Italy: the ‘Maternity as a Master’ start-up is now both attracting fathers and looking to expand abroad

While company-based parenting practices are burgeoning, the unusual ‘Maternity as a Master’ (MaaM) training program aims to transpose competences that parents acquire during parenthood over to the workplace. The digital platform that was launched two years ago now include twenty-five Italian client companies (including UniCredit, Poste Italiane, Enel, Luxottica and subsidiaries of various multinationals such as Ikea and Coca-Cola) and approximately 2,000 participants. The MaaM start-up is seeking a capital injection to expand growth.
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Co-founder and CEO of ‘Maternity as a Master’ (MaaM), Riccarda Zezza drew on her own experience. Commenting, “I had spent fifteen years working in big business where personal and family aspects are generally considered as problems. However at the same time, companies devote resources on ‘soft skills’ training programs, which often seek to reproduce situations and emotions that emanate from daily life.” Convinced that parenting could provide opportunities for developing useful competences in the

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