About the Founder
Giorgia is a researcher and designer originally from Sicily, Italy. Her work explores the intersections of geography, conflict, justice, and the transboundary waters that politicise nature and vulnerable communities. With a background in design for social impact from Italy, research on refugee rights at Universidad Diego Portales in Santiago, Chile, and a Master’s in Environmental Studies from the Department of Environment & Earth Sciences at Tel Aviv University, Giorgia has contributed to environmental and humanitarian projects in developing countries and conflict zones.
She has collaborated with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Dalberg Design, and the Nobel Peace Prize-nominated Arava Institute for Environmental Studies, founded by Palestinians, Israelis, and Jordanians, to tackle the Middle East’s environmental challenges through peace-building. Her work specifically focused on designing equitable energy and water access in the Middle East, particularly for Bedouin communities, who often lack basic human rights such as access to the national electricity grid, water, and wastewater treatment facilities—posing risks to the environment, agriculture, and human health.
Giorgia’s inspiration in the indigenous ancestral knowledge and nature is exemplified by her work with Ashoka for the Argentinian NGO Hecho por Nosotros, where she has been involved in empowering Indigenous women in the Andean communities.
In August 2024, Giorgia was recognised as one of the 10 globally awarded Young Water Professionals at Stockholm World Water Week, advocating for water security in conflict-prone regions debating on the complex relationship between conflicts and the deteriorating environment. And fow Indigenous Anti-Colonial Biocultural life on Earth can solve conflicts over Nature.
As a Designer and Research Fellow at Dalberg, she contributed to projects in Kenya and Nigeria’s remote regions, designing sustainable agriculture systems and improving financial access for women. These projects, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Mercy Corps, Lagos Business School, and Safaricom, provided her with a proven record of fieldwork experience in rural areas in the Global South. Working closely with communities and experiencing life in conflict zones firsthand has profoundly shaped her life. This immersion revealed the deep connections between geography, politics, unsustainable agriculture, climate change, education and extreme poverty. Motivating her to move to a war zone between Palestine and Israel to explore how geography defines existence, reinforcing her call to serve as a conduit for cooperation, design effective and nature-guided systems.
Notably, she founded Geoidentity, a startup in its prototyping phase, transforming education and identity into undeniable human rights. Geoidentity provides war and climate refugees with access to education through a blockchain-based universal academic passport. The initiative was recognised as a World Changing Idea by Fast Company and won the Inclusion Pitch category at ChangeNOW for the Coups de Couer Award, the world’s largest event for solutions for the planet.
Geoidentity was also featured at the United Nations High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development, supporting the 2030 Agenda, in a side event organised by the NGO Hecho por Nosotros.
Additionally, Geoidentity was showcased in the Spanish Red Cross’s "Technology and Vulnerability" initiative, highlighting its innovative use of technology to support marginalised communities. It was named among the Top Impact Startups 2024 by Impact Shakers and declared by Springwise as one of the 5 most inspiring solutions worldwide protecting human rights in 2025—currently, part of the mentoring program with MovingWorlds, a global platform of experts empowering social enterprises.
Geoidentity was also announced as a semi-finalist for the World Bank Youth Summit Pitch Competition 2025.
Giorgia currently works as a fellow at the United Nations—UNOPS Water, Environment, and Climate Institute, in Bonn, Germany, working with developing countries on policy designs and environmental risk for effective climate actions, aligned with national emergencies and the objectives of the Paris Agreement.
Her ikigai is to explore the biodiversity of life and contribute to an equitable future for the entire ecosystem: people and the planet.
