ROME (ITALPRESS) – With the aim of contributing to the construction of a future where hatred no longer finds fertile ground to grow, Unhate Foundation recently incorporated as an entity of the third sector (ETS), thus opening a new chapter of a project launched by Alessandro Benetton in 2011. The Foundation, a note explains, aims to engage new generations in opportunities to grow and develop their potential, promoting solidarity, social inclusion and sustainability through innovative projects.In particular, the Foundation aims to combat the culture of hatred by acting on its root causes, focusing on training young people and offering them new opportunities. The four main areas of action are: Social Mobility: turning merit into opportunity, enhancing untapped talent and promoting merit and engagement; Education: improving the quality of educational venues, creating inclusive and dynamic spaces to foster learning; Culture: using cultural heritage to promote dialogue and connection between generations; Studies and Research: promoting innovative research to generate positive changes in communities.Leading the Foundation in the role of Managing Director is Irene Boni, previously CEO of Talent Garden and GM of YOOX, a manager with proven experience in the education and digital sectors, gained from leading teams predominantly under 30.To assist the work of the six-member Board of Directors, Unhate Foundation has chosen to entrust a Scientific Committee – made up mostly of young professionals, accompanied by a few “out-of-quota” experts in the name of intergenerational dialogue – with the task of identifying the medium-to-long term priorities and project directions on which to orient its strategy. The Foundation’s Scientific Committee brings together talented people with heterogeneous experiences and backgrounds, from the start-up world to academia, from art to sports, via digital communication and the third sector: Huda Lahoual, 21, podcaster and author of Huda, nessuna e centomila, a podcast that tells stories of second-generation youth in Italy, produced by Chora Media; Chiara Schettino, 23, co-founder of Rosso, a start-up created to reduce wait times for blood recipients and raise awareness among Gen Z about the importance of donation;Roberto Celestri, 23, content creator and art popularizer, has collaborated with Il MAXXI, the Vatican Museums, the Galleria Colonna, the Capitoline Museums, the Galleria Borghese, and the Peggy Guggenheim Collection; Francesco Di Napoli, 23, actor, made his debut in 2019 as the lead in La paranza dei bambini. He later starred in Romulus, Mina Settembre, and Hey Joe, distinguishing himself between film and TV; Valentina Galli, 24, a university student majoring in Public Policy for Security, designed a project to encourage electoral participation and active citizenship in high schools; Irma Testa, 27, a bronze medalist boxer in featherweight at Tokyo 2020 and gold medalist at the 2023 World Championships in New Delhi; Gabriele Segre, 37, a political scientist and columnist specializing in public policy and committed to promoting the culture of coexistence among diverse identities; Vanessa Benelli Mosell, 37, an internationally acclaimed conductor and pianist who has collaborated with some of the most prestigious musical institutions in Europe and the rest of the world in her career.Claudio Burgio, 55, a priest, founder of the Kayros community and chaplain of the Cesare Beccaria juvenile penal institute in Milan.Today, hatred spreads even faster than in the past, including through the web: according to several studies, if in Italy in 2023 40 percent of young people between the ages of 15 and 19 had been involved in brawls or fights, at the European level almost half (49 percent) of young people between the ages of 16 and 29 had witnessed episodes of hatred on the web, with tangible consequences on their psychological well-being and social relationships. One in two young Italians between the ages of 18 and 25 (49%) said they have suffered from anxiety and depression in their lifetime.The causes are multiple and widespread: economic uncertainty, isolation, insecurity, psychological malaise, inequality and educational poverty. The latter in particular is a condition that deprives boys and girls of the resources they need to develop their potential, generating frustration and exposing them to the risk of social exclusion. The narrative of hatred often becomes normality, finding space in everyday language, with words and actions that hurt and generate division.Unhate Foundation was born from the personal vision and business culture of Alessandro Benetton who, in the wake of a project originally launched by Benetton Group in 2011, wanted to give new impetus to a cohesive and systemic social action. Joining him in the role of creator and Chairman of the Board of Directors, Institutional Supporters Edizione, Mundys and Aeroporti di Roma “have recognized a consonance in values between the Foundation’s mission and their own ESG programs and are participating in the project by contributing both to the operations of the foundation and to project developments with economic resources, know-how and expertise,” the note continues. The hope for the future is that other companies, institutions, organizations, associations and other foundations – operating both in Italy and abroad – may also join in supporting the Foundation’s projects and initiatives. “We want to give life to a highly innovative project, where it will be young people who will decide for young people,” says Alessandro Benetton, creator and president of Unhate Foundation. “For this reason,” Benetton continues, “we have created a scientific committee whose average age is 30, involving several 20-year-olds. From them I expect passion, creativity, a desire to build positive experiences for their peers. We will work alongside them, together with the professionals who wanted to embrace this challenge, to make concrete the projects we deem strategic. This is precisely why we have engaged the realities of our Group, with an approach that is also open to synergies with other companies, entities and institutions. Indeed, we intend to concentrate all efforts through culture, art, and sports to promote dialogue and solidarity,” said the entrepreneur. “We wish to nurture a new sense of community, providing opportunities to remove obstacles that prevent genuine inclusion and rewarding merit. As an entrepreneur and as a father,” Benetton concludes, “I feel a great responsibility to promote a business culture that puts young people first. “Hate is a complex problem that unfortunately manifests itself daily in its most disparate forms, with repercussions that go beyond ethics to profoundly touch the social and economic dimensions,” adds Irene Boni, CEO of Unhate Foundation. We have therefore chosen to act with a federative approach: uniting different forces, from for-profit to nonprofit, to build a relational infrastructure capable of generating concrete and lasting changes. We don’t just want to talk about eradicating hate, but to make it possible through co-designed and multidisciplinary initiatives that see young people not just as recipients but as true protagonists of an Unhate movement. “We believe in the power of dialogue between different generations and worlds, we believe in the generative power of possibilities, because this is the only way to create a space where girls and boys build a future they finally believe in,” he concludes.
– photo press office Mundys -(ITALPRESS).
