L’Orsa Maggiore, Wonderful Italy, Sideralba and Fondazione Marcegaglia together to support training, employment and autonomy in Naples
Training can open up new opportunities, but its value grows when it translates into a concrete pathway towards employment and economic autonomy. Acquiring skills is often the first step towards building new professional prospects, especially for those facing social vulnerability or economic hardship.
Collaboration between different organisations can represent an important added value. When skills, resources and experience come together, opportunities can emerge that help people achieve greater autonomy while generating benefits that extend to communities and local areas.
It is within this context that the project promoted by the social cooperativeL’Orsa Maggiore, in collaboration with Wonderful Italy and with the support of Fondazione Marcegaglia and Sideralba, was developed. The initiative aims to strengthen the economic and professional autonomy of people in vulnerable situations by offering vocational training followed by concrete employment opportunities.
A path born from collaboration
The project is a tangible example of how collaboration between businesses, Third Sector organisations and foundations can create new opportunities for vulnerable individuals.
For more than thirty years, the social cooperative L’Orsa Maggiore has been supporting individuals and families in Naples who face complex challenges, including social hardship, gender-based violence, educational poverty and adverse childhood experiences.
In 2024, the cooperative joined the Restart Italia Fund, receiving support from Fondazione Marcegaglia and Sideralba for the development of Orsa Bar Bistrot & Factory, a productive hub dedicated to catering, tailoring and printing activities, created to expand training and employment opportunities for people in vulnerable situations.
Building on this experience and thanks to the connection created by Fondazione Marcegaglia with Wonderful Italy, a new initiative was launched to strengthen the economic and professional autonomy of people already involved in the educational and parenting support services promoted by the cooperative.
The challenges of female employment in Southern Italy
The initiative takes place within a context in which access to employment continues to represent a significant challenge for many women.
According to the latest Report on the Labour Market and Collective Bargaining published by the National Council for Economics and Labour (CNEL), the female employment rate in Southern Italy stands at 38.6%, lower than both the national average, which exceeds 53%, and the rate in Northern Italy, where it reaches approximately 62.7%. Key obstacles include the unequal distribution of caregiving responsibilities, a shortage of childcare services and limited access to training and professional qualification opportunities.
Creating opportunities for learning, support and employment therefore means providing concrete tools to foster economic autonomy and broaden participation in the labour market.
From training to employment
Thanks to co-funding from Fondazione Marcegaglia and Sideralba, the project will enable ten people in particularly vulnerable situations to take part in a training programme dedicated to cleaning services for the tourism sector by the end of 2026.
The first phase of training activities was completed in May and was led by Giorgia Puleo, founder of Clean Sicily, a company established in Palermo through a previous collaboration between Wonderful Italy and the Le Onde Anti-Violence Centre. This experience demonstrates how cooperation between different organisations can generate models capable of creating new opportunities for inclusion and employment.
Eight people supported by the L’Orsa Maggiore cooperative – seven women and one young adult – took part in the programme, united by their desire to build new professional opportunities through the acquisition of practical skills that can be immediately applied in the labour market.
In the coming months, the selection process for the final two participants will continue, with particular attention given to women experiencing socio-economic hardship who can benefit from personalised support towards employment autonomy.
Turning skills into concrete opportunities
The most significant aspect of the project is its ability to transform training into a real employment opportunity.
From the second half of June, the first employment placements under contract will begin. Thanks to Wonderful Italy’s decision to entrust the cleaning and maintenance of apartments and holiday homes managed in Naples to the project, five participants will be able to immediately put the skills acquired during the training programme into practice.
For those involved, this marks the beginning of a concrete journey towards professional and economic autonomy, built through professional skills, personalised support and access to genuine employment opportunities.
For many participants, access to a professional opportunity also represents the possibility of strengthening their independence, expanding their social relationships and building new prospects for themselves and their families.
The project also represents an investment in the future of the L’Orsa Maggiore cooperative itself. Through its partnership with Wonderful Italy, the cooperative is testing a new service model capable of combining economic sustainability with social impact, creating the conditions for further training and employment opportunities in the years ahead.
Networking to generate impact in the local community
One of the most interesting aspects of the initiative is its ability to bring together different organisations around a common goal: creating opportunities for autonomy for people facing situations of vulnerability.
Fondazione Marcegaglia, Sideralba, Wonderful Italy and L’Orsa Maggiore have each contributed, with their own skills and resources, to building a pathway that combines training, support and employment opportunities.
As Francesca D’Onofrio, President of the L’Orsa Maggiore Social Cooperative, points out, the project represents not only an opportunity for growth for those involved, but also an example of collaboration between worlds that rarely engage in a structured dialogue.
“Being able to continue supporting women through training and empowerment pathways represents a transformative force for life trajectories often marked by vulnerability. (…) This initiative also creates an opportunity for dialogue and cooperation between profit-making companies and Third Sector organisations, blending vision and mission while continuing to promote inclusion and active participation.”
This value is also shared by Sideralba, which, together with Fondazione Marcegaglia, supports the project and its development, helping to build connections between the business world and the Third Sector.
“At Sideralba, we believe that a company has a responsibility to contribute to the development of its local community not only through the jobs it creates, but also through the networks it is able to build. This project clearly demonstrates the value of a network built around a shared objective: offering women in vulnerable situations concrete opportunities for training, employment and autonomy. We are proud to be part of an alliance that generates real impact and transforms work into a tool for personal and social empowerment,” says Luigi Rapullino, Chief Executive Officer of Sideralba.
This network of collaborations demonstrates how sharing objectives, skills and responsibilities can transform a professional opportunity into a broader pathway of autonomy, growth and participation in community life.
Supporting training, work and autonomy
The project developed together with L’Orsa Maggiore, Wonderful Italy and Sideralba demonstrates how collaboration between different organisations can transform training into concrete opportunities for employment and economic autonomy.
Discover all the projects supported by Fondazione Marcegaglia.
When businesses, Third Sector organisations and foundations share skills and resources, they can create initiatives capable of generating lasting social impact and new opportunities for the most vulnerable individuals.
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