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Antonio Perdichizzi

Founder and Chair of Isola Catania Impresa Sociale and of Fondazione Marea

Antonio Perdichizzi speaking at a public event

Antonio Perdichizzi’s bio

Antonio Perdichizzi is a social entrepreneur. He is the founder and Chair of Isola Catania Impresa Sociale, a social innovation hub that gives new generations the spaces, programmes and connections they need to build their future in Sicily.

He is the founder and Chair of Fondazione Marea, which turns the Sicilian diaspora into a community, pooling philanthropic resources and skills-based volunteering to create opportunities to stay in, return to or move to Sicily.

He serves on the Board of Governors of JA Worldwide, the world’s largest non-profit organisation bringing entrepreneurship and financial education into schools, and on UniCredit’s Sicily Advisory Board. He previously chaired the Young Entrepreneurs Group and the Small Industry Committee of Confindustria Catania, and Junior Achievement Italia. He has spoken at four TEDx conferences.

Roles

Antonio’s roles, today and in the past

Antonio’s LinkedIn profile  (opens in a new tab)
Today

Isola Catania Impresa Sociale

Founder and Chair of the social innovation hub.

Today

Fondazione Marea (opens in a new tab)

Founder and Chair. Turning the Sicilian diaspora into a community.

Today

Junior Achievement Worldwide (opens in a new tab)

Member of the global board of the world’s largest non-profit for entrepreneurship education.

Today

UniCredit (opens in a new tab)

Member of the advisory board for Sicily (press release in Italian).

Previously

Tree (opens in a new tab)

Founder and CEO of the open innovation company, until its exit when it joined the Opinno group.

Previously

Confindustria Catania (opens in a new tab)

Chair of the Young Entrepreneurs Group and of the Small Industry Committee.

Previously

Junior Achievement Italia (opens in a new tab)

National Chair of the organisation in Italy (in Italian).

On stage

TEDx speaker

TEDx events are independent local events born from TED, the global non-profit that has been spreading ideas under the motto “Ideas Worth Spreading” since 1984. Each event is organised on a voluntary basis by a local community, under a licence granted by TED, and each speaker has a few minutes to share a single idea. Dozens of editions are held in Italy every year, often hosted by universities.

Interviews

VITA
June 2026

Filantropia, una rete da 400 milioni pronta per le sfide del bene comune

From the national assembly of Assifero in Catania: the political value of choosing the South, and Sicily as the place where models of the social economy are tested.

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Il Sole 24 Ore
April 2023

Da Isola un piano per cambiare la città

Isola’s development plan: 500 job contracts following its training programmes and 25 new companies in seven years, linking the programmes to the jobs actually in demand.

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Italia che cambia
June 2026

A Catania si produce l’energia d’Europa, ma un giovane su tre è senza lavoro

From the first Job Day of Energie con il Sud: the paradox of a city that builds the future of Europe’s energy yet can’t hold on to its own potential.

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MIT Technology Review Italia
December 2023

Impatto. Nasce la rubrica di Isola sul social impact

A big-picture interview: the journey to becoming a social enterprise, and the thesis that gives meaning to Isola’s work: the future lies in the South.

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StartupItalia
Cover story · Viaggio in Italia

Un’Isola che non è più tale. A Catania talenti e innovatori fanno comunità

How the hub was born between the two lockdowns, and the ambition to make it a point of reference for innovation in the Mediterranean.

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Il Sole 24 Ore · Alley Oop
July 2024

Scuola, a Catania i giovani di tutta Europa per presentare le idee imprenditoriali di domani

From the Gen-E festival, with young entrepreneurs from over forty countries: bringing events of this scale to where the need is greatest.

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ManpowerGroup · LINC
March 2024

Isola Catania, l’hub per il Sud di Antonio Perdichizzi

The most extensive interview: the hybrid form between profit and non-profit, the four words of the code of ethics gathered in C.U.R.A., and the case for shared responsibility.

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Official photos

Download in high resolution

Portrait and on-stage shots, free for editorial use with the credit “Photo by Giorgio Di Gregorio”. Please don’t edit or crop them in a way that changes the meaning of the image.

Photo by Giorgio Di Gregorio.

Follow Antonio

LinkedIn is Antonio’s official channel

Talks, reflections and updates on the work of Isola and Fondazione Marea.

Contact

Invitations, interviews, talks

To invite Antonio to an event, or to propose an interview or a talk, write to us.