Going far while always staying within the (Group’s) perimeter
Interview with Lorena Chinosi
There is a word that recurs often in Lorena Chinosi’s story: “path”. Not career, not ascent, but a journey made up of steps, choices, awareness and great determination. A journey that began in the corridors of the University of Pavia, where she graduated in Business Economics and Management, and that led her to become Chief Financial Officer of Italgen, a green energy company of the Italmobiliare Group.
“After graduating I joined PwC, a young, dynamic and profoundly educational environment that was an extraordinary training ground.” After three years in audit, Lorena decides to change direction: “I wanted something different and to have an international experience.” And so, in August 2008, she joined the Internal Audit team at Italmobiliare, working closely with the subsidiaries Italcementi and Sirap: “dealing with very different cultures, organizations and regulations made me grow as a professional and as a person, increasing my ability to adapt.” Two years later an opportunity arose and Lorena decided to seize it, moving to work in the General Management Department dealing with administration, finance and taxation. “I wanted to broaden my perspective by integrating the financial and fiscal side, it was a key step for my professional growth.” In 2016, after the sale of Italcementi, the organizational structure of Italmobiliare changed and Lorena chose to join the Finance Department. “The financial side was a great school, the training I was missing; it was there, for example, that I started dealing with banks, supporting the Group’s companies in managing complex financing operations.” In the middle of this path there were also two maternity leaves: “when my second daughter was a bit older, I realized that it was time to challenge myself. I asked myself: how can I grow further?”
The answer arrived in 2024, with her appointment as CFO of Italgen. “This position opened up and I was asked if I was interested in taking part in the selection process, I immediately said yes.” And so, after fifteen years in the holding company, Lorena moved to an industrial company in the Group, which produces energy from renewable sources. “It was a challenge, but also a great recognition. The Group believed in me at least as much as I believed in the Group. And this was an honour for me.”
The move to Italgen represents a radical change: from a financial organization to an industrial one, with new responsibilities and a team to lead. A challenge that Lorena faces with a modern vision of leadership: “a team works when people recognize your value because they see it in your contribution, which is why the first step was to build trust, earn the respect of colleagues and find the right balance.” The feeling with colleagues and with the environment, which she already knew, was immediate: “in Italgen there is a wonderful team spirit, a sincere attachment to the company. But at the same time nothing is taken for granted: there is always the search for continuous improvement, for growth, for taking one step further.” In her new role challenges are not lacking: Italgen is experiencing a phase of strong growth and evolution that in just a few years has led it to increase production capacity from 57 to 103 MW, through acquisitions of hydroelectric power plants and the construction of new photovoltaic plants. The management of the various companies that fall within the Italgen perimeter, the new M&A operations, the complexity of understanding all the dynamics of a new and complex sector are only some of the daily challenges, to which is added the responsibility of overseeing the project to implement a new ERP management system in the company: “it will be an enormous project, one of those things that happen once or twice in a professional life. It is complex and demanding, but also an opportunity to consolidate my role and give a concrete contribution to the company’s growth.”
There is no shortage of reflections on reconciling professional and family life: “my husband has a smart job, which helps me a lot. It is also essential to work in a Group that is concretely committed to gender equality and female empowerment, valuing talent at every level.” In Lorena’s story, names and roles count less than the meaning of the path, at the basis of which there is a founding pillar: mutual trust between people and the organization. “Mine has been a growth path built together with the Group I have always found a listening ear, openness, and a willingness to engage in discussion. It is a model that works if there is transparency and if you have the courage to talk about your own growth aspirations. And it creates value for everyone: for those who grow and for the Group that values its talents.” In these words lies the deepest meaning of her journey: not a climb, but the coherent and conscious journey of a professional who, step by step, has never stopped moving forward, transforming loyalty to the Group into a driver of evolution, and the trust of others into energy to go on.
