venture-Capital Reform in Italy

On February 19, 2008 I had the pleasure to be invited to speak at the Italian Parliament for an event on Venture Capital reform organized by Gaetano Pellicano, the President of BAIA Italy. Since the inception of BAIA Italy last year, Gaetano has been working on connecting the business communities gathered by BAIA in Italy and California, leveraging his experience to promote the exchange of knowledge, especially in the venture capital area.

Gaetano, can you tell us a bit about yourself and your professional activities?

Since 2001 I have been a political advisor of the U.S. State Department at the U.S. Embassy in Rome. I work with American companies and institutions in Italy and advise the U.S. government with respect to policies in Italy and the EU. I focus also on job creation policies and have taught public administration at the Scuola Superiore della Pubblica Amministrazione. After meeting BAIA founders Matteo Daste and Giorgio Ghersi in San Francisco and seeing what BAIA is doing, I espoused the idea and in 2007 I promoted the launch of a BAIA Rome Chapter, that I am currently presiding.

How relevant of a topic is promoting venture capital investment in Italy today?

Low level of investment by risk capitals hinders the capability of boosting an ecosystem which favors innovation. Either big corporations or the research sector call for a stronger network between different actors, including venture funds, in order to improve their competitiveness, to establish cooperation with international players, and to bring new ideas, products and service to the market.

How did BAIA Italy play a role in organizing the February 19 event?

BAIA had been working in close cooperation with the Partnership for Growth of the U.S. Embassy in Rome that promoted a network between serial entrepreneurs, business angels and venture capitals. We proposed to work with this group of players to strengthen the links with Californian counterparts and to consolidate a package of proposals of improvements of the legal system along with most interested policy makers. Decidere.net and Competere appreciated our initiative and decided to cosponsor it.

What possible benefits could come out of these activities for Italy?

Our aims are to improve the ecosystem, to increase its dynamism and to help Italian innovators willing to establish joint ventures and other forms of cooperation with American colleagues. We will submit the package to the new parliament and the new government by September.

What's the outlook for BAIA Italy?

We are structuring our organization concentrating our energies on few events which might allow us to involve new members. Volunteerism is less common in Italy than in the States, but with a strategic vision we hope to stimulate the participation of a significant group of innovators interested in our unique initiative.

I would like to thank again Gaetano for his contribution. It is hoped that initiatives like the one promoted by BAIA Italy will be a welcome addition to the Italian economic panorama and will not only contribute to promoting knowledge of California models in Italy, but will also give a fresh  perspective on venture capital to leaders and entrepreneurs in Italy.

Matteo Daste