AEGIS promotes ethical AI governance, intergenerational responsibility and environmental integrity, placing Dignity & Empowerment at the center of technological progress.
A brief introductory message from Mons. Vincenzo Paglia, presenting the vision, values and institutional spirit behind AEGIS.
The mission of AEGIS is to promote an ethical framework at the intersection of artificial intelligence, intergenerational solidarity, and environmental responsibility — guided by the conviction that technology must serve human dignity, empower the human person, and protect the bond between generations.
Three principles guide our work and shape our commitment to a just, responsible, and sustainable future.
Advancing ethical intelligence and AI governance to ensure technology serves the common good.
Promoting dialogue, equity, and mutual care between older adults and younger generations, honoring the dignity of every age.
Advocating for environmental ethics and the sustainable stewardship of our Earth for present and future generations.
The Foundation is committed to the study and dissemination of a “human algorithm” — a set of principles drawn from the world’s great spiritual and philosophical traditions — that preserves, in the encounter with artificial intelligence, the irreducible presence of the Other in our lives, the primacy of the “We,” and the dignity of human vulnerability.
For AEGIS, the true singularity is always and only the human person.
Across Jewish, Christian, Islamic, Buddhist, Hindu, Confucian, Ubuntu, and secular thought, a single truth emerges: we are relational beings. No algorithm — however efficient, however available, however reassuring — can replace the brother, the neighbor, the stranger whose face calls us to responsibility.
The governance of AI must be grounded in this irreducible truth.
AEGIS is developing a comprehensive Charter that affirms the fundamental rights of older persons and the corresponding obligations of society, institutions, and technology. In an era when artificial intelligence is reshaping healthcare, social care, and human connection, the Charter addresses a critical gap: the absence of a binding ethical framework that protects the dignity, autonomy, and relational needs of the elderly.
Every older person has the right to authentic human presence and companionship. Technology may assist care, but must never replace the irreducible encounter with another human being.
Aging is not decline — it is a phase of life endowed with its own meaning, wisdom, and contribution to the community. Society has a duty to honor and protect this dignity.
Younger and older generations are bound by mutual obligations of care, respect, and dialogue. Public policy must foster — not fracture — this bond.
No older person should be subjected to social isolation or loneliness. Society has a duty to promote genuine human relationships, informed care, and meaningful alternatives.
The Board is composed of five members committed to advancing ethical AI governance in service of humanity.
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Board of Directors · Citizens’ Rights · Health-System Governance
Graduated in Political Science at the University of Macerata with a thesis on the principle of subsidiarity in the Italian Constitution, Antonio Gaudioso has devoted his entire professional life to the defence of citizens' rights, the strengthening of the National Health Service and the ethical governance of public policy.
From 1996 to 2021 he served within Cittadinanzattiva — one of Italy's most influential civic organisations — rising from head of the PiT Salute service and of the Tribunal for Patients' Rights to Deputy Secretary General, and, from June 2012, to Secretary General, coordinating some 35,000 members, 400 territorial offices (over 200 embedded in hospitals and NHS facilities) and 65 staff at the national headquarters, mobilising resources of approximately 40 million euro over the years of his mandate. In 2021 he was elected National President of the organisation.
He contributed to the drafting of the European Charter of Patients' Rights, to Law 38/2010 on access to pain therapies, and to the reform proposal introducing the principle of circular subsidiarity in Article 118 of the Italian Constitution. He is among the founders of the Forum Disuguaglianze e Diversità and a promoter of the Festival della Partecipazione with ActionAid and Slow Food.
From November 2021 to October 2022 he served as Chief of the Technical Secretariat of the Italian Minister of Health in the Draghi Government, coordinating technical evaluations on health legislation, relations with scientific societies, patients' associations and Parliament, and supervising the regions under commissioner regime. He chaired the steering group of the NSIS (National Health Information System) and coordinated the cabinet for the implementation of the Patto per la Salute between the State and the Regions, and served as Coordinator of the National Committee for Rare Diseases at the Ministry of Health.
