The ‘Il Poggio’ prize
February 15, 2022 2023-05-17 12:26The ‘Il Poggio’ prize
The “Il Poggio” prize, established in 2017, is awarded to successful women who have achieved excellence in their respective professional, human or social activities through their work and their tenacity.
This project aims at bringing male and female students closer to situations that are totally dif-ferent from their own but share with the students the fact of containing determined women who have dedicated their lives to what they are most passionate about, becoming real icons for today’s young girls who dream about careers in the most diversified fields.
That of being a woman cannot and should not be a setback but rather a strength in achieving one’s professional and personal goals, whatever they may be. This is demonstrated every year by the Women who win the “Il Poggio” prize.
Sports, culture, politics, justice, medicine, journalism, industry, science, business are all fields in which women have distinguished themselves in their respective careers or for exceptional professional or social merit. All sharing the will to achieve excellence.
Albod’ORO
2023 Edition
 | FRANCESCA FERRADINO – Institutional Appointed by the Council of Ministers in January 2023 as the head of the Prefecture of Florence. She entered the prefectural career in April 1989 and was assigned to the Prefecture of Milan, where she worked in the Cabinet Office, performing functions related to the “Metropolitan Committee” and serving as the head of the Municipal and Provincial Affairs Office. From February 1993, she worked at the Prefecture of Savona, where she served as the manager of the Decriminalization Office. Since May 1994, she has been assigned to the Prefecture of Genoa and has directed, as a responsible officer, the Office for Local Autonomy Affairs, as well as the Evictions Office. Back in Milan in 1996, in addition to her responsibilities as head of the Evictions Office and the Office for Local Autonomy Affairs, she also served as the Deputy Director of the Provincial Civil Protection Office. In Milan, she also participated in the implementation of the KIWI project, financed by the European Community, in partnership with the Faculty of Engineering of that city. She was promoted to the rank of Vice Prefect as of January 1, 2002. From September 13, 2004, to January 20, 2008, she served as the Chief of Staff at the Prefecture-UTG of Livorno. From January 21, 2008, she served as the Deputy Vice Prefect at the Prefecture of Palermo, where she was responsible, as the implementing subject, for carrying out activities related to the management of the state of emergency for the disposal of solid urban waste in the province of Palermo, as decreed by the D.P.C.M. of January 16, 2009. On July 22, 2010, she was appointed Prefect. From August 30, 2010, Prefect of Agrigento. From November 21, 2013, to September 4, 2016, Prefect of Bergamo. On September 5, 2016, she was appointed Prefect of Messina, where she was involved, among other things, in organizing the 43rd “Summit of Heads of State and Government” (G7) held in Taormina on May 26 and 27, 2017. On December 27, 2017, the President of the Republic conferred upon her the honorary distinction of Grand Officer of the Order “For Merit to the Italian Republic.” From February 6, 2018, to June 21, 2020, she assumed the functions of Prefect of the Province of Catanzaro, and from May 3 to June 3, 2019, she was also the Prefect of the Province of Vibo Valentia. Since June 22, 2020, she has been the Prefect of Bologna. Since December 23, 2021, she has been the head of the department for Civil Liberties and Immigration. |
 | MARGHERITA CASSANO – Justice Originally from Lucania but living in Florence, 67-year-old Margherita Cassano has been in the judiciary since 1980. Her first assignment was at the Public Prosecutor’s Office in Florence, where she dealt with issues related to drug addiction and drug trafficking, topics she continued to follow throughout her career. Her father, Pietro Cassano, was a famous magistrate in Florence and presided over many trials during the years of lead, including the conviction of the founder of the Red Brigades, Renato Curcio. Since 1982, Margherita Cassano has been a member of the specialized group investigating narcotics and organized crime, while from 1991 to 1998 she was assigned to the DIA (Anti-Mafia Investigation Directorate) in Florence. As a representative of Independent Judiciary, she served as a member of the Superior Council of the Judiciary (CSM) from 1998 for four years. From 2016 to 2020, she served as the President of the Court of Appeals in Florence. She is the author of numerous publications on substantive and procedural criminal law, as well as judicial organization. Throughout her long and varied career in the judiciary, she has demonstrated not only excellent preparation but also qualities of legal culture, intelligence, and absolute and unconditional dedication to her work. |
 | CAMILLA CONTI – Journalism Born in Florence on July 5, 1973, Camilla Conti has been living in Milan since 2001. She started her career as a journalist and reporter at Giornale della Toscana and then developed a passion for economics and finance. She worked as an editor for Finanza&Mercati, Borsa&Finanza, and Libero Mercato. After the birth of her daughter Matilde, she became a freelance journalist. She currently collaborates with L’Espresso, Huffington Post, Il Fatto Quotidiano, Avvenire, and Messaggero. From July 2015 to 2020, she focused on economics for Il Giornale. Since January 2020, she has been writing for La Verità and Panorama. |
2022 Edition
