An afternoon in Milan for women entrepreneurs driving change
In Italy, there are over 1.3 million businesses led by women, accounting for 22.2% of the total (Observatory for Women’s Entrepreneurship, Unioncamere – Tagliacarne Research Centre). This sector is becoming increasingly established: female-led limited companies have grown by 2.6% (Unioncamere, 2026), a sign of increasingly well-structured organisations. And these businesses are younger than average: 42% have been in existence for less than five years, and 10.6% are led by women under 35, compared with 7.9% of men (Unioncamere, 2025).
The overall picture, however, remains challenging. Female employment has reached its highest level on record, but the gap with male employment still exceeds 16 percentage points, and women account for 71.3% of low-paid workers (Istat, 2026). For those choosing the entrepreneurial path, financial tools alone are not enough: they need role models to draw inspiration from, practical skills and networks.
This is the inspiration behind WeLead: Women in Business, the event that Job Digital Lab – the free digital training programme run by Fondazione Mondo Digitale in partnership with ING Italia – is bringing to Milan on Monday 6 July, from 2 pm to 6 pm, at Palazzo Giureconsulti, in collaboration with the Milan, Monza, Brianza and Lodi Chamber of Commerce. An afternoon designed for female entrepreneurs who want to strengthen their career path, hear authentic stories, acquire practical tools and build new connections. Because leading a business today means combining vision, courage and the ability to network.
Some of the key figures
At the heart of the event are stories of female leadership: women who have turned an idea into a business and women who are driving change within large organisations. On stage, Nadine Methner, Head of Business Banking at ING Italia, will share her insights on leadership in the financial sector, gained whilst leading the division dedicated to self-employed clients at the Dutch-founded bank, which this year celebrates 25 years of digital banking in Italy.
Moderating the event will be Ines Makula, co-founder of the podcast Made IT. Italian success stories, which since 2020 has been chronicling the journeys of Italian entrepreneurs, managers and innovators. As well as being a podcaster, Makula is co-founder of Clemi’s Market and an angel investor. She also drew the day’s conclusions with “Try, fail, start again”: stories of female entrepreneurs who didn’t give up at the first hurdle, nor even at the second.
In the talk “The courage to take the plunge”, Alice and Giada Cancellario, sisters and founders of Heloola, Italy’s largest subscription-based digital book club, recount the moment they decided to take the plunge. Launched in 2019 from an Instagram page, today Heloola has a community of over 300,000 people and in 2025 launched its own publishing brand.
Training
The event alternates between inspirational moments and practical training sessions.
Giuliana Ubertini, founder of HappySpeaking and a trainer specialising in public speaking and effective communication, leads the session Communicating to Sell, dedicated to personal branding and public speaking skills. Ubertini has over fifteen years’ experience in corporate training and has worked with organisations such as Unicredit, Edison, Gucci and Great Place to Work.
Andrea Boscaro, founder of The Vortex and author of several books on digital marketing, leads the session Generative Artificial Intelligence for Starting and Developing a Business, offering accessible tools and practical applications for business owners.
The programme
The event begins at 2.30 pm with opening remarks from Chiara Cormanni (Chair of the Women’s Entrepreneurship Committee at the Milan, Monza, Brianza and Lodi Chamber of Commerce), Anita Mancassola (Formaper and Punto Impresa Digitale), Cecilia Stajano (Fondazione Mondo Digitale) and Davide Colapietro (ING Italia). This will be followed by a talk by Nadine Methner on leadership in the financial sector, the talk The Courage to Start Out with Alice and Giada Cancellario, and the training session Communicating to Sell with Giuliana Ubertini. After the break, there will be the talk Digital as an Ally and the session Generative Artificial Intelligence for Starting and Developing a Business with Andrea Boscaro. Ines Makula will bring the event to a close with ‘Test, Fail, Start Again’, before the networking drinks reception. Registration opens at 2.00 pm.
The event is free and open to anyone running a business or dreaming of starting one: entrepreneurs, freelancers, VAT-registered individuals, and those who already have a business and are looking for new connections to help it grow.
Job Digital Lab
WeLead forms part of the regional tour of the sixth edition of Job Digital Lab, the programme launched in 2020 by Fondazione Mondo Digitale and ING Italia, which has trained over 38,000 people across more than 200 sessions. 90% of participants report having improved their digital skills; the same percentage say they have gained greater confidence in the job market. The 2026 edition, dedicated to the theme ‘Digital awareness, awareness in the digital world’, aims to train 7,000 people and reach 200,000. There are three thematic strands: women’s empowerment, digital technology for inclusion and disability, and digital awareness and education.
