About me
Vision, pragmatism and lateral thinking.
Over 25 years across technology, projects, marketing and operations, in hands-on and management roles within digital and creative organisations.
My story
I’ve been lucky enough to see a thousand things being born, and to sweat every detail of them.
I have been incredibly lucky to witness the birth of a thousand things, sweating every detail like all early adopters: from development when Google didn’t exist yet to process redesign when it was called BPR and Design Thinking didn’t exist; from data manipulation when mining was the new frontier to inventing project management for digital, when the only foothold was the WBS of client/server management systems.
The first websites, the first apps, JavaScript without AJAX, the first beacons, UX testing with video cameras (before heat maps)… and I could go on with a thousand more little stories.
For more than 25 years I have enthusiastically reinvented myself every day, bringing together pieces of marketing, management, technology, numbers, data, strategy, design and creativity.
By this point friends and family have usually lost interest. So over the years I learned to sum it all up in five words: I fix messes, creatively. It seems to work much better.
What I bring
Three things I do well.
01
I read the context
I connect goals, processes, people and constraints, to tell the initial request apart from what’s really worth working on.
02
I know the work from the inside
I’ve been a DBA, developer, tech leader, PM and Head of Operations: I know what decisions mean for the people who then have to put them into practice.
03
I build with people
Methods and tools are created together with those who will use them, with piloting and skills development. No top-down recipes.
My journey
From development to operations.
DBA, developer, tech leader, Project Manager, Head of Project Management, Head of Operations, Marketing Manager: each role taught me to look at projects from a different perspective.
1999–2003
Data, processes and the first web applications · Early career
I started in 1999 as an analyst developer in an Oracle environment. From 2000 to 2003 I was a Senior Database Consultant at GLAMM Interactive in Milan: analysis, design, implementation and optimisation of databases supporting Business Process Reengineering, and development of web applications such as CRMs and order management systems.
2003–2010
From technology to project management · Mid-career
After a period as a freelance Senior Development DBA, in 2005 I joined LBI Iconmedialab in Milan: first as Tech Leader, coordinating the technical team on complex projects, then as Senior Project Manager for clients such as Lavazza, Cerved and La Cucina Italiana. Among other things, I coordinated the first Lavazza A Modo Mio e-commerce.
2010–2022
Leading people, processes and operations · Leadership
In 2010 I became Head of Project Management at H-ART (now AKQA Italy): creative and technology projects for Heineken, NIVEA, IKEA and many others, project management best practices and internationally distributed teams. From 2018 to 2022 I was Tech & Digital Consultant for the University of Padua and Head of Operations at Young Digitals, later Different, contributing to company strategy and operations.
Since 2022
Consulting, training and fractional leadership · Today
In 2022 I led Marketing and Event Sales at Padova Hall – Fiera di Padova. Since 2023 I have worked as a freelancer: consulting and training on project and program management, operations, customer experience, marketing, co-design and open innovation. I have taught for CUOA, Campari, SodaStream, OVS, Caffeina and Luiss Business School for Eataly.
Roles
- Database Administrator and developer
- Tech Leader
- Project Manager and Senior PM
- Head of Project Management
- Head of Operations
- Marketing and Events Manager
- Consultant, trainer and fractional leader
Management skills
Business development, people management, cost control, process improvement, strategic planning, team leadership, program management, change management.
Professional skills
Marketing, communication, creativity, strategy, design thinking, e-commerce, CRM, social media, web design, PHP development, database design, system integration, management control, budgeting, open innovation.
Education
First-level university Master in Open Innovation Management: processes, products and business models · University of Padua, 2023
What people say
In the words of those who worked with me.
“Anna has excellent organisational skills. In a short time she grasps business and process issues and proposes innovative improvements. She has a real talent for relationships and stays positive even in the most difficult situations and environments. Anna did a great job in the short time we worked together and managed to motivate and refresh her team’s drive for results. Keep it up, Anna! (translated from Italian)”
Marco Valsecchi
Board member · CEO · CFO · Country Manager
“It’s hard to put into these 3,000 characters everything Anna has meant to me and my career. Every time I felt inadequate, every time I had no idea how to do something, every time I had a problem I didn’t know how to solve, I knew where to look: her desk. And I always got an answer. […] My best years were the ones when we worked as a pair, like two cops in an American TV series. If you’re trying to bring order to a large organisation or grow a small one, if you want to make a department work by bringing all its skills together, if you need fresh ideas or a more positive environment, if you want to fly without losing people along the way — in short, if you’re looking for one of those people who, for skills, experience and empathy, are one in a million, Anna is one of the 7 on the planet. And I can’t wait to work with her again. (translated from Italian)”
Marco Vezzaro
Copywriter · Creative Director · Trainer
“Anna is a great project manager. With a strong technical background, she’s able to manage complex web and mobile projects, from analysis and design to deployment and maintenance phases. She is amazing, a guarantee for digital projects development.”
Renzo Giust
Technical direction for web, mobile and IoT projects
“Anna is really an extremely happy project manager… extremely professional with great management capabilities. It is an honor and a pleasure to work with her… extremely 🙂”
Luca Quattrin
Creative Director · Onde Alte
“If you got a project and in the middle of the plan you need some miracle, do not believe in God, believe Anna! 😉 Anna is just, of course in a positive sense, unstoppable! Determined, motivational, responsible and calm to deliver any material that you or your team need. If you need to build a building, Anna will be the first person to say “I can”, but if you need to rebuild this building, Anna will already be there working, tireless, and she’ll say: “Let’s do it! WE can do it!””
Anderson Schimuneck
Chief Design Officer · Necessary
“Anna is one of the most talented and result-oriented minds I’ve had the occasion to work with. Working together in several projects I had the possibility to see her relate with customers and team members always driving them toward the objective, respecting deadlines and budget.”
Marco Stefani
Cloud Technical Leader · Archiva Group
“Working with her has been a very good professional experience. She’s very keen on tech specifications and knowledge for every kind of implementation regarding the web environment. She’s very creative and very collaborative.”
Mauro Bighin
Marketing Director · WHL – Albatravel
Have we worked together and would you like to leave me a recommendation on LinkedIn? It would make me happy 🙂
The novel
Deliver or Die.
A thriller/mystery novel that teaches project management. Plan Island, eight women, a writing club and a “secret subject” assigned by Mr. G. Currently available in Italian.
Because even those who aren’t project managers manage time, budgets and goals every day.
Shall we work on the next project together?
If you have a project to propose, a question, or if I can help in any way, write to me.