Company: Pixel
Company Manger: Elisabetta Delle Donne
Pixel was started in 1999 by Elisabetta Delle Donne. She and her team have over fifteen years of experience in the education, training and culture sector. Pixel developed mainly in the framework of transnational cooperation and their mission is to develop a creative new approach to education, training and culture.
Pixel has 12 people working as full time staff, also over 100 external experts and trainers cooperate with Pixel.
Q1:Can you describe what your company does?
A1: Pixel promotes internationalization and transnational Cooperation in the fields of Education, Training and Culture. Pixel has significant experience in the field of transnational collaboration. Pixel has been involved in around 70 projects financed by the European Commission and around 40 funded by European Social Fund. All of them focus on education, training and culture. This includes, for example, projects on language learning, science education, arts, tourism, innovation etc.
Pixel also organize international conferences in the field of education as well as international in-service training courses for teachers and trainers. Finally Pixel is currently promoting a Master on
At European level, Pixel has developed cooperative agreements and partnerships with over 400 institutions. Pixel’s European partners are: ministries, universities, schools, regions, provinces, municipalities, training institutions, research centres, cultural institutions, schools, hospitals etc. in 30 different European countries.
Q2: How did you get started?
A2:
I graduated in Political Sciences – International Affairs from the University of Florence and then I got a Master in Business Administration in 1993. I started working in the field of transnational cooperation funded by the European Commission a few months after my University graduation. From 1993 to 1995 I worked as a European project manager in an organisation created by the Tuscan universities for the promotion and management of European higher education projects. There I started writing my first European projects application and managing European projects in the field of education and training.
From 1996 to 2000 I worked for a consortium of training companies as coordinator of the European Project Planning and Management team.
At the beginning of 1999 I created Pixel and since then I have been its president.
Q3: What is your role in the company?
A3: My role in the company is president however, I feel as if I am more of a coordinator/ manager. My main aim is to promote new Ideas for development. For example one of the newest initiative is a masters course in European project planning and management. This course will be based in Florence Italy and have teachers from around the world, the classes are held in English.
Q4: Have you considered taking your business outside the European Union?
A4: I’m not one to make long-term plans due to the fact that in this field there is constant change. Recently, at our conferences on education we have noted that 40 percent of our attendants are outside the European Union. This is a positive for us and can possible allow for expansion outside the Union.
Q5: Who are your largest clients?
A5: We do not have one major client due to the fact that 50 percent of our income comes from public funding for the European commission; the second biggest sector is universities. Working in this business you must have a background in English, the clients we work with are not all Americans or from England, they are from all over the European Union and the only way to communicate is through one common language which is English.
Q6: How has the downward economy affected your company?
A6: The downward economy thankfully is something that has not affected us in a significant way. As I said before, 50 percent of our income comes from public funds by the European commission and this does not change much. On the other hand, for the conferences it has affected it a little, due to the small increase in the price of goods however nothing to major.
Q7: Why have you decided to accept interns to work for your company?
 |
| ISTITUTO EUROPEO Interns: Jenee Trimboli, and Allison Schoner. |
A A7: It is a good opportunity for us to get to work with people from a different background and to let them experience what we do, to give them the opportunity to learn from our experience. We are happy to be still in contact, even after years, with some of the interns who worked with us.
.
.
