Zürcher Nachrichten - Learnis: A New International Network for Transformative Education is Born.

MILAN, IT / ACCESS Newswire / September 8, 2026 / A new corporate structure brings together Genio Net, the Italian business network directed by Massimo De Donno; Crecimiento Personal SL, the company headed by Giacomo Navone as the franchisor of the Spanish network; and Genius in 21 Days LLC, founded in the United States by Stephanie Turconi and Cosimo Intermite. Across the three countries, the group runs more than 50 learning centers, working with certified instructors and tutors, and reaching over 5,000 participants each year with its immersive courses, training paths and publications, with a focus on personalized study methods and learning.

The group has chosen to introduce itself publicly on September 8, 2026, the International Literacy Day. Promoted by UNESCO to affirm literacy as a matter of dignity, human rights, peace and sustainable development, the day speaks directly to the purpose the companies that converge in the new system have pursued for almost 20 years. As nowadays generative systems absorb more and more of the work that once defined skilled professions, what people should learn - and, now more than ever, how - has moved to the center of public debate. The underlying challenge, however, is older than technological innovation. UNESCO defines functional illiteracy as the condition of a person unable to understand, evaluate, use and engage with written texts well enough to take part in society. Research carried out at Italy's National Research Council found the condition widespread even among graduate and doctoral students, and traced it to weak metacognitive foundations rather than to any lack of effort or intelligence. This, in turn, can compromise the way people manage their own lives, impeding their personal growth and, finally, their work capabilities, affecting the quality level of the job positions available to them.

"The education framework is further complicated as metacognitive foundations are not the same for everyone," explains Learnis Co-founder Massimo De Donno, President of LEARNIS Italia. "Two students can sit through the same lesson and retain very different things, because attention, memory and comprehension work differently in each of them. That is why we put our focus on the importance of a truly personalized study method."

This is the premise the companies now joining forces under the Learnis masterbrand have worked from since 2008: there is no single way to learn, as each person is unique. Their first answer has been to help each person assemble a study method built around their own cognitive profile, rather than to distribute one method to everybody. The two Founders, Massimo De Donno and Giacomo Navone, are the authors of the Italian bestseller Genio in 21 giorni, which first brought in 2012 personalized study method to a general readership.

As explained by Learnis Co-founder Giacomo Navone, President of LEARNIS España, learning how to learn is just the foundation for an individual being able to become a well-functioning adult and, even more, an active and positive part in any society.

"Once a person actually 'learns to learn', according to their own brain features, they can really start a development path which goes through personal growth to foster professional excellence, honing their soft skills until they are ready to become new leaders in their own working space."

Navone goes on, illustrating Learnis' areas of activity at the foundation of their unique approach to Transformative Education.

"This is why we structured our educational offer into three ground fields, diverse but interconnected, characterized by the specific subset of skills they support each mentee to acquire: Learning Skills, Personal Skills and Professional Skills. We believe that education can be really considered 'transformative' only if it is able to positively affect all three. This is why our mission is also so sensitive for the world of business, and in particular for HR, Recruiting, and onboarding."

Later on, De Donno further explains why the group adopted "Learnis" as its corporate umbrella brand, supported by the official pay-off "Your transformative education".

"For almost 20 years we operated as separate companies that happened to share the same method, the same values and the same origin. We needed a better representation of our common value proposition, to facilitate onboarding processes and, even more, to convey with immediacy the complex framework behind our approach to Transformative Education. Learnis is what we already were, finally under one name and one brand which truly represents our mission. It does not replace what each of us built in our own country - it puts that experience at the service of a much wider audience than each company could reach on its own."

De Donno goes on, illustrating how existing courses and networks are being progressively re-signed under a single architecture, with a gradual approach which aims to minimize business disruption.

"A new name for a path that continues to evolve: this is how, as a group, we describe this transition to our instructors and to our students, to their families, and to all professionals who share our vision. The method, the trainers, and the centers remain the ones participants already know, but under a new structure that integrates content, enrollments, certifications, and course paths. Everything already underway will continue unimpeded while we implement the new system."

