Il nostro Team
Il successo di QRP International è dovuto in gran parte all’impegno, alla passione e alla competenza del suo staff. In un settore in cui le persone fanno la differenza, QRP ha la fortuna di avere un team di persone energiche e sempre attente alle esigenze dei clienti.
Jacobus Groot
Managing Director
Jacobus was born in the Netherlands in 1969. He studied Tourism in Breda and International Management at the University of Maastricht. After his graduation he started a career in Project Management in various telecommunications companies. Being passionate about international management he worked in Austria, Switzerland, Sweden, Germany , Cyprus, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Through his various experiences he wanted to improve project management, facilitating change.
In 2003 he started his long time dream to have his own company and founded QRP International which quickly grew to a Pan – European leader in Project Management training and consultancy.
Jacobus loves travelling, speaks Dutch, English ,German, Italian and some French. Wine and good food are his passion which he enjoys in his home town Como in Italy. In his free time he bikes around lake Como and plays Football. Jacobus is married and has 3 children.
Michelangelo Carbone
Chief Operating Officer
Freshly graduated into business administration at European School of Economics in Bari, Michelangelo joined QRP in July 2004 as an intern in charge of doing market research for the Italian market, the company was then made of 2 persons: Jacobus and He. QRP activities increased quickly at an international level and he soon became in charge of finance and operation, ensuring that business operations are efficient and effective, planning, scheduling and controlling all QRP services provided worldwide.
As QRP’s senior team members, Michelangelo is a reference and a guide for the whole team, always ready to answer to our (numerous!) questions, with patience and great understanding. Michelangelo is also an expert problem solver. We haven’t met a problem he can’t untangle. A man of few words, when he does speak up, we all listen. But don’t let him fool you. Just under the surface, Michelangelo harbors a wicked sense of humor.
Outside the office, as a father of three sons, Michelangelo keeps pretty busy with his family life and his passion for reading.
Donatello Partipilo
Business Development Manager Italy
After graduating from the Thames Valley University in London with a Bachelor of Marketing, Donatello went to work for an italian sports wear company. Donatello officially joined the QRP team in March 2006, as Sales and marketing assistant, where he carved out a niche with his passion for SEO, paid search and data-driven marketing.
In his current role as Business Development Manager for Italy, Donatello gets the most enjoyment from cultivating long-term relationships with QRP Italian clients; he acts more as a consultant than sales man, supporting clients and partners in achieving their goals and solving their problems. His contribution to the company is mainly reflected to his ability to get results and to get things done.
When not taking care of customers, Donatello finds pleasure in doing sport, reading and traveling.
Federico Testa
Marketing Executive Italy
Federico obtained his bachelor’s degree in Management from the University of Pavia and then in 2017 his master’s degree in Economics and Finance.
After working for an IT company in the field of Finance for two years, he specialized in the field of marketing with a postgraduate course.
He worked in the marketing department of a large private university in Milan, then for a consulting firm in Pavia.
He joined QRP in 2022 where he works as a Marketing Executive for Italy.
Federico loves to combine his analytical part with the more creative part of him in his work.
In his spare time he enjoys playing the piano and keyboards with his italian cover band, reading and playing tennis. He also loves to explore and discover new places with his motorcycle.
Andrea Smedile
Back Office Commerciale
Born and raised in Como, Andrea started working in the tourism industry in high school, organizing social and sporting events. He graduated in Tourism Sciences from the University of Milano-Bicocca. After graduation, he traveled to Bournemouth to improve his English. He worked for a hotel at first, and then for five years for a company called Conduent, which provides IT support. In 2020, he moved to Amsterdam and worked as a seller for Tours and Ticket, a company that organizes tourist experiences. He also worked in the back office, selling tourist experiences, managing bookings and providing customer support. In 2023, he decided to return to Italy and his passion for IT and for sales brought him to work at QRP International.
Andrea is passionate about sports, especially football, tennis, padel, and volleyball and skiing. He also studied piano for many years and enjoys spending time with friends for a craft beer or a typical dinner.
Martina Caspani
Back Office Commerciale
Martina was born and raised in Como. She graduated in Languages and Culture from the University of Insubria in Como and then she started a master in Modern Languages.
Martina can speak English and Spanish and knows Russian and a little bit of French. After graduation she started working for a company in the furniture sector where she managed the foreign commercial back office. From that experience she learned that her strength was the ability to do her best to ensure customer satisfaction and earn clients trust with her kindness and hard work.
