Gianfranco Gianfrate

Co-Founder - Yes Europe Lab

Gianfranco Gianfrate is an Empedocle Maffia Fellow at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. He is co-founder and partner of iStarter, an Italian-based venture capital company. He also teaches Corporate Valuation at Bocconi University, where he carries on research activities focused on corporate governance, shareholder rights, and business valuation. Gianfranco has authored three books and several academic and practitioners articles on finance-related topics.

Previously, he held roles at Deloitte & Touche Corporate Finance, and Valdani Vicari & Associati. He acts as advisor of primary international investment funds and he has worked in a managerial position at Hermes Fund Manager, one of the leading responsible investment company in the world. At Hermes, he worked on the integration of Environmental, Social, and Governance criteria in investment decisions and asset ownership.

He also collaborated with the Carbon Disclosure Project for the launch of their operations in Russia. He served as member of the Corporate Governance Committee at Assogestioni and of the Investment Committee at Eumedion. Gianfranco holds a BA and a Ph.D in Business Administration from Bocconi University.

He is a Former Junior Fellow of the Aspen Institute and a research affiliate of the SovereigNET at Tufts Fletcher School. At HKS, he is working on a project focused on crowdfunding for social and sustainability ventures. In particular, he is studying what determines the success of crowdfunding campaigns that are aimed at financing innovative projects in the fields of environmental and social sustainability.

Work Experience

EDHEC Business School, Professor of Finance

Yes Europe Lab, Co-Founder

Contract Professor of Finance, Bocconi University

University Lecturer in Sustainable Finance, Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University

Education

Harvard University,

Master of Public Administration – MPA

'Luigi Bocconi' Business University / Bocconi University

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Business/Managerial Economics

'Luigi Bocconi' Business University / Bocconi University

Master of Science (MSc) Business Administration and Management, General