Mario Calderini

Mario Calderini is a pioneer and international leader in sustainability, social impact and purpose-driven innovation.

He is a full Professor at Politecnico di Milano, School of Management, where he teaches Management for Sustainability and Impact, while also directing Tiresia, the School’s Research Centre for Impact Finance and Innovation. Mario has been the Director of Alta Scuola Politecnica and Executive Vice President of Fondazione Politecnico. He has a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Manchester.

In 2021, Apolitical named Mario one of the World’s Most InIluential Academics in Government. Over the past 10 years Mario has served successive Italian governments as Senior ScientiIic Advisor to the Minister for Research and Innovation. Most recently, he advised the Minister of Innovation Vittorio Colao and was a member of the Sustainable Finance for Infrastructure Commission established by Minister Enrico Giovannini. He was also the Government’s Sherpa for the G7 Italian Presidency in 2017.

Mario’s current work focuses on the new innovation paradigm: social innovation in a world with scarce resources and tight constraints. He explores how innovation enables organisations to act on their purpose and deliver meaningful impact ahead of the big societal challenges the world will confront. He is widely published in the Iield of innovation and social impact Iinance.

Mario has been a member of the G8 Task Force for Social Impact Investment, Chair of the Italian Advisory Board on Social Impact Finance and President of the ScientiIic Committee of the Social Impact Agenda for Italy Association (Italy’s NAB). He sat on the Italian Government’s Advisory Group on Social Entrepreneurship and Impact Measurement and advanced the social innovation agenda in Italy, launching the sector’s Iirst public consultation. He has been part of the Government’s Advisory Group drafting the new law on social entrepreneurship.

Mario was the Chairman of Italy’s regional promotion bank Finpiemonte and was President of the Advisory Board for Research and Innovation Strategy of the Lombardy Region Government.

He sits on the Advisory Board of Unicredit Group, the Sustainability Advisory Board of Bolton Group and the Directors Board of Fondazione De Agostini, Fondazione Cottino, Fondazione Human Age Institute, Fondazione per il Dono.

Mario’s work has shaped the Iield of social impact investing and has transformed how governments develop a new generation of policies for the social economy.