EBN appoints Laura Lecci as its new CEO ad Interim
During the EBN Annual General Meeting last week, Laura Lecci has been appointed as the new CEO ad Interim of EBN, as of 1 July 2020. Laura joined EBN in May 2012 as Project Manager and in February 2019 took further responsibilities becoming the COO.
M.A. graduate from the University of Trieste (Italy) in International and Diplomatic Relations, in 2011 she obtained a diploma in Cooperation and International Development at ISPI (Institute for International Politics Studies). Before joining in EBN Laura worked at the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation Department and then in the Brussels liaison office of ENEA, the Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development.
Laura succeeds Javier Echarri who has been EBN CEO for the past three years. The board thanked Javier for his strong commitment during his mandate on helping EBN and the Members Organisations to support innovative startups in Europe and beyond.
David Uhlir, EBN president, said: “We are grateful to the work done by Javier during his three year’s mandate and we would like to wish him all the best in his continuation. We are convinced that appointing Laura to the position of CEO ad Interim is the right choice as she knows EBN very well and has proven her commitment during the past year in a managerial position. We are looking forward to continuing working with her and achieve the priorities that the organisation just set last week”.
Laura Lecci said: “It is with a great sense of responsibility and honour that I welcome to be the CEO ad Interim of EBN, the first time for a woman to be offered the role. I feel very grateful for the trust shown by the Board of Directors and the support I have already received from my colleagues and the members. EBN members have shown incredible strength and spirit of initiative in fighting these strange times that we are all facing and in bringing innovation at the top of the policymakers' agenda. Supporting our members to deliver always better services for European entrepreneurs, to increase opportunities of peer learning and to make EBN voice heard by the most important European innovation stakeholders, are my milestones for the months to come”.
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