According to the Founders and their Senior Partners, the new corporate structure also better reflects the group's commitment toward transparent governance and professional ethics. Following the publication in 2024 of the new Corporate Code of Ethics, developed through an unprecedented internal process involving all local departments and offices, and a thorough reorganization of the Board of Directors and the first management lines to better align the group with its core values, Learnis presents itself with a structure compliant with the highest standards of corporate governance on a global scale. The group appoints, in each country in which it operates, an independent ethics guarantor and an Ethical Committee, external to the company, tasked with assessing the conduct of local centers and staff. Results are documented through certified participant testimonials, published in full and open to inspection.

"In education, a claim is worth exactly as much as the evidence you can hand over when someone asks for it," states Navone. "That is why we publish certified testimonials, why our trainers are assessed by external researchers, and why every country we operate in has an independent ethics guarantor who does not report to us. We would rather be checked than believed."

The new corporate system, developed with the assistance of the international consultancy Storyfly, will also better support the group's international development, thanks to its integrated structure, via a network of certified Senior Partners who will operate in each new country. In this regard, the group's presence in the United States is key and also serves as a test-bench for the new system.

"In the United States we grew without a single classroom," says Stephanie Turconi, LEARNIS Senior Partner and Co-founder of the group's U.S. network. "Coaching, courses and mentoring are delivered online, which lets us reach a student in each and every State and even beyond. It is a lighter model, and it is the one we expect to travel the fastest in the upcoming years. Together with the Founders, our branch is ready to offer support to the development of the group in other countries too. "

Alongside the new masterbrand, also notable is the launch of Learnis Mind, the group's new flagship immersive course which marks the point where the Learnis method reaches its most advanced form. Learnis Mind is an advanced course whose program includes Module C1, delivered by the 'SaperCapire' research team, from the Turin branch of Italy's National Research Council, CNR-IRPI, among the top 10 scientific institutions on a global scale. The module draws on metacognitive principles and exercises developed through research conducted between 2015 and 2019 with the Foundation of the Order of Engineers of the Province of Turin, involving several hundred professionals and members of the public. Learnis holds a license to use part of that material within its own programs; its instructors are now under training by the same researchers and reassessed by them at regular intervals.

"This is our most advanced course to date," concludes De Donno, "one which required years of research and validation before its release to the general public. Before you can truly learn to learn, you have to understand how you understand and know things and information. We couldn't ask for a better moment to launch it, now that we can support it with a proper branding system."

In short, this passage marks a new start for a network that has been active over the last 20 years, steadily growing far from the global spotlight to offer now a fresh approach to transformative education internationally, at a time when we need it most.

For more information, visit www.learnis.org.

About Learnis

Learnis is an international network of companies operating in Transformative Education across Italy, Spain and the United States. Formed in 2026 from legally independent companies that have shared a method, a set of values and a common origin for almost 20 years, Learnis helps people build a profound "development path," rooted in a study and learning method which works around how they actually think, rather than around a single model applied to everyone. Its commitment spans personalized study methods, soft skills enhancement and professional growth, delivered through a network of flagship centers and certified instructors, alongside online programs. The group's flagship immersive course is Learnis Mind. Learnis operates under a published code of ethics, with an independent ethics guarantor in each country.

Media inquiries: [email protected]
www.learnis.org

Bibliographic references cited

UNESCO promotes the International Literacy Day

Research background: CNR-IRPI, "Il miglioramento delle capacità espressive e di apprendimento nell'adulto", Turin branch, ref. Massimo Arattano - irpi.cnr.it

Efficacy studies on the method were presented at the AIRIPA 2020 conference.

CNR-IRPI ranking reference: CNR among the world's top 10 government research institutions - Nature Index (2019)

SOURCE: Learnis

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Y.Keller--NZN