Phoenix Project: Working to Help Victims of Domestic Violence

The 'mandate' was to support Cadmi, the shelter for abused women in Milan, in drafting a notice from the Municipality for innovative projects on the theme of gender-based violence. In reality, during their eight weeks of working side by side with the staff of the organization, Martina Riccardi, Tania Di Biase and Giorgia Garri, three Bocconi students, became passionate about the project. They threw themselves into it, not only testing the skills learned in class, but also bringing the fresh ideas of digital natives to the organization. The work was part of the field projects carried out by Phoenix, the initiative launched in December by Bocconi and the Citi Foundation precisely with the aim of supporting a non-profit sector severely tested by the pandemic crisis.

"The idea was to help Cadmi in drafting a project for participation in a municipal tender, carrying out an economic analysis for them," says Martina, in the third year of BIEM at Bocconi. However, the daily confrontation with such an intense reality as that of the home for abused women, has pushed the newborn team of Bocconi to commit themselves well beyond the request of the project. So, they decided to take care of Cadmi's social communication, creating posts and leaving a 'social toolbox' for the organization's staff, so that the work done could be continued. In addition, they supported Cadmi for the scheduling of a whole series of calls for tenders for 2021-2022, for a collaboration project with Standard & Poor's and for another project with Snai.

"My desire is to work in the non-profit sector and from this experience I have brought home a much deeper knowledge of how this works," explains Martina. "Seeing the daily work of the refuge was touching and instructive." An exciting experience that prompted them to do their utmost to make their contribution. So much so that, if anything, the biggest challenge was to reconcile their desire to constantly propose new things with tight deadlines. "It was useful training to learn the art of compromise", explains Giorgia Garri, in the first year of the Master in Management. "We learned to work towards goals and to be flexible and, above all, we learned how to do things we never thought we would be able to do". It was satisfying, adds Tania Di Biase, "to be able to combine the knowledge learned at the University with the concrete work of Cadmi operators. It was a beautiful combination and a much more motivating experience than others. The Phoenix project is a way to give back to the community."

The field project carried out for Cadmi by the three students was therefore an opportunity to put themselves to the test in a new context - an emotionally challenging one - which allowed them to gain experience, but which also helped Cadmi "to get the most out of digital communication," as emphasized by Maria Caterina Cavallo, SDA Bocconi professor who followed the students.