WE Award – Women Excellence 2026: here are the winners of the fourth edition

In the Innovation and Future category, awards were presented to initiatives that showcase some of the most cutting-edge frontiers of scientific, technological and environmental research. Gabriella Costa, Head of the IRIDE Project at the European Space Agency, received the award for leading a programme worth over one billion euros which, in less than five years, has resulted in the launch of 39 satellites and is equipping Italia with the largest national Earth Observation infrastructure in Europe. Alongside her, awards were presented to Enrica Maria Porcari, Chief Information Officer at CERN, for her contribution to the digital strategy and the first artificial intelligence strategy of the European particle physics laboratory, and for her support of the Open Quantum Institute; Elena Stopelli, Vice-President of KonCeRT Soc. Coop. Impresa Sociale, for co-founding a pioneering energy community, which has grown from 19 to over 500 members in three years; and Giuliana Vallanti, SVP of Operations and Global R&D at AGC Biologics, for her contribution to the development of gene and cell therapies in Italia, transforming laboratory discoveries into real treatments for children suffering from rare diseases.

In the ESG, Welfare and CSR categories, the award went to Paola Corna Pellegrini, Chair of the Winning Women Institute Foundation and co-founder of the Winning Women Institute, for helping to transform gender equality from a principle into a concrete measure, not least through the national certification scheme now adopted by over 12,000 companies;

Filomena Floriana Ferrara, Corporate Responsibility and Master Inventor at IBM Italia, for introducing 65,000 girls to STEM subjects, turning technological inclusion into a tangible experience; and Carlotta Ventura, Chair of AMSA and Director of Communications, Sustainability and Regional Affairs at the A2A Group, for opening the doors to women in a profession traditionally considered male-dominated, placing them at the helm of the vehicles and teams working every day to ensure the sustainability of the city of Milan.

In the Social Impact category, the award went to Daniela Gazzano, founder of Gli amici di Daniela APS, for having turned her own physical limitations into a project that provides communication tools and support centres for people with severe disabilities and their families. Also honoured were Lily Lapenna, founder of Money Ready, who has built a financial education model – starting from a project launched in a single London school – that now reaches six million young people each year, turning the ability to manage money into a tool for independence; and Cecilia Polizzi, founder and CEO of Next Wave – The International Centre for Children and Global Security, for bringing the issue of children involved in radicalisation processes to the attention of the Council of Europe, the UN and the OSCE, promoting an approach that recognises children recruited by extremism not merely as a threat, but also as lives to be protected.

The main new feature of the fourth edition was the introduction of the WE Award for Women’s Excellence – Emerging Talents, an award dedicated to women under 30 and designed to recognise their personal journeys, their vision and the potential impact of their projects. The winners are Raffaella Binetti, co-founder of RBV AquaTech, who, at the age of 26, devised a technology capable of producing water from atmospheric humidity using waste heat from data centres, and who has already been recognised at TEF Ignition and DigithON 2026; Stefania Constantini, an athlete with the Fiamme Oro of the State Police, for having led Italia to the Olympic and World Curling podiums and for her commitment to promoting values such as respect, fair play and courage through sport; Emma Prevot, a PhD student at the University of Oxford, for harnessing artificial intelligence to benefit patients by creating digital twins that help predict the progression of diseases for which there is still no cure; and Laura Sposato, Founder and CEO of Joule, for harnessing artificial intelligence to support human talent, helping companies to view people not only for what they have achieved, but also for what they can become.

Alongside the main categories, the fourth edition of the WE Award also presented a series of Special Awards to stories and career paths of particular significance. The awards went to Erika Andreetta, Partner at PwC Italia and EMEA Fashion & Luxury Leader, for putting her expertise at the service of the Italian fashion and beauty sectors, supporting companies in international markets and helping them, during the pandemic, to transform their production into tangible support for the country; Mara Caverni, Managing Partner at New Deal Advisors – 8 Advisory, for having built, following a career at the top of PwC, an independent financial advisory boutique that has grown from 8 to almost 60 professionals; Paula Gori, General Manager of the European Digital Media Observatory at the School of Transnational Governance of the European University Institute, for having built a European network against disinformation capable of bringing together research, journalism and fact-checking; and Luciana Lamorgese, President of the Vita-Salute San Raffaele University and former Minister of the Interior, for a career dedicated to public service that continues today in the fields of education and research. Special awards also went to Candida Livatino, a graphologist, freelance journalist and writer, for bringing graphology to the general public and proposing its use to recognise the early signs of violence; Anna Marchetti, President of Anna Marchetti Fashion, for having transformed a small boutique in Modena into a fashion house that has been bringing Italian elegance to the world for sixty years and for having turned her own atelier into a school for generations of young women; and Elisa Torchiani, Managing Director of Torchiani and Operating Partner at Little England, for investing in education from the very earliest years of childhood and helping to bring schools and local businesses closer together.

The JTI Italia Special Award to Sara Bologna, designer and co-founder of BGGB Studio, for making design a tool for innovation and social impact, promoting the role of women and creating value together with communities; and the Generali Special Award to Lily Lapenna, for making financial education a driving force for empowerment and confidence, with a tangible impact on the younger generations.

For the winners of the Emerging Talents programme, the experience continues even after the awards ceremony with the production of the docutainment programme WENEXT, which will be broadcast in the coming weeks on IlSole24OreTV, exploring the themes of women’s leadership with top managers and senior figures from the Top Partner companies.

The evening drew to a close with an announcement by Federico Silvestri, Chief Executive of the Il Sole 24 ORE Group, that Emma Marcegaglia will be the chair of the jury for the WE Award – Women Excellence 2027.

From science to business, from innovation to social commitment, the stories recognised by the WE Award 2026 thus showcase female excellence that is not merely a personal achievement, but the ability to create value and break new ground.