New Leonardo Foundation launched on Med-Or Day

22 July 2021

The Med-Or Foundation has opened, on July 20th, the doors of its headquarters in Rome, marking the occasion of Med-Or Day. Born on the initiative of Leonardo in the spring of 2021, Med-Or aims to strengthen – through cultural initiatives, research and education in science – links, exchanges and international relations between Italy and the countries of the Mediterranean area from the Sahel, to the Horn of Africa and the Red Sea (“Med”) and the Middle and Far East (“Or”).

Leonardo’s top management, Chairman Luciano Carta and the Chief Executive Officer Alessandro Profumo, along with the Chairman of the Med-Or Foundation, Marco Minniti, welcomed numerous representatives of the Italian government to the Foundation’s headquarters, including Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Luigi Di Maio, Minister of Defence Lorenzo Guerini, Minister of the Interior Luciana Lamorgese, Minister of Labor and Social Policies Andrea Orlando, Minister for the Southern Italy and Territorial Cohesion Mara Carfagna and President of the Lazio Region Nicola Zingaretti. Also in attendance were numerous representatives from institutions, law enforcement agencies and international diplomacy.

The new Leonardo Foundation is already working, along with partners from the academic world, research institutes and companies, on projects aimed at creating synergies and exchange opportunities for growth and advanced scientific and academic training at an international level, stimulating dialogue between economic and cultural systems.

Med-Or Day was also an opportunity to present the first project from the Foundation, namely the partnership with LUISS Guido Carli and the Mohammed VI Polytechnic University of Rabat, which provides for the assignment of scholarships for a Master’s degree at the Roman university, intended for students from Morocco.

The Foundation’s work officially started at the beginning of June with the first Board of Directors, which approved the appointment of the President Marco Minniti and the General Manager Letizia Colucci, while the Strategic Committee – which includes, in addition to the President and the GM of Med-Or, the top management of Leonardo – Luciano Carta, Alessandro Profumo and Valerio Cioffi (Leonardo’s GM) – also established the business direction, meeting at the end of June.

The first meeting of the Strategic Committee also saw the participation of institutions invited on a permanent basis in relation to the aims and purposes of the Foundation, such as Ambassador Ettore Sequi, designated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation; the prefect Bruno Frattasi, designated by the Ministry of the Interior; Geminello Alvi, designated by the Ministry of Economic Development; Fausto Recchia, designated by the Ministry of Defence; Luca Scognamillo, designated by the Presidency of the Council of Ministers; the president of AIAD, the federation of Italian aerospace, defence and security companies, Guido Crosetto.