From 2012 to 2016 he was Senior Advisor for CSR and Sustainability at the World Bank Group; he has been a member of the LEA Commission (Essential Levels of Care) of the Italian Ministry of Health, of the Advisory Board of the Istituto Superiore di Sanità supporting the National Guidelines System (SNLG), of the ECDC Technical and Scientific Committee on vaccines, and of the Biotechnology and Biosafety Commission of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers. He is currently Vice President of the Health City Institute, board member of the Foundation for Personalised Medicine, and Senior Advisor to Apoteca Natura for the evolution of its pharmacy network.
He holds an appointment as Adjunct Professor at LUISS Guido Carli University in Rome, teaching within the Master's programme in Strategic Management, Innovation and Sustainability, where he brings to the classroom the intersection of health-system governance, civic participation and sustainable public policy that has defined his professional career.
Within AEGIS, Antonio Gaudioso contributes to the Steering Committee his rare combination of grassroots civic experience, senior institutional responsibility and deep knowledge of the National Health Service — a decisive asset in ensuring that the Foundation's work on the ethical governance of artificial intelligence remains firmly anchored to the rights and needs of citizens, patients and the most vulnerable persons.
Full profile →Board of Directors · Bioethics · Family and Human Ecology
Ordained priest in 1994, Msgr. Riccardo Mensuali is a member of the Missionary Priestly Fraternity of Sant’Egidio, the community founded by Andrea Riccardi to which the AEGIS circle is closely tied. His pastoral, academic and institutional work has developed along the axis that connects family, life and human ecology.
From 2012 to 2016 he served at the Pontifical Council for the Family under the presidency of Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia. Following the reform of the Roman Curia, on 1 November 2016 he was appointed to the Secretariat of the President of the Pontifical Academy for Life, where he remains a Curial Official and a recognised expert in bioethics and biolaw, with particular attention to end-of-life questions, family and paternity.
He is Secretary General of Fondazione Età Grande, the foundation established by Archbishop Paglia to promote a new cultural, pastoral and political vision of old age in Italy and beyond. In this role he coordinates institutional relations, research programmes and public communication of the Foundation.
Rector of the church of Santa Maria Stella Maris on the seafront of Ostia — entrusted to the local Community of Sant’Egidio — he celebrates the Sunday Eucharist and animates the pastoral life of that community. He is also a teacher and author: for Edizioni San Paolo he has published essays on affection, family and the male condition, including Leggero come l’amore (2021) and Pieno di grazia. La sfida cristiana per il maschio del nostro tempo (2025).
A frequent voice in the Italian public debate on bioethics — from the parliamentary discussion on end-of-life legislation to the demographic and spiritual condition of the elderly — he brings to the AEGIS Board a rare synthesis of pastoral closeness, canonical competence and cultural insight into the anthropological questions raised by artificial intelligence at the service of the human person.
Full profile →Chair of the Board · Algorethics · Family and Active Ageing
Born in Boville Ernica (Frosinone) on 21 April 1945, Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia studied theology and philosophy at the Pontifical Lateran University and pedagogy at the University of Urbino. Ordained priest in 1970, he has been for over fifty years a close companion of the Community of Sant’Egidio.
From 1981 to 2000 he was parish priest of the Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere in Rome. In 2000 he was ordained Bishop of Terni-Narni-Amelia; in 2012 he was elevated to Archbishop and appointed President of the Pontifical Council for the Family. From 2016 to 2025 he served as President of the Pontifical Academy for Life and Grand Chancellor of the John Paul II Theological Institute.
In 2020 he promoted the Rome Call for AI Ethics, a landmark declaration on the ethics of algorithms and artificial intelligence signed by major technology corporations, international institutions and the Abrahamic religions.
