The Italian government has appointed our Josè Rallo to the board of directors of the ICE – Italian Trade Agency; ICE is the Governmental agency that supports the business development of Italian companies abroad and promotes the attraction of foreign investment in Italy.
José Rallo said: “Italy must look to foreign trade with confidence and aim to play a leading role even in this complex and delicate phase of the pandemic and international trade relations. The country must work as a team to give new tools and opportunities for development to the internationalization of our productive network. Our Made in Italy is made up of knowledge and territories that give life to quality, unique and sustainable productions like those of agriculture and the agri-food chain from which I come. These are the strategic assets of our export and the image of Italy in the world – concluded José Rallo – whose extraordinary potential the ICE is called upon to promote.”
Born in 1964, José Rallo is Donnafugata’s CEO and co-owner of Donnafugata together with her mother Gabriella and her brother Antonio. She is the face and voice of the Donnafugata winery: José heads the marketing and public relations team and is in charge of management supervision and quality system oversight. She is naturally communicative and determined in taking ahead the projects to which the winery is responsibly committed: sustainable development (energy saving, clean energy, biodiversity, Carbon Footprint etc.) along with cultural projects for her own territory.
José studied Business and Economics at the S. Anna School of Higher Education and Specialization in Pisa and graduated with the highest degree “cum laude plus honorable mention”.
José furthermore contributed to the innovation of wine communication with the “Donnafugata Music & Wine Live”, proposing – as producer and solo voice – multisensorial experiences of wine and music that gave life to two CDs and memorable concerts at the Blue Note in Milan and New York, in Beijing, Shanghai and Moscow, also collecting funds to support microcredit projects.
Her sensitivity towards communication led her also to developing hospitality in the winery’s cellars, which today host over 10,000 visitors a year. In 2018 she organised the art exhibition “Inseguendo Donnafugata” (Chasing Donnafugata) in the rooms of Villa Necchi Campiglio, hosted by FAI (Italian National Trust) and dedicated to the illustrations by artist Stefano Vitale for the Donnafugata labels. Always keen on pairing the binomial art and wine, José is responsible for the various artistic performances presented on occasion of the annual nocturnal harvest by Donnafugata representing a great opportunity for the promotion of wine culture.
José Rallo was elected first woman member of the Board of Directors of the Banco di Sicilia by Unicredit and Chairman of the Territorial Committee of Sicily (2008-2010), where she has worked on issues of internationalization and innovation. Other recognitions: Mela d’Oro from the Bellisario Foundation in 2002, Cavaliere dell’Ordine al Merito of the Italian Republic in 2009, academic member of the Georgofili in 2017.