Massimo founded Sustain for Life in 2006. During visits to some of the poorest and least developed parts of the world, he saw first-hand the lack of opportunities for children and other vulnerable people and committed to helping the poorest of the poor by giving them the tools and skills to create a better future for themselves.

He was amazed at how even a little bit of funding could make such a transformative difference to the lives of those existing in extreme poverty. “It’s our collective duty to help our fellow human beings, particularly the vulnerable and underprivileged, so I hope that many others will join me in supporting projects through Sustain for Life and help to create a better world for us all.”

Claire was born and raised in London and has worked in various parts of the City. She has been Massimo's Secretary since 2015 and has worked closely with him to get involved in many administrative aspects of the Foundation. Over time her involvement has grown after being deeply affected by the projects and stories of the poorest of the poor. She now gives administrative support to the Swiss Foundation because she wants to contribute more to help improve lives. She is currently living in Lugano.

Alberto lives in Como with his wife and his two children. He is a Chartered Accountant and Auditor specialized in local Italian taxes. He is honored to embrace Sustain for Life's cause by managing the payments for the Swiss Foundation. He has volunteered in a variety of areas and believes that any action taken in the social field has a far greater positive impact on others than the sustained effort in doing so.

She was born and raised in Italy and then moved to Switzerland in 2019. She has an extensive and diversified admin background and has joined our Foundation to support the team since the activities have grown significantly. Stefania has never been confronted with the reality of such poverty before so she is very motivated to give her assistance to such worthy causes in order to see many happy people especially beaming children.

Thierry has been working in development in West Africa for more than twenty years. Before joining Sustain for Life in May 2018, he was the Training Director for a US government agency for many years. In this role, he trained many American international development extension agents and their host partners, in Community Health Development, Community Economic Development and Education. Thierry has expertise in assisting communities to adapt to the challenges of climate change. He also has experience in managing projects in West Africa as he was Regional Advisor in behaviour change interventions for a regional project covering Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Senegal and Mali.

Cristian Bernareggi graduated at Università degli Studi di Milano (Italy) in computer science in 2002 and took his PhD in computer science in 2006 focussing on methods and computer applications to facilitate blind students in studying mathematics. He has collaborated on European projects relating to science education of sight impaired. He collaborates to disseminate knowledge about assistive technology and has published numerous technical and scientific papers about human computer interaction and technology for people with disabilities. Cristian has spearheaded a project for Sustain for Life at Kisoro Demo School in Uganda to use computer science and assistive technology to open up new learning opportunities for blind and visually impaired students. Through this innovation, the students will be able to learn all subjects taught at school, particularly English. Cristian spends a week each year in Uganda training the children and staff on this life-changing technology.

Ellen Percy Kraly is the William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Geography at Colgate University in New York. She has provided technical assistance concerning community health research to Bwindi Community Hospital and monitoring and evaluation at Mbale Remand Home, both in Uganda. Ellen is specifically committed to providing support through staff training and development workshops in the area of social and health research methods and analysis. She has also worked with colleagues to bring Colgate students to the Bwindi to assist the hospital in the collection and analysis of data and preparation of reports to serve the mission of the hospital in promoting community health. Recent projects have addressed stigma associated with HIV/AIDS, attitudes toward use of contraception, and challenges faced by women in utilisation of maternity services provided by the hospital. Learn more about Colgate University’s partnership with Bwindi Community Hospital here.

As Founder of Sustain for Life, Massimo takes an active role across all of our charitable entities and is the primary funder for the organisation. Frustrated by seeing the amount of charitable funding that was wasted on unnecessary expenditure by other charities, Massimo made a pledge from day one to continue forever to fund the entire running costs of Sustain for Life to ensure that 100% of income would go directly to the people who need it the most. He travels to our projects regularly and encourages our partners and donors to get involved directly.

When Massimo asked Marco to join Sustain for Life Switzerland Foundation as a Trustee, it was a clear “yes”, as Marco was looking for an opportunity to help some of the poorest in this world. After having spent most of his professional life in the financial industry, he is now proud to be part of Sustain for Life Switzerland Foundation and looks forward to seeing lives improved as a result of the programmes that we support. Marco appreciates that every penny raised goes straight to our projects thanks to Massimo’s commitment to fund running costs.

