Alessandro Gropelli

Alessandro Gropelli is Director General-designate of Connect Europe, as well as a Board member and Treasurer of GeSI, the Global Enabling Sustainability Initiative. At Connect Europe, Alessandro leads the Team, represents the Association and works hand-in-hand with Lise Fuhr on the transition from ETNO to Connect Europe. He previously served at ETNO, the former association representing leading telecom operators, in different positions: in the period 2018-2024 he was Deputy Director General, in 2016-2018 he was Director of Communications and back in 2013-2016 he was Head of Communications and Media. He is an expert of tech policy, the geopolitics of tech as well as sustainability in ICT.

Prior to joining us, Alessandro was European affairs advisor at Vodafone Group and vice-Chairman of the m-commerce Working Group of mobile operators’ association GSMA Europe. Prior to that he also worked in the Brussels team of Telecom Italia and as a public relations officer at the European Parliament.

Alessandro holds an Executive MBA from Copenhagen Business School (2021). He graduated in public management from Bocconi University in Milan (2009), but also spent short periods of study at the Hitotsubashi University of Tokyo (2008) as well as at the MIT (2018) and Berkeley Haas (2016).