The same year, the Italian Minister of Health appointed him President of the National Commission for the Reform of Health and Social Care for the Elderly, whose work led to Law 33/2023 on active ageing and home care.
Postulator of the cause of Archbishop Óscar Romero and UNESCO Gandhi Prize laureate, he is the author of many volumes on spirituality, family, ageing and the ethics of technology.
Full profile →Public Health · Epidemiology · AI and Ageing Societies
Leonardo Palombi is Full Professor of Hygiene and Public Health. He graduated in Medicine and Surgery in 1979 and completed his specialisation in Hygiene and Public Health, building his career at the intersection of preventive medicine, epidemiology and the organisation of health systems.
An epidemiologist of international standing, he has worked for decades alongside the Community of Sant’Egidio, contributing to the DREAM programme for the treatment of HIV/AIDS and maternal-child health in sub-Saharan Africa. His scholarly record includes an h-index of 47 and over 7,000 citations.
Since 2023 he is Rector of the Catholic University “Our Lady of Good Counsel” (UNIZKM) in Tirana, where he leads the institutional development of medical, health and veterinary programmes within the European Higher Education Area.
From 2020 to 2024 he served as Secretary of the National Commission for the Reform of Health and Social Care for the Elderly at the Italian Ministry of Health, and since 2025 as Secretary of the Commission for the implementation of Law 33/2023.
He is Scientific Director of Fondazione Età Grande, leading research on frailty screening, telemedicine and integrated socio-health pathways. His current focus is the ethical governance of artificial intelligence applied to ageing societies — the founding intuition of AEGIS.
Full profile →A strategic committee created to guide the Foundation’s agenda.
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Communications · Public Affairs · International Policy
Alessia Ardesi is a communications and public affairs consultant with over a decade of experience in domestic and international policies at the highest levels of government.
Alessia started her career as a news presenter for Sky Salute! Television, as a journalist and a political television commentator. She worked in the communication office of the former Prime Minister of Italy, Silvio Berlusconi, and ultimately appointed chief of staff and served in that position for five years. She has also served as an advisor to the President of the Italian Committee of the World Food Program.
For many years now she has been an international political commentator for many different Italian Television programs and was a candidate for the Italian Parliament.
Currently Alessia serves as Vice President for Global Governmental Affairs for GV Group a family owned corporation that is leader in printing books in Europe and the USA. She serves on the boards of PA Hutchinson and Lakebook Manufacturing, two facilities that prints books in the United States.
Alessia possesses a very extensive network that includes international leaders, politicians, diplomats, religious dignitaries, business owners, opinion leaders, and academia. Skilled in back-channel diplomacy, effectively connecting people from different backgrounds and nationalities to resolve conflict. She has specialized knowledge in European Institutions and Vatican affairs and has taught Leadership and Communication to a group of International Naval Cadets at the Italian Navy Academy.
On October 2025 her book on the Oratory, the Catholic Institution, was published. The preface is written by the Secretary of Vatican State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin.
Alessia holds a masters degree in International Public Policy. from SAIS, Johns Hopkins University. She is a member of WIFA (Washington Institution of Foreign Affairs), Foreign Policy Discussion Group and Women Foreign Policy Group. She contributes as volunteer at the work of the Andrea Bocelli Foundation. She serves on the boards committee of The Washington Opera Society and the foundation Saving Innocents and in the Steering Committee of the Aegis Foundation.
Full profile →Public Service · Retirement Reform · Human Rights · Civic Leadership
Kathleen Kennedy Townsend has served with distinction in both the private and public arenas including in areas as diverse as AI, crime, faith, finance, workforce development, protection of the elderly, women’s rights, service.
Currently, she is the Chair, Sister Cities, Washington DC, Vice-Chair, Maryland Saves, Maryland’s initiative to facilitate retirement savings. She serves on the Advisory Board on the University of Maryland, School of Medicine, and is a Member of the American Society for AI (ASFAI), Member, National Academy of Social Insurance.
