CONVICTION AND INTEGRITY

Franco Baresi has long been a leading figure within Fondazione Milan, serving as a Board member until recent years. Always available to support the Rossoneri foundation's initiatives, he consistently brought determination, conviction and integrity to every charitable and community project he represented around the world. He also became an Ambassador for "From Milan to the World", an initiative that delivered six projects across six cities: Milano, New York, Rio de Janeiro, Nairobi, Kolkata and Melbourne. But that was far from his only contribution. Sport for Change, Fondazione Milan's educational programme, tackles educational poverty, social exclusion and school dropout rates through sport, delivering projects in Milan, across Italy and internationally. In 2011, Baresi represented the programme in Nairobi, Kenya, on a particularly significant mission.

Baresi took part in the construction of a new home for 24 orphaned children, as part of an initiative that saw Fondazione Milan fund healthcare costs for all the orphans involved in the programme while also launching the first African football league for young people living in Nairobi's more deprived areas. Three years later, he travelled to Lebanon under the banner of Sports for Peace, a humanitarian initiative promoted by Fondazione Milan in partnership with the UNHCR to support young refugees. His international commitment continued in 2024, when children from the Success Academy Charter Schools programme met Franco Baresi and AC Milan's coaching staff during a training session at Sofive Meadowlands. On that occasion, he said: "Helping to develop football around the world is at the heart of AC Milan's philosophy. Today's event with Manchester City at Sofive Meadowlands has been a fantastic opportunity to reward and inspire the many young football enthusiasts across the New York area."

The Rossonero of the Century also stood alongside Fondazione Milan in its support of Associazione Kayrós, helping young people facing hardship in Milano through sport, educational pathways and the redevelopment of community spaces designed to encourage social inclusion. In July 2019, during AC Milan's International Champions Cup tour of the United States, Baresi visited Boston on behalf of Fondazione Milan to support TOPSoccer, a grassroots football programme providing opportunities for children with disabilities. As ever, he was also present when communities needed support most. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the emblematic Rossonero joined Daniele Massaro in visiting Hub 7, part of the City of Milan's Food Policy network, helping collect and distribute food to vulnerable people affected by the economic consequences of the pandemic.

A few years earlier, he had inaugurated the new nursery school in Pieve Torina, in the province of Macerata, built for 60 pupils after the devastating 2016 earthquake, as well as the Paride Tilesi Stadium in Amatrice. "Reviving places where communities can come together is fundamental," Baresi said at the time. "These are the places from which recovery begins. We all felt deeply moved by what happened in Central Italy, and the response from the sporting world was immediate because sport is another tool that brings us all together." Nor should we forget Fondazione Milan's partnership with the charity PlayMore!, developed in the heart of Milano to promote social and sporting inclusion for people with disabilities, migrants and young people in vulnerable situations. Baresi was always ready to lend his support on the pitch, just as he did for the inauguration of several community sports facilities, most recently at the Madonna dei Poveri parish centre in Milan in 2024.