She joined QRP in March 2024 as Sales Assistant for the Italian market. In her spare time she loves reading, listening to podcasts and spending time with her loved ones
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Francesca Cecconi
Sales Executive Italy
Francesca graduated in Political Science with a specialization in Sociology from University of Milan – Università degli Studi di Milano She continued her studies by conducting two Masters in Human Resources: One at the Lugano Business School and one at the Alta training school in Milan. Her professional career began in the insurance sector in 2015, where She held the role of Consultant and Junior HR support later. In this dynamic environment, She discovered her aptitude for the role of Account, specializing more and more in the Training and Human Resources Sector. As Sales Manager for Italy, She began working in 2016 for a body accredited by the Lombardy Region and specialized in interprofessional training services and Active Labor Policies (HR) services. She has been continuing to grow professionally by becoming Account Specialist in Adecco in 2017. Strongly motivated and always on the lookout for new worlds to explore, she has combined ambition with generosity and patience, aspects that have strengthened her in her role as a consultant, continuing her activity in supporting customers by helping them in their choices and in achieving their goals. These attitudes allowed her to achieve the role of Sales Executive for the Italian market in QRP in 2019. Her contribution to the company is her strong motivation to achieve the goals.
Francesca also loves playing volleyball and has a strong passion for cooking, anthropology and sociology, but finds particular satisfaction in making people happy.
Alessandra Morciano
Marketing Manager
Alessandra graduated from Sapienza University of Rome with a Master’s degree in Business Economics and got a job fresh out of school as an intern in Etnocom, an advertising agency specialised in ethnic strategies. After the internship, she found an opportunity for an European Voluntary Service in Croatia where she was in charge of promoting projects and visibility of the organization through social networks, writing articles for the blog and facilitating events.
If you combined those skills with her willingness, curiosity, creativity and positive attitude, Alessandra was for sure the best candidate for the role of Marketing Executive for the QRP Italian market in 2016.
From January 2023 Alessandra is Marketing Manager, overseeing the department’s operations and providing guidance and feedback to other marketing executives.
In her free time, Alessandra loves reading and practicing & teaching yoga.
Chiara Orsenigo
Service Manager
Chiara graduated from the University of Study Milan-Bicocca with a Bachelor’s degree in Science of Tourism and Local Community in November 2013.
After that, Chiara was in charge as customer and partner care in an Online Travel Agency in Milan until November 2015, when she decided to leave Italy and stayed for nearly one year in England at the beginning for an English Course and after like a volunteer in a Youth Hostel.
After this experience, she started to work like a receptionist in a 5 stars’ hotel by the Lake Como until the beginning of November 2016.
All these experiences enriched her cultural and professional knowledge, making her the perfect candidate for the Office Assistant role in 2017.
From January 2023 Chiara is Service Manager, making sure that services are being seamlessly delivered to our clients.
As you can figure out from her studies, tourism, travel and geography are her favourite passions. She has a lot of hobbies as well, besides music and cooking, she has been playing Volleyball since she was a child.
Justyna Ptasznik
Accreditation and Compliance Specialist
After obtaining her Master in Pedagogy at The Maria Grzegorzewska University in Warsaw, she worked in international elementary schools in Warsaw, London and Frankfurt. She joined our team in February 2013 as country manager for the Polish market and was in charge of all the sales and marketing activities for Poland. Unfortunately in 2016 QRP has to take the difficult decision of leaving the Polish market to focus on its main countries, however we could not leave Justyna as she was a great asset for QRP! Justyna learned about the office and administration manager position at QRP.
It was clear that she had the right competences for the position: she is naturally thorough, hard worker, steady and reliable, and she’s been mastering our office ever since, monitoring and delivering training material and examination worldwide.
From 2023 her main focus is on maintaining the excellent standard as well as ensuring that the company follows its defined internal policies and procedure, and as well is responsible for ensuring external compliance related to all accreditations of QRP.
In her spare time, Justyna is most likely hanging with her family or cycling.
Renato Passalacqua
Finance Manager
Born in Naples and raised in Rome, Renato graduated from University of Rome La Sapienza with a bachelor degree in International Economics and a Master’s degree in International Management and Business. Having acquired relevant experience in the international finance and cash flow management, Renato found his way in Como at QRP International as Finance Assistant, in June 2018.
From January 2021 he runs the Finance department and his growing team as Finance Manager for the whole QRP group.
Thanks to his international and finance experience, combined with his quick thinking and analytic skills, Renato is a good guide through the complex world of international invoicing, cash flow management and financial forecasting.
Renato has a huge passion for videogames, books, tabletop games and cooking (especially chinese and japanese). In his spare time he tries to fulfill all of these passions, along with managing his extremely energetic dog Tuuli.
Laurent Louboutin
E-Learning Developer
Laurent was born in Brittany, France and graduated in History and Politics at Rennes II University. He moved to the United Kingdom where he started his career as IT support on IBM service desk. Thanks to a keen interest for project management, he moved to Royal Dutch Shell IT project management team where he certified as an ITIL expert and Prince2 practitioner. He taught these two topics for four years at QRP and later gained experience in Cloud technologies and eLearning development at Oracle. Laurent returned to QRP in 2021 to develop our digital offering.
Outside of work he enjoys reading, running, spending time with family and Qi Gong meditation.