She was Maryland’s first woman Lt Governor where not only did supervise the anti crime efforts of the state government, but she, launched Character Education in public schools.
She also served as Deputy Assistant Attorney General of the United States. Senior Advisor to the Secretary of the Navy, and Senior Advisor at the United States State Deparmetn.
She led the effort to have Maryland be the first state to make Service-Learning a high school graduation requirement and Co-Founded Civic Works—an urban service corps in Baltimore.
After her term as Lt Governor, she focused on finance and became a Managing Director of Rock Creek, one of the largest women owned asset management firm in the US, with states, foundation, unions and corporate pension funds for clients.
That experience led her to see the need for retirement reform as half of all Americans had nothing saved for Retirement. She Chaired the Marland Task Force on Retirement which led to the creation of Maryland Saves (where she is now the vice chair), and Co-founded the Center for Retirement Initiatives at Georgetown to help states enact auto-IRA legislation. When the Center opened not a single state has passed that legislation. Now 18 states have enacted retirement reform. As the Secretary’s Representative on Pensions and Retirement at the Labor under President Biden, she led the retirement reform campaign for Secretary Marty Walsh.
In the mid-1980s, she founded the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award which honored Lech Walesa, Bishop Tuto and Co-Madres from El Salvador among many others.
She Chaired the Institute of Human Virology founded by Dr. Robert Gallo, which treats over one million patients in Africa as part of the PEPFAR program, Chaired the Global Virus Network, Chaired the Robert Kennedy Memorial, Chaired the Innovation in Government Awards, at the Kennedy School, Harvard University and served on the Board of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation.
She was the Vice-Chair of the Future of Science conference held in Venice Italy for over a decade which was part of the effort to make stem cell acceptable in Italy.
Ms. Townsend’s book, Failing America’s Faithful: How Today’s Churches Mixed God with Politics and Lost Their Way has been published by Warner Books in March 2007.
Ms. Townsend is also a member of the Council of Foreign Relations and the Inter-American Dialogue.
She Co-Chaired the Board of the School of Civic and Economic Thought and Leadership at Arizona State University. She has served on a number of boards including the Export-Import Bank, Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), the Wilderness Society, YMCA, the Points of Light Foundation, the National Catholic Reporter and the Women’s Policy Research, the Baltimore Urban League, Sheppard Pratt Health System Pension Rights Center, Center for American Progress, Why We Vac. She Chaired the Center for Popular Democracy.
Full profile →International Affairs · Senior Project Management · Internationalisation
Creative and dynamic professional with over 25 years of experience in institutional and international affairs, strategic leadership, marketing and communications. She has developed strong organisational, relational and management skills, working across multicultural institutional environments with a results-oriented approach, strategic vision and strong problem-solving abilities.
Founder and Director of Invexiart Ltd, she has led more than 120 projects and cultural formats in Italy and abroad, managing all phases from concept to completion. Her work includes institutional projects involving governmental bodies, non-governmental organisations and strategic economic stakeholders.
Her professional activity includes high-level relations with ministries, embassies and supranational institutions, including the European Union, the United Nations and the OSCE. She has developed collaborations across Europe, the United States, the Middle East, Asia and West Africa.
She has directed cultural formats and sustainability projects, working as a recognised contemporary art curator in Italy and Europe, with collaborations connected to major cultural contexts including the Venice Biennale, Manifesta, Cyprus Art Week and Art UAE.
Author of publications, catalogues, interviews and editorial collaborations in Italian, English and French, she has also served as lecturer in Marketing Management and Culture.
Full profile →Human Rights · Investigative Journalism · Anti-Trafficking
Educated at the School of the Sacred Heart and at Columbia University — where she majored in Political Science with a minor in Latin American history — and holder of a Certificate of Studies from the Harvard Business School “Program on Negotiations”, Conchita Sarnoff Woolsey has devoted the past two decades to the defence of human dignity and to the fight against the exploitation of the most vulnerable persons.
