Maria Is Now the Face of Italian Young Entrepreneurs

“I can’t say I’ve had a linear career path. I didn’t find my way straight away after graduation and that was a good thing because this gave me time to experiment. Working as a lawyer outside the family business, for example, was an incredible formative experience.” Born in Lecco in 1987, Maria Anghileri is now the chief operating officer of the Eusider Group, one of the most important players in the Italian steel market, and has been leading Confindustria Giovani Imprenditori, the young segment of the Italian industrialists’ association, as president since last November.

“After graduating from the Manzoni classical high school in Lecco, I chose Law at Bocconi both for my love of studying and because the legal profession opens many doors. At the time, I didn’t think of joining the business built by my father and uncle, unlike my brother who had a clear path ahead of him”. Years of university life and poring over books and codes of law led her to pass, after graduating in 2011, even the dreaded state exam for professional qualification as practicing attorney. She says: “It was an intense period, a lot of personal commitment, but I remember it with pleasure and I have never regretted the choice. I then worked for three and a half years in a law firm in Milan, improving my skills as a lawyer. I liked the profession but I felt I wanted to broaden my horizons. So I decided to join Eusider, initially dealing with legal aspects and human resources”. Then I got to know the family company from inside, which specializes specializing in the transformation and processing of steel in all its forms. To complete her training and specialize in economics and finance, Anghileri flew abroad, first to Columbia University and then to Harvard Business School in the Owner President Management program.

“It was an incredible experience,” she explains, “also because I had the opportunity to be in the same class with young and passionate entrepreneurs from all over the world. Above all, you weree called to interact much more than in Italy during class hours. You learnt to expose yourself firsthand, not just listen. You leave the campus with the feeling of being able to change the world.”

A taste of the American dream that also helps her advance within Confindustria, where she has been active since 2015. “I must also say that it was thanks to my brother who immediately believed in my abilities and thought I was suited to this type of path, which I pursued in parallel with my managerial role at Eusider.” In 2017, she was elected to the Presidency Council of Confindustria Lecco Sondrio, with responsibility for the Elite project, and in 2018-2019 she became vice president of the Young Entrepreneurs Group of Assolombarda and Confindustria Lombardia. Until the climb to the top: elected President with over 95% of the votes, she will be voice of Italian young industrialists for the 2024-2028 four-year period.

“The election campaign was challenging but I am happy to have done it and that the movement of young entrepreneurs has chosen a woman president, also because I believe in leading by example. I think it is positive that the number of women in the rooms where decisions are made is growing, which is also why in my team of vice presidents I wanted there to be full equality between men and women”, she adds. To those young women who are studying now and are building a future for themselves, she advises “to never stop”. And she underlines: "I am convinced that the paths we take in life always teach us something and the skills we have learned along the way can always be useful”.