BOARD MEMBER INTERVIEW

A strategy and finance executive with over a decade of experience, Chiara Baldassarre has built a career transforming big ideas into value and growth for companies in tech, fintech, and payments. Currently, she leads portfolio management and strategic planning for Visa Direct at Visa. Previously, she headed strategy at Tigo Money, where she played a key role in evolving the business from an offline wallet to a fully digital platform serving customers across Latin America. Chiara began her career in private equity advisory at EY and holds a business degree from Bocconi University, complemented by fintech coursework at Wharton. Fluent in four languages, she has lived and worked across Europe, the US, and Asia.

Q: What is a fun fact about you that most people don’t know?
When at university, I was part of the Pellicani sport team, playing soccer in Serie D. One day we played against the daughter of a famous player of Inter Milan. Also, I am a trained improv comedian in Florida. For years I performed frequently in a local theatre (Just the Funny Theatre) and I am still a proud cast member, despite lately work commitments are bringing me off the stage more often.

Q: Do you have a favorite quote or mantra that you live by?
I really like Danzel Washingon’s quote about philanthropy “At the end it’s not about what you have or even what you have accomplished. It is about who you have lifted up, who you have made better. It is about what you have given back” or as you say in Bocconi it is about “giving forward”. My favorite mantra is  “A day without laughter is a lost day” a famous quote from Charlie Chaplin. I really live by that.

Q: What does philantrophy mean to you, and how does it guide your role on the board and beyond?
Philanthropy, for me, is the art of turning success into significance by reinvesting it in the communities that shaped you. I grew up in a small town in Abruzzo and lost my father — and our family’s main income — when I was eleven. Because of philanthropic scholarships, I was able to attend Bocconi and chart a very different path. That’s why I’m driven to make sure the next kid in my situation meets opportunity, not limitation: the kind of opportunity that lets them choose their education based on curiosity, not on cost, and see mentors who look like them succeeding on a global stage.

Q: What Inspired you to Join the board of Friends of Bocconi and how long have you been a board member?
I was recently appointed as a board member of Friends of Bocconi in February 2025. The desire to give forward fueled my desire to be part of the Friends of Bocconi mission. Having led Bocconi Alumni Community in Miami for the 6 years prior, i felt the need to engage with the community at a different level and see how we can multiply impact by collaborating and coordinating efforts across multiple locations in the US. I am proud to be one of the first board members of the FoB outside NY, and definitely the first from Miami. With this I hope to expand the work that FoB has been doing in NY and US widely, to Florida and Miami in particular.

Q: How do you see the organization growing in the next few years?
With the new Board set up, I believe the organization has the potential to multiply the impact and expand it across the US. My personal feeling is that the organization will overachieve on its target to fundraise through the American Fund. By 2030, Friends of Bocconi should be the premier trans-atlantic philanthropic bridge for Italian higher education—financially robust, mission-driven, and large enough to ensure that no high-potential student declines Bocconi for economic reasons, while also powering research that shapes business and policy on both sides of the ocean.