Donato Macario is an innovation expert with over a decade of multidisciplinary experience spanning service design, trendwatching, design thinking, wellbeing, and coaching. His work bridges sectors and geographies, with contributions to intergovernmental organizations, incubators, and innovation hubs across Europe, the Mediterranean, Africa, the Balkans, and the Middle East.
At CIHEAM—a Mediterranean intergovernmental organization—Donato leads innovation programs that support startups and open innovation initiatives in agriculture and food. Within European projects, he designs and facilitates Living Labs and workshops on youth entrepreneurship and social innovation, fostering collaboration across the Mediterranean region.
His portfolio includes managing open innovation programs involving students and companies from diverse regions, as well as delivering master’s programs, international short courses, and corporate training for innovation managers. His approach blends Design Thinking, Service Design, Lean Startup, and Experience Design to center human needs in every solution, championing what he calls a “Mediterranean Way” of incubation—one rooted in relationships and context rather than purely Silicon Valley metrics.
Donato recently served as an Innovation Specialist with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), where he helped establish the Acceleration Zone at FAO headquarters in Rome—a cornerstone of the FAO Global Innovation Model. There, he facilitated collaboration among internal teams and external partners using agile innovation methodologies.
His entrepreneurial journey as a startup founder shaped his belief that execution—driven by adaptable, change-ready people—is far more valuable than the idea itself. He is a passionate student of startup ecosystems and emerging technologies, with deep knowledge of innovation networks both in Italy and abroad.
Central to Donato’s philosophy is the conviction that true innovation is people-driven. In a world reshaped by digital transformation and global disruption, he advocates for organizational models that prioritize employee experience, intergenerational dialogue, and human potential as key drivers of sustainable innovation and talent retention.