Founder, Progressio Foundation; Co-Founder, B Lab Europe
The Netherlands
Marcello Palazzi is an entrepreneur and philanthropreneur, pursuing a double teenage passion for entrepreneurship and ethical values as the sources of human progress, which he later, in 1989 expressed in practice through the creation of the Progressio Foundation (from the Latin ‘of progress’). Launched with Dr. Paul Kloppenborg in Rotterdam, the foundation has completed over 300 entrepreneurial ventures, projects, initiatives in 33 countries under his leadership, www.progressio.org.
His current major activity is the launch and leadership of B Corporations in Europe (B for Benefit), www.bcorporation.net. Palazzi has lived and studied in Italy, Switzerland, the UK, the Netherlands, and the USA. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in London, Member of the Club of Rome, winner of The Economist Prize for his work on Strategic Philanthropy, back in 1987, probably the earliest work on the subject. Palazzi began his career as a young technology entrepreneur at age 23, growing a family business in environmental diagnostics internationally. Palazzi’s alma maters include: London School of Economics, London Business School, Erasmus University Rotterdam, and Harvard University (2013 Advanced Leadership Fellow). Academically active, Palazzi has written “Towards the Civic Economy” in 1990, which laid the groundwork for the work of the Progressio Foundation. He has been a visiting lecturer, tutor and mentor to students and professionals for many years. His next goal is to complete a PhD on “Entrepreneurship for Public Good” he started in 1989.
Palazzi has been happily married for 30 years to Leonore van Hövell tot Westerflier, Dutch art historian and Hatha yoga instructor. Together, they have three grown-up children, Titiaan, Ottavio and Clara.