Alessandro Sancino was the Scientific Coordinator of the University of Milano-Bicocca unit until December 2024 and PI of the winning PRIN 2020 proposal. Full Professor of Business Administration at the University of Milan, he focuses on Strategy in Public Management and Social Economy. He has published in several 4* ABS-ranked journals and won two PRIN under-40 grants as PI and vice PI.

Mariarosa Scarlata was the local PI for the University of Bergamo and Principal Investigator (PI) of the whole PRIN project. She is Associate Professor of Management at the Management Department of the University of Bergamo. Her research interests lie at the intersection of organizations and financing, with an emphasis on hybrid and social ventures, impact finance, and the creation of new ventures.

Maria Isabella Leone, Under-40 Leader of the Luiss Unit of the PRIN “Open Social Innovation for a Next Generation of Public Governance” (2021-2025), is MAIRE Chair in Open Innovation & Sustainability at Luiss. In Luiss Business School she is director of the MBA area and co-director of the Executive Master in Open Innovation and Intellectual Property (X° Edition).  Her research focuses on the strategic management of open innovation initiatives and intellectual property valorization.

Irene Bengo, scientific coordinator of the PRIN project for the Politecnico di Milano unit, is an associate professor at the School of Management of Politecnico di Milano, where she teaches Sustainability and Social Innovation and Impact Management and Measurement. She is the scientific coordinator of the TIRESIA research group, focused on impact finance and social innovation. She is an executive of the Bocconi-Politecnico Joint Degree in Transformative Sustainability and executive programs. She is the CEO of Triadi Società Benefit, a spin-off of Politecnico di Milano. She serves on the board of directors of Assobenefit and the scientific committee of Social Value Italia. She is the president of the association Ingegneria Senza Frontiere Milano.