Women in Legal Business - Simona Musso

Simona Musso is Chief Legal, Corporate Affairs and Compliance Officer at Lavazza Group. Lavazza is a family-owned company with global reach and a brand identity where values and product are genuinely inseparable. Legal and compliance in that context carries a specific weight: it is not just about regulatory adherence but about protecting the integrity of something that took generations to build. Her role covers M&A as the group expands internationally, corporate governance as the family structure manages growth, and compliance across an operating environment that spans dozens of countries and jurisdictions.

Looking at your career path, what unique leadership trait has been most instrumental in allowing you to "move the needle" within your organization?

Throughout my career, resilience has been the key that has allowed me to accompany the evolution of the organisation with balance and continuity. I have always understood it as the ability to read change, understand its scope and adapt the role and identity of the legal function to a context that, over time, has become increasingly complex: local, national and international.

This resilience has operated on two complementary levels. On the one hand, it has required me to evolve my interpretation of the role; on the other, to guide the team through new skills, responsibilities and emerging needs. It is a continuous process, born from the awareness that change is not something to be endured, but interpreted and transformed into an opportunity for shared growth.

Reflecting on the past year, what is the most significant positive change you have observed regarding gender equality and female representation within the upper echelons of the Italian legal market?

Over the last year, the most significant change has been the shift from mere presence to real decision-making power. More and more women are taking on roles in which law is a strategic lever, contributing directly to governance processes and risk management.

This is an important sign, because it indicates the entry of female leadership into the spaces where the choices that guide organisations are made. At the same time, this progress coexists with dynamics that are not yet fully balanced: representation is growing, but the path to fully homogeneous recognition – as well as gender pay gap - remains challenging.

What I find truly encouraging is the overall direction of the movement. The presence of women is no longer a side issue, but is becoming a structural part of the legal market. This is an evolution that deserves to be consolidated, because it shows that when skills are recognised, even the most traditional contexts can open up to more inclusive and conscious leadership.

How do you personally advocate for the inclusion of more women in high-stakes decision-making?

In our Group, female representation in the legal department is well established, the result of a selection process that anyhow remains strictly meritocratic. What really matters is the absence of bias: this allows skills to emerge naturally, even in the most important decision-making contexts. Today at Lavazza, three women in senior roles participate in the Executive Sounding Board, an advisory body to the CEO made up of C-level executives reporting to him, and this is a real and concrete sign of this evolution.

My personal commitment translates into supporting and promoting the Group's D&I initiatives with conviction and, in the legal field, encouraging the participation of female colleagues in female leadership programmes. As a woman and a mother, I firmly believe in the importance of shared parenting, also as a concrete lever for female emancipation, and I have enthusiastically supported the company's adoption of four weeks' paternity leave for new fathers. I am also absolutely convinced of the centrality and value of networking, sharing and mentorship in accompanying the new generations in their professional development.

In a sector historically rooted in traditional structures, what is the single most important cultural shift still required to ensure that the Italian legal business becomes a truly meritocratic environment for the next generation of women?

I don't believe there is a single factor capable of bringing about such a profound cultural transformation. Real revolutions are gradual and take time to develop. However, I am confident about the younger generations: among my younger colleagues, I see concrete signs of an approach that is free from conditioning, different from that which characterised my generation.

For young professionals, this could translate into a less obstructed path, provided they continue to invest in their skills, stay up to date and anticipate technological changes, which will become an increasingly important competitive advantage. Meritocracy, even in the legal world, starts here: with the ability to combine preparation, vision and adaptation.

Success is rarely a solo journey. How has collaboration with other women (in-house or external) influenced your approach to business, and how are you paying that forward within your team?

One of the most formative influences on my approach to business has been collaborating with strong women—both in-house and across external networks—who helped me move from “individual performance” to “collective impact.” The Valore D InTheBoardroom mindset captures this perfectly: diversity belongs where decisions are made, and inclusion becomes real when it is built into how we lead, govern and sponsor talent.

I’m paying it forward in my team by making collaboration structured, not accidental. I run “sponsorship moments” in our talent reviews—explicitly naming high-potential women, assigning visible projects, and ensuring they’re introduced to decision-makers.

Ultimately, I try to normalize a simple principle: we don’t just support each other—we actively open doors for each other, and we build teams where inclusive leadership is part of everyday execution.

One "hard truth" or piece of advice for young women entering the legal profession today?

To young female professionals entering the legal world today, I would say, first and foremost, not to give up and to continue investing in themselves. Ours is an exciting but demanding profession, made even more complex today by the impact of artificial intelligence, and for this very reason it requires constant investment in skills and updating.

I am convinced that continuous training is not an option, but a prerequisite for moving forward with confidence in a rapidly evolving environment. We must not be intimidated but rather stimulated by the challenges that this change entails.

My advice is simple: embrace change and learn to ride the wave. That is how you build a solid, sustainable career path with a long-term perspective.