Aimed at families with children aged 0 to 6, “Scelte Future” promotes an incentivised savings, financial education and ongoing support scheme. The programme trials an asset-building model designed to reduce inequality and widen access to higher education for future generations.
Educational opportunities begin to take shape long before the choice of university. They are formed during the early years of life, when the family environment, available resources and the ability to plan for the future can either widen or narrow the range of choices. Addressing this stage means intervening in the conditions that make educational equity possible.
This vision has given rise to Scelte Future (Future Choices), a project presented in Turin by Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo, Intesa Sanpaolo and Fondazione Ufficio Pio.
Speakers at the event included Marco Gilli, Chair of Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo, Carlo Messina, Managing Director and CEO of Intesa Sanpaolo, Davide Porporato, Chair of Fondazione Ufficio Pio, Francesco Anfossi, Secretary General of Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo, Paolo Bonassi, Chief Social Impact Officer of Intesa Sanpaolo, and William Revello, Director of Fondazione Ufficio Pio. Together, they outlined an initiative designed to make the path to higher education more accessible, while strengthening educational opportunities and fostering independence among younger generations.
The project is grounded in the principle of progressive universalism, aiming to offer opportunities tailored to specific needs. Via a dedicated web app, families with children aged 0 to 6 will be able to access programmes covering financial education, guidance and parenting support.
Access to higher education remains one of Italy’s major challenges. Only 31.6% of young people aged 25 to 34 hold a higher education qualification, compared to a European average of 43%. This gap reflects the impact of initial socio-economic conditions, making it necessary to intervene well before university entry, starting as early as childhood.
To address this, Scelte Future builds an ecosystem of opportunities that brings together financial education, guidance and an incentivised savings mechanism into a single pathway designed to strengthen the educational capital of families.
By supporting families with children aged 0-6, the programme fosters the long-term build-up of funds dedicated to future education. It uses a 1:1 matching fund mechanism, for households with an ISEE (Equivalent Economic Situation Indicator) of €15,000 or less, matching every euro saved by the family and therefore boosting their capacity to build capital over time.
The goal isn’t simply to provide financial aid to families, but to create the conditions that allow more and more children to approach their future educational choices with greater opportunities and fewer constraints imposed by their initial economic circumstances.
Initially launched in Turin and its province as a pilot phase, the project is designed to develop a model that can be rolled out in other regions.
Scelte Future aims to create an environment where children’s educational prospects depend less on their family’s economic circumstances and more on their own aspirations and potential.
As part of Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo’s 2025-2028 Strategic Plan, Scelte Future is classified as a Development Project, an initiative through which the Turin-based philanthropic organisation pools expertise, resources and innovative capacity to tackle complex challenges and drive structural and lasting change. Positioned within “Speed 2” of the strategic framework, the project was conceived with the ambition of piloting a model capable of generating systemic impact and becoming a benchmark at national level.
For further details, please read the Press Release available below and in the dedicated section of the Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo website and visit the www.sceltefuture.it website.
