Meet the Board

Being born from Turkish parents and raised in Germany, cultural awareness inevitably shaped my happy childhood and professional ambition thwarted me to attain a Masters Degree in Brand Management in Milan. Despite being part of a variety of work environments, the personal satisfaction derived from serving our Club as President over the last two years has been unmatched.

I am hoping to be replaced soon by a wonderful fellow Benvenuto Woman and until that time, I will continue to represent the Club officially as President.

The brilliant Sir Isaac Newton once complained that we’re building too many walls and not enough bridges.

I can assure you that the Benvenuto Club of Milan is doing just that: building bridges over continents, physical and imaginary, to help you overcome real and relevant cultural gaps and accompany your walk so that everywhere you are, you find a piece of home.

Regardless of nationality, creed and ideology, by fostering friendship and cultural diversity, our circle of international women engage in impactful exchange!

My name is Daniela Falcone, I was born, grew up and studied in Milan. Shortly after my degree in Architecture at the Politecnico, I married and started a new life overseas with my husband. We have been abroad for 13 years and raised two girls (today 19 and 16 years old) living in four different countries: Angola, Australia, Russia and the United Arab Emirates.
Although I have always loved traveling, shortly after my first relocation I realized that living abroad is not as easy as traveling on holiday. Even the “easiest” countries can be hard to adapt to. These years have enriched me and created a unique family like many of yours. We relocated to Milan nearly five years ago but I missed the international community and that’s why I joined Benvenuto. I decided to be part of the board as Vice President to help and give my contribution as a “foreign Milanese” to a group of strong and vital women. I would like to help them adapt and comprehend Milan, a city which has changed so much in these past few years. My aim is to give you my contribution to keep the Club alive and friendly, and through it appreciate your and my new city.

Hi, I’m Camille Mason from San Francisco, California. I have lived in Milan for 2 years, with a break in between when we returned to the US.
I am now happy to be back in Milan indefinitely, finding my way as an expat, with the support of the amazing women of Benvenuto. I live in Porta Venezia with my husband and daughter, who attends ASM. The Benvenuto Club has been an invaluable anchor for me as a newcomer and I love meeting new people and hearing their diverse stories.
As a new member of the board, I look forward to being a more active part of this community of dynamic women who make living in Milan all the better.

My name is Ralitsa Uzunova and I come from Bulgaria. I’ve lived in Milan for more than 5 years, together with my family: my husband, also Bulgarian, three children and a Jack Russel dog. We lived in Moscow for three years before moving to Milan. I am a Public Relations specialist and have worked in a 5-star hotel in Sofia – a dynamic and interesting job, especially the part where I met celebrities. I had to quit working to follow my husband in his professional career but now I work remotely for the family dental clinic in Sofia and I’m searching for new opportunities here in Milan. I love books, running and outdoor training, hiking, wine and cheese.
After 5 years here and especially during the COVID period, I started to feel at home in Milan and I hope Benvenuto will help me in making new friends here and enjoying life more.

My name is Willemijn Zandt and I am from a small village in the far North of The Netherlands. I have an Italian partner from Rimini and we have 2 girls (7 and 11years old). I have lived in the USA, Belgium and London before we moved here in September 2019. Although I have found all of these moves difficult in their own way, the friendships that came from them are precious and made the moving around totally worthwhile. I am excited to join the board, because the club has made such a positive difference in my life but also so as to be part of something local here in Milan and to further make this city my home. I look forward to the rest of this Milanese adventure!

Hi, I’m Eva Stock. Originally I’m American, but I’ve lived in Brussels for a year followed by 30 years in London.
My husband is Italian and we have two adult sons who live in London and New York. We moved to Milan in January 2021 and initially I found life in Milan very difficult – it was just after Brexit and during a full lockdown. But then I found Benvenuto Club and everything changed for the better! Professionally I have done many different things, initially working in financial services, then in the relocation industry and most recently I retrained to be an English language teacher. Given the extremely warm welcome that I received from Benvenuto, I’m very excited to join the board as Membership Director and look forward to welcoming new members and forging stronger relationships with the wonderful women who continue to make this club what it is.

Milan-Toronto-Milan. These are the main legs of my “journey” so far, which made me who I am today. I am Elisabetta Pisa, an Italian with a Canadian twist, as I like to say.

I started my career as a print journalist in Italy, then shifted to video journalism/video making in Canada, where I moved in 2014, following my husband taking on a professional opportunity in Toronto. After almost 8 years on the other side of the ocean, in September 2021 we came back. Now I have realized that I see things differently, desiring to live my new Italian chapter without giving up on the international and diverse context I had become used to. That’s why I have decided to be part of the Club. At first, I joined the Benvenuto magazine team as an Assistant Editor but now I am serving as Editor.

This is my story so far. Stories are my thing: I really love to hear and tell people’s stories, in addition to being fascinated by kindness, bright minds, curiosity and originality.

My name is Rachele Rutili, I’m Italian with a short experience of living abroad. First, in Argentina when I was 17 years old and later in Hungary, just a couple of years ago. These two international experiences made me aware of the incredible richness of the world in terms of adopting different points of view, cultures, habits and backgrounds. Coming back to Italy, I decided to join the Benvenuto club, to continue to be part of the international community. I have a University degree in Economics and I used to work for a Publishing Company. Now, I’m running my newborn small company (that has a great future!). I have spent the main part of my life in Rome where I met Roberto, my husband, and where my two boys were born. Milan is quite a new city for me too which I would love to discover with you. It gives me pleasure to live in Milan as Benvenuto Special Activity Director; to organise art tours, museum visits, active mornings, entertaining evenings, one-day getaway and many other joyful activities. I’m looking forward to enjoying the Milanese life with you discovering its hidden treasures.

I am Malinee Carnegie. We are somewhat new to Milan. We moved here in early September 2021 from Texas. My Italian is still very basic and I am not sure I will become fluent before we have to leave in 2 years. I was born in Thailand but adopted as a baby. My family is from Brooklyn, NY. My husband and I have been married almost 20 years and we have three children: May 14, Sen Lin 14 and Eve 10. We adopted our son from China and he is four days younger than our oldest daughter. This is our 2nd expat experience. We lived in Japan for 4.5 years until 2020. I am grateful to be a part of such a lovely and supportive group of women in Milan. I was lucky enough to discover the power of women’s groups when I joined a moms club after my first baby. Since then I actively search for groups and I find happiness in being involved and meeting new people.