She began her career in media as a government-affairs account executive at CNN's first foreign bureau in London, later developing multimedia communications programmes for Fortune 500 companies and serving as crisis-communications adviser in high-level political and corporate contexts. Between 2007 and 2009 she created and produced The Americas Forum (subsequently The Region), a half-hour current-affairs debate programme featuring heads of state, policy experts and CEOs on Western Hemisphere foreign-policy issues, and produced a segment for PBS's Spanish-language Oppenheimer Report.
Since 2006 she has worked extensively on public-policy issues concerning human trafficking. In 2010 she published in The Daily Beast the investigative series that first opened to the world the details of the Jeffrey Epstein case — reporting she continued for almost a decade in the face of repeated threats. Her book TrafficKing: The Jeffrey Epstein Case (Post Hill Press / Simon & Schuster) has become a reference work on the intersection between trafficking, impunity and the abuse of power. In 2010 she was nominated for The Deadline Club Award for best investigative reporting.
She is founder and Executive Director of the Alliance to Rescue Victims of Trafficking (ATRVT), a Washington, D.C. non-profit organisation dedicated to raising awareness of human trafficking and to ending the sexual exploitation of children. In 2019 she co-founded, with Professor Katharine Donato of Georgetown University, the Human Trafficking Research Center and Clinical Program, and she has served as a graduate faculty member at American University, Washington D.C., teaching Human Trafficking in Global Society.
A regular contributor and commentator, she has written for The Financial Times, The Miami Herald, The Washington Post, The Washington Times, The Huffington Post, The Daily Beast, The Latin America Herald Tribune and others, and has appeared on ABC, CBS, NBC, MSNBC, Fox, PBS, BBC, Univision, Telemundo and Caracol. She is married to Ambassador R. James Woolsey, former Director of Central Intelligence of the United States, and lives in Washington, D.C.
Within AEGIS, Conchita Sarnoff Woolsey contributes to the Steering Committee her unparalleled experience in the defence of vulnerable persons, her transatlantic network of policy-makers, journalists and academic institutions, and a moral clarity earned in some of the most difficult investigations of our time — a decisive voice as the Foundation works to place ethics, regulation and human dignity at the very centre of the coming age of Artificial Intelligence.
Full profile →Luxury Real Estate · International Relations · Philanthropic Networks
Born in Rome and raised in Miami, educated at the Marymount School in Rome, at Carrollton School of the Sacred Heart in Coconut Grove and at Manhattan College in New York, Charlotte Maietto is an accomplished luxury real-estate executive with over a decade of experience leading sales and marketing for some of South Florida's most iconic residential developments. Fluent in English, Italian, Spanish, French, Swedish and Portuguese, she brings a genuinely international perspective to every transaction and every relationship.
Throughout her career, she has represented globally recognised brands including Four Seasons and the Terra Group, generating more than $1.5 billion in luxury real-estate sales. Her practice is distinguished by an international clientele, a relationship-driven approach and a strategic command of marketing for branded and waterfront residences.
She currently serves as Sales Agent for THE WELL Coconut Grove (Terra Group), one of Miami's premier wellness-focused luxury residential developments, advising domestic and international buyers and driving sales through strategic client relationships and broker partnerships.
From 2021 to 2026 she was Sales Director for Five Park Miami Beach (Terra Group), leading all sales initiatives for one of the city's most anticipated luxury condominium developments — directing sales strategy and broker engagement, managing relationships with ultra-high-net-worth domestic and international purchasers, and collaborating closely with ownership, marketing teams, architects and development leadership to position Five Park as a benchmark development in Miami Beach.
From 2014 to 2021, as Marketing & Sales Director at Fort Partners, she directed marketing and sales for the Four Seasons Hotel & Residences at The Surf Club and the Four Seasons Private Residences Fort Lauderdale — two of South Florida's most prestigious branded developments — overseeing luxury sales, international marketing, broker relations, branding initiatives, VIP client events and strategic campaigns.
