ABOUT GERMANA
Germana Barba is a political scientist, a public and international affairs expert, as well as a writer. She has long-term experience engaging with policy makers, civil society, and key opinion leaders globally to build awareness and understanding about various businesses and industries. She has served as the youngest female Vice President at Philip Morris International, one of Fortune Global 500 companies and a front-runner in developing and commercializing technology-based, lower-risk alternatives to harmful cigarettes.
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Germana was a company spokesperson and is featured in numerous media interviews globally. She was a speaker at all major industry public policy and regulatory conferences where she built bridges across opposing points of view. Over her career, she negotiated dozens of EU and international regulatory dossiers with the European Commission as well as numerous governments and parliaments around the world, including Italy, the U.S., Canada, New Zealand, and Brazil. She contributed to the efforts seeking to incorporate the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into the company’s business practices, and she has been a driving force behind her company’s transformation towards a more diverse and inclusive organization.
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Before that, Germana worked in politics and journalism. She is a member of the Italian National Association of Journalists and has contributed to various Italian newspapers for many years. She is the published author of two books, “The Euro-Mediterranean Partnership” (2000), with a preface by the eminent Italian economist, Giancarlo Elia Valori, and “Sette Volte” (2012), a semi-autobiographic novel. She also authored various short stories published by Giulio Perrone Editore, wrote a chapter of the book “The professions of communicators in Italy” for the Italian Catholic Union Press, and coordinated the drafting of the publication “Industrial Relations and Social Dialogue in Central Europe” for the International Labour Office (ILO).
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In 2020, Germana decided to fully dedicate herself to some of the issues that are important to her and that affect millions of people, such as women empowerment, the state of democracy, and political and organizational leadership. She launched www.germanabarba.com, where she regularly writes about social and political issues, leadership, corporate best practices, and more. She is the founder of Women in Action (WA), an initiative to amplify the voices of some of the remarkable women who contribute to advancing gender balance in political and business leadership, and the co-founder of KINDNESSforBusiness, an organization that promotes more humane workplaces. She is a board member of Global Women in Public Relations Italia (GWPR) and an international mentor for GWPR Global. In 2022, she co-founded Public Affairs & Careers, the first Italian start-up fully dedicated to guiding and training today's and tomorrow's public affairs professionals.
Since 2021 Germana is an independent Policy and Public Affairs consultant working with clients from different sectors to build and execute regulatory strategies. She is Lecturer in Public Affairs at the Master in Political Communication at LUISS University in Rome, Adjunct Professor in Lobbying & Advocacy and in Negotiation Theory and Practice at the University of Pavia, and Visiting Professor in Responsible Leadership & Corporate Sustainability at the Rome Business School.
Germana holds a BSc cum laude in Political Science and Diplomatic Studies from Trieste University, an MSc in International Relations, and an MSc in EU Studies, both from the London School of Economics and Political Science. She is an International Mediation and Conflict Resolution Institute laureate from Erasmus University, Rotterdam, and an Aspen Institute Former Junior Fellow. She has served as Ambassadorial Scholar for the Rotary Foundation, Youth Coordinator for the External Relations Club of Rome, and Vice-President of the Student Movement for International Organization (MSOI), Gorizia branch.
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