Wednesday, November 15th, at the auditorium of the Cu.Bo at the UCBM, a meeting was held with Nicolò Govoni, winner of the second edition of the Joaquín Navarro-Valls International Award for Leadership and Benevolence, and Founder and CEO of the humanitarian organization “Still I Rise,” established in 2018 with the mission of opening Emergency Schools and International Schools for refugee and vulnerable children.
The event was organized by UCBM in collaboration with the Biomedical University Foundation to explore the theme of education as a tool for social change and commitment to humanitarian emergencies.
After the introductory greetings by Professor Laura De Gara, Vice-Rector for Teaching at UCBM, Alessandro Pernigo, President of the Biomedical University Foundation, took the floor and introduced Nicolò Govoni: “He has not only demonstrated competence, ability, and generosity, but also what we call ‘human consistency.’ This is why we have created this University: we want to transmit to our students not just technical skills, but a set of values that they can later put into practice. For this reason, we have decided to invite Nicolò Govoni to our University, as a positive example to be shared, to inspire everyone to always learn from others.”
The event, moderated by Raffaella Aliprandi, Director of Culture and Communication at Campus Bio-Medico, then continued with Nicolò Govoni’s testimony, where he shared his extraordinary experience of turning social commitment into concrete action. He illustrated how to direct skills towards the creation of common values: “What we do at ‘Still I Rise,’” Govoni stated, “is bring excellent, free education where excellence is lacking. Leadership is a choice of justice, and Leadership and Benevolence are not separate; they are both choices, a journey, a destination, and a process, and both can be learned.”
After some questions from the students, the meeting concluded with final remarks by Laura Picalarga, Secretary General of the Biomedical University Foundation: “Quoting Blessed Álvaro del Portillo, the inspirer of Campus Bio-Medico, ‘this is a small university, but already great because you want to realize it with a big heart.’ I believe Nicolò Govoni’s story is a powerful one, of a big heart that has already achieved so much. What we take from this meeting are certainly the example, Leadership as a choice, and Benevolence—elements that can truly change the world.”