Her professional recognition includes the 2025 New Development Award from Douglas Elliman Florida, ranking among the Top 3% of Agents Nationwide in 2026, No. 13 nationwide by sales volume and No. 158 in the RealTrends + Tom Ferry “The Thousand”.
Within AEGIS, Charlotte Maietto contributes to the Steering Committee her international relational capital, her multilingual reach across six languages, and a strategic understanding of the global philanthropic and cultural communities of South Florida and beyond — a decisive asset in building the transatlantic network of patrons, institutions and partners on which the Foundation's mission of ethical AI governance and dignity for older persons depends.
Full profile →Steering Committee · International Law · Bioethics
Born in Philadelphia (USA) on 16 February 1942, James M. Crowley is an international lawyer admitted to the New York Bar (1973), to the Southern District of New York, to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and to the Supreme Court of the United States (1976). He has been active in the international legal profession since 1972.
He was formed at Saint Charles Seminary in Philadelphia and, chosen by his Archdiocese, at the Pontifical Roman Major Seminary. He earned degrees in Philosophy (Ph.B., 1965) and Theology (S.T.B. 1967, S.T.L. 1969) as well as in Canon Law (J.C.B. 1970, J.C.L. 1973, magna cum laude) at the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome; a Certificate in English and American Laws at University College, University of London (1971); and a Juris Doctor at the University of Notre Dame (1972).
From 1972 to 1978 he practised at Shearman & Sterling in New York City. From 1980 to 1997 he served CIGNA Corporation — one of the world's leading insurance groups — as Senior Counsel, then Senior Vice President and Chief Counsel, and finally Senior Vice President for Government and Industry Affairs.
Since 1990 he is Attorney and Counsellor to the Pontifical North American College in Rome. From October 2014 to January 2017 he served as Counsellor to the President of the Pontifical Council for the Family, and since January 2017 as Counsellor to the President of the Pontifical Academy for Life.
He was lead counsel in In re Karen Ann Quinlan — a landmark decision in American law on the refusal of extraordinary means to prolong life and on the primacy of the family in decisions concerning persons unable to express their own will. It was the first time a U.S. civil court articulated its reasoning in dialogue with Catholic moral theology, and it remains a cornerstone reference in the ethics of end-of-life care.
From 1993 to 1996 he was official industry advisor to the U.S. Delegation at the Insurance Committee of the OECD in Paris, contributing to the liberalisation of the insurance systems of Japan and Korea, and he addressed the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council on a framework for insurance protection of integral human development inspired by Centesimus Annus.
A Knight of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta and Knight Commander of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, he has served as Director of the National Catholic Community Foundation (2014–2024) and of the National Catholic Bioethics Center (2006–2019), and as President of the Saint Thomas More Society of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. He is listed in Who's Who in American Law and Who's Who in the World, and profiled in Lions of the Eighties (Doubleday, 1982).
Within AEGIS he brings to the Steering Committee over five decades of experience at the intersection of law, bioethics and international institutions — a decisive contribution to the Foundation's mission of shaping an ethical governance of artificial intelligence rooted in the dignity of the human person.
Full profile →In-House Counsel · Institutional Relations · International Negotiation
International in-house counsel holding a Master's Degree in Law (University of Modena), whose career has been built largely on the ability to establish and cultivate high-level relationships. The common thread running through his professional experience is the role of Head of Institutional Relations, Legal, Contractual and Commercial Affairs, held in complex and highly international sectors: nuclear, environmental chemistry, renewable energy, fiduciary services, finance, healthcare, art and mechanical engineering.
Institutional and governmental relations. Management of direct relationships with governments and institutions in the field of nuclear decommissioning, including the coordination of the Chernobyl/Ukraine project; activity under the supervision of FINMA as Anti-Money Laundering Officer in the Swiss fiduciary sector — environments where personal credibility and trust management are essential requirements.
