2026 AIN Global Conference - Rimini, Italy
Meet the Conference Team!

Every year, the AIN Global Conference is host and planned by local Applied Improvisation members in their part of the world. We are pleased to introduce to you the individuals who are making this 2026 AIN Global Conference a reality.

A huge thank you to this team for their endless hours of work, planning, and dedication. When you meet the team this October, be sure to give them extra hugs! And a big thank you to all of our conference volunteers, presenters, and attendees who also make this awesome event possible.

Italy Conference Team Members: Giorgia Carloni, Filippo Gallina, Elena Lah, Mike Manchester, Andrea Montuschi, and Marco Villa.

Click on a teammate's name to get to know them better or scroll down to meet the whole group

Giorgia Carloni

Head of Cross-Pollinated Thinking 

As Head of Cross-Pollinated Thinking, Giorgia inhabits the curious intersection where systemic coaching, innovation, and ancient wisdom traditions quietly conspire to make sense of modern complexity. With a background in global operations and human resources, she now designs explorative experiences that blend leadership development with the art of expanding perspectives. Here, seriousness gently softens and transformation sneaks in—often disguised as play.

A devoted practitioner of inquiry, she can be found in fertile in-between spaces… where inner work informs decision-making, structure dances with emergence, and change becomes a deliberate act of integration. Today she brings this practice into service as part of the organizing team of the AIN Conference 2026. Giorgia is also a former stage improviser and, ever since, she treats disciplined improvisation as both craft and compass.

Filippo Gallina 

Project Alchemist & Human Sculptor

As a Project Alchemist & Human Sculptor, Filippo transmutes 25 years of agency expertise into creative alchemy. A specialist in Design Thinking and a "linguistic centrifuge," he connects disparate worlds by blending technical rigor with humanistic depth.

Whether mentoring IED storytellers, leading scouts, or shaping wood in his Maestro’s studio, Filippo empowers others to co-create. An Applied Improvisation devotee, he treats every boardroom as a stage for the "Yes, and..." philosophy. He is a concrete example of improvisation in action, proving that the best solutions are sculpted through inspired collaboration, not just planned.

Elena Lah

Senior Spontaneity Architect & Visual Chaos Designer


Elena Lah is an Italian theatre improviser, performer, and teacher who explores the power of presence, listening, and human connection on stage. She was the Western Europe representative for ITI (International Theatresports Institute) from 2015 to 2023 and is co-founder of Improvincia, a project dedicated to spreading improvisational theatre culture. With a background in visual design and cultural projects, she brings an interdisciplinary approach that blends storytelling, body awareness, and emotional authenticity. She has performed at festivals across Europe and collaborates internationally. As a teacher, she creates transformative learning spaces, using improvisation to foster communication, creativity, and personal growth, celebrating spontaneity and the unexpected.

Mike Manchester

Researcher and Developer of Functional Nonsense 

Mike is a human from Denver, Colorado who has been living in Italy for more than 20 years. He is a co-founder of an independent Italian language school for international University students in Siena, Italy. He spent 15 years coordinating and creating projects that fostered integration and collaboration between local communities in Italy and foreign university students. Now, based in Bologna, Mike has been developing a language instruction tool based on improv in collaboration with Impro Jungle. He created and runs Impro Conversation which offers innovative lessons that fuse English language instruction with improv and has the wider goal of becoming a resource for the more widespread use of improv as a tool for language instruction in schools.

Mike is a relatively new member of the AIN community. When he’s not teaching Italians how to be ridiculous in English you can probably find him somewhere where there are mountains.

Andrea Montuschi

Innovation Shaman at Large 

As an Innovation Shaman at Large, Andrea occupies the peculiar space where thirty years of corporate HR wisdom meets the delightful chaos of a red nose. Having survived three decades in the consulting trenches, he has concluded that most organisational problems can be solved—or at least made significantly more interesting—through the ancient art of making things up on the spot.

​A stage improviser since 2008 and a former hospital clown, he specialises in turning dreaded engagement surveys into moments of genuine discovery. When he isn’t busy conjuring the future of work for the AIN Italy 2026 conference in Rimini, he can be found reminding leaders that 'serious work' and 'serious play' are actually the same thing. He carries a red nose in his pocket at all times, just in case a boardroom meeting threatens to become too sensible.

Marco Villa

Chief Momentum Officer

As Chief Momentum Officer, Marco lingers at the lively intersection where leadership development, organisational strategy, and applied improvisation conspire to keep good ideas from becoming merely well-dressed intentions.

After many years spent helping leaders, teams, and luxury brands navigate complexity, he has developed a professional fascination with what happens when structure loosens just enough for people to think better, listen harder, and move together with slightly more courage than usual.

A consultant, facilitator, and incurable collector of fresh perspectives, he designs experiences where reflection becomes practical, play becomes useful, and innovation remembers it is, after all, a human activity. As part of the organizing team for the AIN Conference 2026 in Rimini, he is especially drawn to the spaces where seriousness gains a pulse, uncertainty becomes material, and momentum begins to look suspiciously like trust in motion.

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(Last Updated: Monday, May 18th, 2026)