“When you invest in women and girls, we now know that 90% goes back to families and communities vs. the 30-40% that comes from investing in the male population. Investing in girls is not only the right thing to do from social justice and human rights lens, but also from a global development and economic perspective.”

~ Tamara Kreinin, Executive Director of Women and Population.

In today’s world, women are emerging as strong leaders, in their local communities, countries and in the world. Young women in particular are more determined to fight gender inequality and show their true leadership potential. This week and in the next month, I will be doing a special segment, interviewing some of the bright young women from around the world who are tenacious, inspirational, resilient and working towards a better future.

For my first interview, I have 22 years old Chiara Palieri from Bari, Italy. Chiara is a charismatic youth leader, whose areas of activism lie in education, female leadership, anti-corruption and inter-cultural dialogue. She was 17 years old when her local project was awarded by the European Parliament and was asked to join European Science Parliament. At 18, she was chosen by the British Council to represent Italy at the Global Change makers’ summit. She was involved with the organisation of Model of European Union in Strasbourg and was awarded by the Festival of Diplomacy in Rome, which identified her as Italian young leader. In 2009, she has worked as an Italian representative at Children’s Environmental and Health Action Plan for Europe, for the youth branch of World Health Organisation. In 2010, she was chosen by the Qatar Foundation to represent students worldwide as a youth leader.

She is an Italian ambassador at One Young World, and works at I Live 2 Lead organisation (IL2L) as a director of social media, head of PR and a group leader. In 2011, she was the youngest panellist and speaker representing women of the new generation at Women’s Forum for Economy and Society. She is no stranger to television interviews at Euronews, CNBC and most recently, CNN, where she was invited to speak about Europe’s future.

Born and bred in Bari, she is graduating with Honours in International Politics from University of Stirling in Scotland. When asked about her future, she sees herself in a leadership position in the political technocracy of the European Union. I talk to her about Bari, activism, Italian youth, female leadership and the future.

How would you describe your own background and what was it like as a girl growing up in Bari?

I have always felt blessed to be born in Italy, however, I’ve always found the southern Italian dimension unbelievably repressing of my very own identity, which since a very young age hasn’t been circumscribed to the mere regional dimension. I have found myself a total misfit in the southern Italian mentality, which has made me felt the need to leave and explore the world as it is. I haven’t enjoyed being born in Bari, I learnt a lot about humanity and empathy, but I have always felt very much inside a cage when I used to live there. I would describe my background as a typical middle class Italian one, with the major difference of having two parents whose interest was to give us the most open minded mentality possible.

Bari is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy after Naples, and has a well-known port; how has the recession affected Bari and its young people?

Bari has been heavily affected by the recession: although a major pole for the economy in the south, Bari still remains a fundamentally poor city, in which the unemployment rate is very high. The recession has led young people to emigrate to find better opportunities elsewhere and the common citizenry to adapt to severe conditions: even lawyers (my father is a lawyer) struggle to find any work to do as people cannot afford legal services any longer.

In your personal view, are young people in Italy, especially Bari, more involved with activism and youth work? If not, what are the key reasons for this?

I strongly believe that the majority of young people in Bari are not concerned with activism neither youth work. However, I’ve been pleasantly surprised in finding that many start-ups have been created over the recession (a friend of mine created the first social eating network named Gnammo http://gnammo.com/). I have been a scout for 10 years and I have to say that the scout group restlessly work within the community with other few youth organizations. I feel a high degree of apathy from youth in Bari and it is something that genuinely frustrates me. Everyone is concerned with his/her own good; I believe that the concept of common good is still not embraced by the youth group.

Growing up, who have been your influences?

I don’t identify anyone who massively inspired me or influenced me over my youth.

Why has activism been so important to you and where did your enthusiasm for this come from?

I have been essentially a truly enthusiastic person since forever. I have made human relations the very centre of my life, thus anything human related is passionate to me unbelievably much. Through activism and civil engagement I found the perfect dimension of my life: I found the space in which pouring all my passion and human potential to empower others and to promote causes.

I Live 2 Lead (IL2L) organisation aim to plant a seed in young girls’ minds about leadership; who planted the first seed in your mind before you became involved in activism?

I don’t think I’ve ever been inspired by anyone when I was younger. I felt the need of real leadership simply looking at Italian society, observing the role of Italian women in social life, politics and business. I have never seen a truly influencing woman within the Italian context when I was young and this triggered an immense frustration which was afterwards transformed into a bigger life plan to empower women.

How has IL2L shaped you, emotionally, psychologically and mentally?

IL2L came into my life in a very fragile time of my life and it meant more than a simple summit to me. It truly gave me the solid foundation within which every woman should be brought up into which is the feminine world as a whole: a network of peers, friends, mothers, daughters, grandmothers, students, employees, employers but above all: leaders. Leaders within their lives, communities, institutions, social group. IL2L essentially embodied the concept which every society should embrace: women leadership. It realizes a concept which should be so granted and enforced by social laws, whereas it seems to be a ‘freshly baked’ post-feminist trend. IL2L strengthened beautifully my vision for the future, which blends women leadership with education.