Negotiation with major international players. Negotiations and contract drafting with multinationals such as ORANO, AMEC Foster Wheeler, ROSATOM and ROTEM; structuring of financial transactions with institutions such as Deutsche Bank London, up to the role of personal representative of a member of the Saudi royal family for the acquisition of Rupali Bank (Bangladesh).
Ability to operate across cultures and sectors. Collaborations and projects across Europe (Switzerland, UK, Ireland, Cyprus), the Middle East (UAE, Oman), Latin America (Mexico, Peru, Brazil), North Africa and Pakistan. A versatility that demonstrates exceptional relational adaptability and the ability to earn the trust of highly diverse counterparts.
Confidentiality and client management. International fiduciary experience (KYC, due diligence, trust administration) and mandates for the sale of important works of art testify to a client relationship founded on discretion, dedication and tailor-made services.
The distinctive value of this profile lies not only in legal and contractual expertise, but in the ability to act as the linchpin between companies, institutions, banks and international partners, building lasting relationships in environments where confidentiality, diplomacy and reliability are essential requirements.
Full profile →AI · Discrimination · Human Rights
Roberto Bortone is a senior public official, researcher and lecturer whose work focuses primarily on the relationship between artificial intelligence and discrimination, as well as on hate speech, antisemitism, antigypsyism, Roma and Sinti inclusion, digital platforms and equality policies.
He currently works within the Secretariat of the Italian National Coordinator for the Fight against Antisemitism, following extensive professional experience at UNAR — the Italian National Office against Racial Discrimination — where he contributed to the development of national and European policies on equality, online discrimination, hate speech, minority protection and data collection. He has also worked with the Council of Europe and other international institutions on anti-discrimination and hate-speech policies.
He is a member of the Centro di Ricerca sulle Relazioni Interculturali — Research Centre for Intercultural Relations — at Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore. The Centre promotes research and training on intercultural relations, social inclusion, citizenship, civil society and action against discrimination.
His research examines how artificial intelligence, algorithms and digital environments can reproduce, amplify and transform prejudice, but also how technological tools can be used to detect and counter discriminatory phenomena. This perspective is central to his two most recent books. In Molto Social Troppo Dark, he analyses the darker dynamics of social media, online hate, algorithmic amplification and the growing influence of artificial intelligence on public discourse. His latest book, L'ultimo pregiudizio. L'antiziganismo tra storia e attualità, explores the historical and contemporary forms of antigypsyism, including their circulation and reinforcement through digital platforms and AI-driven systems.
For the 2026–2027 academic year, he holds teaching appointments for Social Work Laboratories at Roma Tre University and LUMSA University. At Roma Tre, he has also taught Sociology of Ethnic Relations. His academic and professional activities combine policy analysis, research, teaching and public engagement, with particular attention to the connections between technology, prejudice, democratic institutions and social inclusion.
Within AEGIS, Roberto Bortone contributes to the Steering Committee his unique perspective on the frontier where equality law, human-rights policy and the governance of artificial intelligence converge — a decisive asset in ensuring that the Foundation's work on the ethical governance of AI remains firmly anchored to the protection of the most exposed minorities and to the concrete experience of those who, in Europe and beyond, face the daily reality of digital discrimination.
Full profile →Hidden until final member information is available.
AEGIS exists to keep the human person at the center of the age of algorithms. Our work — research, publications, public conferences, legal advocacy and concrete action alongside older people and the young — is sustained entirely by those who share that conviction.
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Research, publications and international convenings that translate ethical principles into rules, criteria and indicators for the algorithms that increasingly influence human lives.
The Charter of the Rights of Older Persons and the Duties of Society, and concrete action with older people who are alone, frail or forgotten, together with young people willing to stand beside them.
Work on integral ecology and social justice, in the conviction that the wounded man and the wounded earth cannot be healed separately.
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