Valentina Primo

Valentina Primo is an award-winning entrepreneur, journalist, and thought leader on social impact and innovation. She is the Founder and CEO of Startups Without Borders, an international organization supporting refugee, migrant, and local entrepreneurs across the Middle East, Africa, and Europe.Under her leadership, Startups Without Borders has built a robust ecosystem of entrepreneurs, mentors, investors and institutions. By partnering with 500+ organizations, from the private and public sectors including Meta, Google, UNDP and UNHCR, it has supported 20,000 entrepreneurs in 15 countries.She leads the Startups Without Borders Summit, recognized among the Top 60 startup events worldwide, and hosts the Startups Without Borders Podcast, a part of its media platforms reaching a 3.7 million audience.She is a 2025–2026 Obama Scholar and recipient of the Women in Excellence Award. A leading voice in redefining the narrative around refugees and migrants, she participates in policy dialogues across Italy, Egypt, Jordan, and the Mediterranean, serves on the board of Roma Startup, has advised SXSW Pitch, and frequently delivers keynotes in 15+ countries.Her years living and working as a journalist in the Middle East profoundly shaped her belief that talent has no passport. What began as a journey driven by curiosity became an immersion into one of the world’s most misunderstood regions, where she witnessed refugee and migrant entrepreneurs building extraordinary ventures in the face of unimaginable odds. That experience now lives at the heart of her upcoming book.