 | State Police Music Band Special “Il Poggio” prize For over 80 years the Music Band of the State police has been an important way for sharing music in Italy and abroad Its performances, in the most famous theatres and squares of Italy and around the world, are highly acclaimed. In addition to the traditional military marches, its vast repertoire includes original pieces and transcriptions of classical and contemporary music with which the Band contributes to bringing people closer to the concept of ‘community policing’. On 12 of July, the Conductor Maurizio Billi raised his baton from the stage specially set up in the setting of the Piazzale del Poggio Imperiale and the music of the State Police Music Band floated through the air. The concert, that also held a moment of remembrance for the Maes-tro Ennio Morricone who worked with the Band for a long time, saw outstanding artists take the stage: Olga Zakharova, violin; Federica Balucani, soprano and Aldo Caputo, tenor. An exceptional event, organised by the Police Headquarters of Florence and by the Educandato della Santissima Annunziata boarding school for the awarding of the ‘Il Poggio’ prize to the State Police on the occasion of the 170th anniversary of its establishment in 1852. The Chief of Police of the province of Florence Maurizio Auriemma, delegated by the Head of Police – Director General of the National Police Force, received the prize from the President of the Educandato della Santissima Annunziata boarding school Prof. Giorgio Fiorenza. |
 | Maria Manetti Shrem (Italian American Philanthropist) Maria Manetti Shrem, the Florence-born Italian American philanthropist and first order Ambassador of Italian Cultural Heritage (FAI) around the world, together with her husband Jan Shrem, supports dozens of charitable programs in the US, UK and Italy. A decades-long resident of San Francisco, she is an active, curious, charismatic woman who always cares about everything and everyone. The foyer of the Teatro del Maggio theatre was recently named after her, and in Florence she patronises many organisations, including, just to name the more important ones, the project of a school for children at the Meyer hospital, the Palazzo Strozzi Foundation, and the Bocelli Foundation. So many stories could be told about her and about her endless philanthropy. She helps research in the treatment of degenerative diseases such as dementia and Parkinson’s. Her ‘thank you’ for the intense life she has lived now streams through her joy in giving herself to others. |
2021 Edition
 | LAURA MATTARELLA – Politics The Italian First Lady, the wife of the President of the Italian Republic, is awarded the prize for the sensitivity and discretion she has shown over the years during institutional trips abroad where she combined visits to monuments representing local culture to visits to refugee camps and to places of suffering without hype or publicity through the media. |
 | AGNESE PINI – Journalism The first female journalist director of the ‘La Nazione’ newspaper in the 160 years of history of the Florentine daily. She was just 34 when she took the helm of the editorial staff and with competence and passion she embarked on a path of communicative innovation, thereby demonstrating that a ‘feminine’ way to direct a newspaper exists and should be valued. |
 | MILENA BERTOLINI – Sports Soccer player first, then ‘pink’ coach and a life dedicated to all aspects of sports. Today she is the technical commissioner of the Italian Women’s Soccer team, she brought Italy back in-to the World Cup after a 20-year absence, making the whole country grow a passion for what, last year, could only be described as a real sport phenomenon. |
 | CECILIA ALEMANI – Culture The first woman ever to lead the Venice Biennale, she lives in New York and is the true soul and chief curator of High Line Art, the public art project in the Big Apple’s famous linear park. At the Biennale she will give “voice to the artists to create unique projects that express their visions of our society”. |
 | MIUCCIA PRADA – Business Her name is synonymous with style, elegance and creativity. A global fashion icon, she is the most beloved Italian fashion designer in the world, but above all an enormously successful businesswoman who has made her family name one of the most renowned luxury brands in the world. When art and business make a perfect match. |
 | ANTONELLA VIOLA – University Her passion for scientific research “was born with her”. She is known to all for her appearances in the media in which she expertly and passionately explains the dynamics and developments in the field of Covid-19, managing to make a complicated topic such as the study of viruses comprehensible to the general public. |
 | TERESA FORNARO – Science A researcher at the Inaf Astrophysics Observatory in Arcetri, she is the only Italian scientist on NASA’s Perseverance project. The young astrobiologist will analyse data from the Rover to try to “reveal organic molecules that can be considered indicators of past life”. From Florence to Mars, with eyes turned to the future. |
 | KAMALA HARRIS – SPECIAL PRIZE Woman of the Year Her brilliant career, first in law and then in politics, has been founded on the determination she developed as a child when she was the target of racial discrimination because of the colour of her skin. Today she is the first African American woman of Indian descent to hold the prestigious office of Vice president of the United States of America. |
 | URSULA VON DER LEYEN – SPECIAL PRIZE Women’s Solidarity The first female President of the European Commission, although she unwittingly became the subject of a diplomatic incident aimed at debasing her role in what has since been dubbed ‘Sofagate’, Ursula Von der Leyen continues her important engagement in Europe, always with a vigilant eye on women and their rights. |
 | MARIA DE FILIPPI – SPECIAL PRIZE Entertainment For years she has been ‘entering’ the homes of Italians in a constant effort to develop television products that allow young people of great talent to find their way to centre stage along paths aimed at personal, cultural and artistic growth, while giving them the opportunity to live the experience of healthy competition and confrontation with others. |
2019 Edition