For more than 20 years, Benedikt has been involved in development work. He has a Masters Degree in Development Management, gained on-site work experience over four years in rural Brazil, and has been administering projects in Africa, Latin America and Central Asia for an Austrian NGO since 2003. His main focus is the institutional development of local development organisations to improve the scope and quality of the work they provide and to increase their autonomy on an organisational and financial level.

Luca graduated from the University of Trieste and is a Chartered Accountant in Italy.
He met Sustain for Life's team at a charity event where they presented their projects and activities. He immediately became passionate about this initiative and was therefore honoured to join their team.
He is so grateful to Massimo for his involvement with Sustain for Life because he knows that every contribution he makes, what he receives back in terms of personal growth will be much more.

Mario Baraldi graduated in law in 1999 at the University of Bologna (Italy), where he also received his PhD in civil law in 2007 and then continued his research activities for five years at the Faculty of Economics of the University of Florence. He is a lawyer and partner at Studio Legale Galgano as well as president of an Italian foundation dealing with people with disabilities and a board member of a benefit company. He met Sustain for life through work and was more than happy to help out.

Biography to follow.

Marco grew up in Veneto, in a family of office workers inspired by sound moral principles. He followed humanistic studies and has a strong predisposition to interpersonal relations, which he has been able to enhance in his previous working experiences.
He worked for most of his life in the banking sector, first in Northern Italy, then Monte Carlo and now Lugano - Switzerland.
In recent years he has taken a keen interest in Sustain for Life's activities and has embraced the cause of helping the poorest of the poor.

Upon retiring after 36 years working for the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mario was asked by his good friend Massimo Gini to accompany him to visit Sustain for Life’s projects in Uganda. He was moved by what he saw and liked our approach of actively teaching practical skills that help the poorest of the poor move forward towards a better life. During the trip, Mario was able to see first-hand that “every penny counts”. Mario is honoured to have been offered to become a Trustee and looks forward to using his experience as a Diplomat to assist Sustain for Life’s valuable initiatives in favour of children and other vulnerable people.

Nicola lives in Vicenza with his partner Alessandra. He is a Chartered Accountant who specialises in corporate and tax consultancy and is also a bankruptcy commissioner. Nicola has been associated with Massimo Gini for almost 30 years both in a professional and personal capacity and was delighted to accept the opportunity to collaborate with Sustain for Life. He loves sport, particularly rugby, where the emphasis is entirely on the team effort and not on the individual – qualities which also apply wholeheartedly to Sustain for Life and which were among the primary reasons for agreeing to lend his support to the Charity’s efforts.

Before his retirement Howard was a commercial solicitor in a private legal practice. He also served as a local education authority appointed school governor, and in 1992 was elected as a councillor of a borough in southern England where he chaired the financial monitoring panel, became deputy chairman of the corporate services board and was nominated as the borough’s delegate to the Consumer Council for Postal Services. Howard provided legal advice to Sustain for life's UK Charity branch before it's closure in August 2021.

Gian Oddone lives and works in Italy where he is currently CEO of Fineldo SpA. He is also Chairman of MPE SpA and a member of the board of directors of Panini SpA. His wide business experience has also included previous roles as CEO of Cofiri SpA and as a Board member with Banca Commerciale di San Marino. With a primary background in finance, Gian Oddone is also a qualified lawyer, and has undertaken further study with UCLA Berkeley University in California and the Harvard Business School.

Karen has been a UK barrister since 1992 specialising in property law. She has experience in the not-for-profit sector in the development of public-private sector initiatives for inner city and rural regeneration, as well as in the development of real work and training provision in prisons. She has been a trustee of charities, ranging from those concerned with social provision, to those involved in culture and the arts.

Aurora was heavily involved at the foundation of Sustain for Life, working closely with Massimo Gini, to set it up and turn it into a reality. She believes passionately in the aims of the charity, to help those less fortunate than herself, to give them hope and dignity by providing the means to enable them to help themselves. Aurora has lived in London for many years and works in the financial sector in the City.