Author, researcher and speaker
Riccarda Zezza founded Lifeed, a platform that uses a proprietary learning method to transform life transitions, such as parenthood and caregiving, into opportunities to develop soft skills that are valuable at work.
After a fifteen-year career in large corporations, Riccarda decided to dedicate herself to social entrepreneurship, inspired by her personal experience of motherhood. She observed how personal life events can enrich professional skills, leading her to develop the concept of Life Based Learning. She completed a Master’s programme in Behavioural Neuroscience at Università Cattolica in Milan.
She is co-author of the book “MAAM – Maternity as a Master”, where she explores how motherhood can be seen as an opportunity for professional growth. In 2023, she also published “Business Heart. For a new love story between people and work”, where she proposes a cultural revolution in the workplace based on love, care, and long-term vision. In 2025, she published “Care” with Franco Angeli, presenting a new vision of care in work and society as a source of skills and a tool for sustainability. In 2026, she published “Il potere della transilienza” (The Power of Transilience, FrancoAngeli), an invitation to recognise and transfer resources, skills and energy across the different roles in our lives.
Together with Andrea Vitullo, she coined the term “transilience”: a new skill that enables people to transfer resources across their roles. In 2021, the Italian term “transilienza” was recognised as a neologism by Treccani.
Riccarda has been recognised as an Ashoka Fellow and an Unreasonable Fellow, two titles awarded to leading social innovators worldwide, and was named by Fortune Italia as one of the most influential and innovative women of 2018.
Through Lifeed, Riccarda continues to promote cultural change in companies, valuing employees’ life experiences as a source of learning and professional development.
Awards
Riccarda was named Fortune Most Influential Woman in 2018, has been an Ashoka Fellow since 2017, the leading organization selecting the world’s best social entrepreneurs, and since 2020 is among the 400 Fellows of the Unreasonable Network.
Most Influential and Innovative Woman
In 2018, Riccarda was awarded by Fortune Italia as one of the year’s most influential and innovative women. Citi Foundation – 40 Women to Watch.
“I believe that speaking of inspiration and innovation rather than power brings this award closer to the feminine nature of power itself: accustomed to leading by example and having a different perspective on things, women can indeed redefine the concept of power by infusing it with responsibility and diversity”, declares Riccarda.
Premio Europeo ‘Donna Terziario’
In 2018, she received the European ‘Tertiary Woman’ Award from the Tertiary Women’s Group of Confcommercio Milano, Lodi, Monza and Brianza, for the digital training program ‘MAAM – Maternity is a Master.’ She was recognized as an entrepreneur who distinguished herself in her activities within the European market services sector by launching entrepreneurial projects that support women’s entry or return to the workforce, promote work-life balance, and advance gender equality.
European EdTech Alliance Recognition
In 2021, the European EdTech Alliance named her among the 14 most relevant startup founders in the European EdTech market. Sole 24 Ore
Medaglia del Presidente della Repubblica
Riccarda Zezza, co-founder of Piano C, a coworking space, introduced a new way of working with flexible spaces, a ‘cobaby’ facility, and many services to facilitate daily life and connect women with work opportunities. This initiative won the Medal of the President of the Italian Republic and was awarded first prize by the European Investment Bank as the best European social innovation of 2012.