 | MARIA ELISABETTA ALBERTI CASELLATI – Politics The first woman President of the Senate, she has dedicated her life to politics and the State. Elected Senator in 1994, there are numerous sectors and areas in which she has worked with dedication and professionalism – Health, Justice, Constitutional Affairs. She also has devoted much effort to the defence of women’s rights, ranging from pink quotas to the law against stalking. |
 | SONIA SARNO – Journalism Through our TV screens she enters our homes every day, giving us the running news in Italy. Working alongside Indro Montanelli, from the press and the columns of the daily newspaper ‘La Voce’, Sonia Sarno moves on to the TG1 news channel’s interior editorial staff and be-comes one of the best-known faces in the field of TV journalism in Italy. |
 | PATRIZIA POMPEI – Justice Section president at the Court of Florence, a tax magistrate, she has been following regulatory developments in several areas for years. She has presided over both civil and criminal colleges, dealing with important trials, such as the one against Leoluca Bagarella relating to the Via dei Georgofili massacre, or the one against Pietro Pacciani regarding multiple murders attributed to the infamous ‘Monster of Florence’. |
 | LUCIA ALEOTTI – Industry At the summit of the Menarini pharmaceutical company’s top management is a woman who has succeeded in matching her company’s purely industrial activity with solidarity commit-ments and projects aimed to help the less fortunate classes of society. Among these, a pro-ject to redevelop social housing projects, and one for training doctors and pediatricians to recognise early signs of child abuse. |
 | FABIOLA GIANOTTI – Science Since becoming the first woman Director General of CERN in Geneva at a young age, she has devoted her life to the study of physics and to research that has immense potential. She has reached the highest levels in her field by studying and believing in the goals she set for herself, with the courage and strength to persevere but also and above all with much modesty and much passion for her work. |
 | SIMONA QUADARELLA – Sports The new Italian star of swimming became a Fire Fighter in December 2016, swims 14 km a day every day and spends hours training in the gym. In 2018 she literally pulverised the Italian record for the 800-meter freestyle distance at the European Swimming Championships in Glasgow. |
 | AUDREY AZOULAY – Culture Director General of UNESCO, she was born in Paris into a family of Jewish-Moroccan descent and grew up in a family environment marked by politics and culture. She trumped her business administration studies with an astounding career, becoming the Minister of Culture alongside French President François Hollande. |
 | BARBARA ENSOLI – Medicine Director of the National Center for HIV/AIDS Research of the Istituto Superiore di Sanità, she leads a team that has announced with great pride to the global scientific community that it has developed a HIV drug that can be used to further reduce the viral load in HIV-positive people. |
 | FONDAZIONE DOPPIA DIFESA ONLUS – Special Social Commitment Prize – Michelle Hunziker and Giulia Bongiorno Since 2007 it has been raising awareness and has helped victims of discrimination and abuse. It promotes equality, the defence of fundamental rights and the empowerment of women, because violence always stems from poor information. Today there are still too many women who, after experiencing violence, blame themselves and believe they deserved it. |
2017 Edition
 | DACIA MARAINI – Literature Writer, poet, essayist, playwright and screenwriter, as well as a former ‘Il Poggio’ journalist. From the pages of her books to the stage of theatres, her work has always been a means of informing the public about specific social and political issues. As an authoritative voice, she has always engaged in battles for the protection of the role of women and of equality, as well as in defending the weakest. These are also the themes of her countless novels. |
 | BARBARA JATTA – Art Her mission is to make known, preserve and share the extraordinary legacy of culture, history and beauty collected and guarded for centuries by the Roman pontiffs. A historian and museologist, she is the first woman in 500 years to have received the honour of being nominated director of the Vatican Museums. |
 | CESARA BUONAMICI – Journalism From a local Florentine TV channel to national TV, she has always been one of the traditional and best-known faces of Italian journalism. Founder of TG5, since 1995 she has been reporting on news events and daily world history, accompanying the news with her signature smile and always sober and professional style. |
 | MICAELA LE DIVELEC LEMMI – Fashion When you love what you do, anything succeeds: this is the message she conveys to young people who dream of a career in fashion. As Gucci Executive Vice President & Chief Corporate Operations Officer, she bases her corporate culture on values such as the ability to listen to others, self-awareness and staying true to your values. |
 | CATIA PELLEGRINO – Armed Forces The first female commander of a military ship, she has managed to combine her love for Italy with her admiration for the Navy and her desire to live on the sea. She has participated in numerous anti-piracy operations, while on board the vessel ‘Libra’ she will be engaged in fishing surveillance activities in the Straight of Sicily. |
 | FEDERICA PELLEGRINI – Sports She is the strongest swimmer in Italian swimming history and in 2008 in Beijing she became part of our country’s history as the first Italian Olympic champion swimmer. Her successes, which began when she was only 6 years old, soon gave way to a series of firsts that led her to set 11 world records in freestyle. |
 | CATERINA CECCUTI – Associationism Vice President Founder of “Voa Voa! Onlus – amici di Sofia”, she has turned a personal tragedy into the relentless commitment to help families of children with rare and neurodegenerative diseases. Such diseases used to lead families to a condition of absolute isolation but today more than ever need to be supported instead. |