Female leadership is currently one of the areas of your activism, why do you feel strongly about this?

I believe there are a few women leaders who do pretty amazing things in all sectors. However, their efforts are not enough: the need for more women in leadership is felt by both sides, by the common citizenry and the women who raised the top level positions of leadership. The world has been dominated for way too long by a real misogynist approach which can be defeated by empowering women with education and women leadership coaching.

In your own words, how do you define leadership?

Leadership is the essential ingredient which drives society. It is the practice which inspires individuals and drives outcomes.

Who are the leaders you admire and why?

I really admire Sheika Mozah’s restless activism within the education field. She managed to transcend cultural barriers, empowering Qatari women to express themselves in the highest forms of arts. Also, her commitment towards education worldwide is inspiring.

I believe that regardless of her status quo; she has demonstrated real leadership skills which have challenged pre-established systems.

In your role as a female leadership activist, what challenges and barriers have you faced?

I genuinely believe that most of my efforts as an activist have been rewarded over the years: however I have faced endless discriminations because of my young age. Most importantly, even in youth activism, if a man and a woman are involved in the same area, the man is most likely to succeed, even if lacking of content or drive. I guess this is quite significant.

Also, for the sake of intellectual honesty, I need to acknowledge that being an activist for women leadership I constantly deal with immense cultural barriers which are extremely hard to destroy. This is where education and women leadership training comes into the game: those are the only two tools which can educate the next generation of women leaders to be empowered as catalyst of change.

What will be the biggest challenge for the generation of women who will come after you?

I think the biggest challenge for the next generation of women will be decreasing cultural differences which hold women back, finding a common set of values in an increasingly interconnected world.

What do you feel are the essential skills required for a good leadership?

At IL2L we argue that the essential skills a leader should have are empathy, charisma, resiliency and authenticity.

What insights and advice do you have for young women who are concerned with being disadvantaged in general working, social, cultural environments?

The only way to emancipate yourself is through education and discovery: very often the answers to your life dilemmas are provided in other environments. Never be afraid of finding yourself while dealing with cultural differences: diversity can improve your life.

Be the leader of your life, perpetuate the ethic of self-empowerment.

How can young girls effectively use social media to enhance, learn and connect with activism?

Activism provides the best tool to connect with peers and like-minded people: girls and boys of any cultural background can sensitize other peers about their cultural obstacles as well as learning about other parts of the world, just a click away! A few websites which I wholeheartedly recommend are: http://itsonehumanity.org/ the humanitarian social network and www.oneyoungworld.com , the biggest platform for young leaders.

As a youngest panellist and speaker representing women of the new generation at Women’s Forum for Economy and Society in 2011, how did you prepare yourself and what were your aims?

I was very flattered to be invited as a representative of Gen Y within the panel. I didn’t have to prepare myself, as I was talking on an issue which I’ve been speaking about in other conferences across Europe. My aim was to state what are the differences between Gen X and Gen Y, what are the needs of this generation within the workplace and the new set of skills which we’re naturally equipped with (see social media, my generation is the last one witnessing the leap from telecommunication to digital era).  To support my arguments, I showed the results I led with Generation Europe (which I’m Italian ambassador for) and Future Work Forum named ‘Employing the next generation’, a survey involving over 3,000 young people across Europe http://futureworkforum.com/PDFs/NEXT%20Report%202010.pdf

Do you feel Italy’s young generation are prepared for the future?

I do hope so. At the moment, I think there are a few chances for this to happen. The real issue with Italian youth is migration. This phenomenon happens when the government and the social structures do not encourage young people in their growth as individuals and consequentially, as citizens.

In the future, what would you like to see happening in Bari, and the future of young people there?

I would like to see a societal change in Bari, a new mentality, more opened to the world and less circumscribed to the territory. Definitely a more European approach to social life.

Do you have any future local plans or projects in Bari?

Not at the minute. I do plan to operate change in Bari, by creating new programmes for Education. I do not generally commit without making sure I will actually realize my plan. For the moment, I do intend to come back to bring change to Bari.

What are your goals in life?

I would like to express my full potential by serving the global community. I would like to offer my full energy and passion to change, even minimally, the political world, starting by Europe. I would like to see young people in power. I would like to lead a respectable and inspiring life. And I think that I’m on the good way.

What makes you happy?

Living my life at the fullest by seeing that it’s really one humanity. Creating social innovation with people around the world with the same needs makes me happy. Connecting with humans makes me happy. Thus, I can define my happiness source a renewable resource.

Do you have a philosophy that you go by with in life?

I believe in the power of dignity. I think dignity is the highest human value as it is the value which makes a life worth living for.

 Thank you Chiara!