The award was presented to her in Caserta at the Monumental Complex of the Belvedere of San Leucio during the TIME to DARE Forum, last January 22nd
Alessandra Smerilli, professor of Political Economics at the Pontifical Faculty of Education "Auxilium" in Rome, was awarded the Mario Diana Prize 2020. In previous years the prize was awarded to two other women: the Roman gynaecologist Antonia Testa and Floriana Malagoli, president of the association that assists the homeless of the city of Caserta. This year's award was presented in the presence of the Bishop of Caserta, Mons Giovanni D'Alise, on January 22 at the Belvedere of San Leucio, during the Forum TIME to DARE, the event promoted by the Mario Diana Foundation, the Diocese and Caritas of Caserta with the aim of presenting the project on the digital platform of gift that the Foundation and the Church of Caserta will launch in the coming months.
Alessandra Smerilli, thanks to her ability and effectiveness in communication, has become one of the most authoritative voices in the debate in our country, with frequent interventions on radio, television and qualified magazines. Last week she was called by RAI to comment on the Sunday Gospel on the program "A Sua Immagine". Alessandra Smerilli was one of the few women admitted as an auditor to the Synod of Bishops on young people and on April 5, 2019 Pope Francis appointed her Councillor of the Vatican City State; she is already a member of the National Council of the Third Sector, a body established at the Ministry of Labour and Social Policies, of the Ethics Committee SGR, as well as the Scientific Committee and organizer of the Social Weeks of Catholics, founding member and director of the Scientific Steering Committee of SEC - School of Civil Economy.
“This award has a special significance for us," explains Elpidio Pota, Secretary General of the Mario Diana Foundation, "because Alessandra Smerilli has always wanted the Prometheus Project summer school promoted by our Foundation to be included in her busy schedule for three years now. It is she, in fact, who accompanies every summer to Philadelfia in the USA a group of young talents, selected by us, from all the Italian regions, to give them an experience of research and laboratory aimed at creating a 3D virtual game on circular economy and environmental sustainability. Alessandra Smerilli is, therefore, a woman who not only talks about young people and young people, but concretely guides them by aiming to make a life experience together with them”.
