Pierluigi Zappacosta is Chairman of Faro, an Italian Investment Fund, and Venture Partner of Noventi Ventures.
In 1981, he co-founded Logitech, which went on to become the world’s largest manufacturer of computer mice and other personal interface products. Zappacosta served at Logitech for sixteen years, first as President and CEO and later as Vice-Chairman.
Zappacosta is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Istituto Bruno Leoni, Torino, Italy.
He received his bachelor’s degree (laurea in Electrical Engineering) from the University of Rome, Italy in 1974, and his master’s degree in Computer Science from Stanford University in 1978.
Galeazzo Scarampi del Cairo is a private equity investor based in New York City. He is Chairman di Fine Sounds Spa and of the Investment Committee of Quadrivio SGR. Since the early ’80s he developed and managed direct investment in the US and Asia for important European holdings. Since the early ’70s he collaborates—from a classical liberal perspective—with Centro di Ricerca Luigi Einaudi in Turin and, more recently, with Libro Aperto and La Voce.
He graduated in Economics at the University of Turin.
James Lucier is Managing Director of Capital Alpha Partners, LLC. He specializes in the fields of energy and environment, climate, tax, and technology policy as well as diverse special situations. He is a former senior vice president and research analyst working with Prudential Private Equity Group. Earlier, in the policy world, James held a wide range of positions as an analysis, political strategist, and business development consultant. He was educated at Princeton University and St. Anselm’s Abbey School and lives in Arlington, Virginia.
Mr. McDowell, former commissioner and senior member of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), has been an industry and government leader on a multitude of complex issues in the communications field throughout his career. A partner in the Communications Practice at Wiley Rein LLP, he provides strategic legal, business, and public policy advice to clients on important domestic and international matters in the telecommunications, media, technology, and digital media industries. Appointed to the FCC by presidents George W. Bush (2006) and Barack Obama (2009) and unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate each time, Mr. McDowell was the first Republican appointed to an independent agency by President Obama. During his seven years as one of five FCC commissioners, he spearheaded the production of policies that directly affected all aspects of the Internet, wireless technologies, broadband competition, and communications equipment and devices, as well as radio and satellite services. Mr. McDowell also has 16 years of private sector experience in the communications industry. He is currently a senior advisor at Berenson & Co. and a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute’s Center for the Economics of the Internet. Mr. McDowell received his J.D. from the Marshall-Wythe School of Law at the College of William and Mary.
Federico G.M. Mennella, CFA, is Managing Director of Lincoln International LLC, a leading global midmarket investment bank focusing on M&A, debt capital raising, financial advisory and restructurings. Prior to joining Lincoln in 2006, Federico was a Managing Director at Peter J. Solomon Company in New York. Until 2002, Federico co-headed JP Morgan's Global Food, Beverage, and Consumer Products M&A Group after having been also responsible for the Firm's Global Industrial and Chemical M&A business. Prior to joining JP Morgan Chase, Federico headed US M&A for Deutsche Morgan Grenfell (DMG) and spent 9 years as a senior M&A banker at Lazard in New York and Frankfurt. Federico has also worked for McKinsey & Co.; Oppenheimer and Arthur Andersen. Mr. Mennella holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA, cum laude, from Yale, and is a Chartered Financial Analyst and a member of the New York Society of Security Analysts. He serves on the Board of Directors of Hovione, a leading API chemical manufacturer based in Portugal.
Alberto Mingardi (Milan, 1981) is Director General of Istituto Bruno Leoni and of IBL Libri, the publishing arm of Istituto Bruno Leoni. He is also Adjunct Scholar at the Cato Institute. He majored in Political Science at the University of Pavia in 2005 and received a PhD in Political Science at the same University in 2009. He authored or edited several books, among which Herbert Spencer (New York & London: Continuum, 2011), Eppur si muove: Come cambia la sanità in Europa, tra pubblico e privato (editor with Gabriele Pelissero, Torino: IBL Libri, 2010) and Antonio Rosmini, The Constitution Under Social Justice (Translator, Lexington Books, Lanham, MD, 2007). His most recent book is L’intelligenza del denaro: Perché il mercato ha ragione anche quando ha torto (Marsilio, 2013).