Lavinia Bracci
Director, Co-Founder, Professor
Born in Siena, Italy Lavinia Bracci is founder and director of Siena Italian Studies – Intercultural Study Abroad, which hosts educational exchange programs for undergraduate students as well as the Italian portion of the Graduate Program of International Development and Service organized by the International Partnership for Service-Learning.
Born in Siena, Lavinia is the Founder and President of Siena Italian Studies. She is an educator, innovator, and cultural bridge-builder, with over two decades of experience designing transformative learning experiences where language, service, and reflection intersect. She developed the Full-Immersion: Culture, Content and Service approach and the RICA Model, tools that turn experience into awareness and awareness into intercultural competence. A polyglot and global citizen, she is committed to fostering understanding of diversity and promoting peaceful coexistence in multicultural societies. She has contributed to European and international projects, bringing reflective, intercultural, and digital pedagogies into classrooms across Europe. She also founded the Nuova Associazione Ulisse, supporting initiatives such as Home4theWorld and Progetto MILAGRO, programs that foster intercultural dialogue, civic engagement, and community storytelling. Through these projects, she has built deep relationships with Siena’s Pakistani and Afghan communities, becoming not only an educator but also an ally and advocate for inclusion. Her passions include pedagogical innovation, intercultural mediation, digital transformation, and virtual service-learning. Above all, she loves connecting worlds and turning dialogue into understanding.
