Massimiliano Colonna is the Director of Communications at Internews. He leads the design, implementation, and continued evolution of the organization’s external communications strategy, including digital communications, press relations, brand integrity, crisis communications, and creative content production.  

Before joining Internews, Massimiliano served in various Communications roles, most recently as Director of Communications at Search for Common Ground, the world’s largest peacebuilding organization. He led Search’s global outreach, editorial strategy, and international campaigns, including for the Nobel Peace Prize nomination. In this role, he directed video and story productions in Sierra Leone, Burundi, Myanmar, Senegal, Rwanda, and Nepal. He trained local media producers and led communications initiatives in more than 40 countries. 

Originally from Viterbo, Italy, Massimiliano has been living and working in Washington, DC for the last decade. Massimiliano holds a Bachelor’s Degree in East Asian Studies from Università La Sapienza in Rome, Italy, and a Master of Philosophy in Japanese Studies from the University of Oxford, UK. He speaks Italian, English, and Japanese.