In accordance with the Articles of Association, the President is the legal representative of the Association, as well as the chair of the General Assembly, the Board of Directors, and the Steering Committee, with the power to convene their meetings.
The President is elected by the General Assembly by secret ballot with a two-thirds majority, and holds office for the duration of the Board of Directors' term, with the possibility of re-election subject to the established appointment procedures. In the event of the President's absence or incapacitation, their functions shall be temporarily exercised by the Vice President or, should the latter also be unable to act, by the senior-most member of the Board of Directors by age.
The current Board of Directors is chaired by Mercedes Bresso.

​President
​Mercedes Bresso

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She is an economist who has taught Economics and Political Economy at several universities, including the Università di Torino and the Politecnico di Torino. Specializing in Environmental Economics, she has published extensively on the topic and taught it in numerous postgraduate programs, both in Italy and abroad.
Among her many books are Pensiero Economico e Ambiente (Loescher), Per un’Economia Ecologica (NIS), Economia Ecologica (Jaca Book), Analisi dei Progetti e Valutazione di Impatto Ambientale (Franco Angeli), and Ambiente e Attività Produttive (Franco Angeli).
She is one of the founders of Legambiente. As President of Associazione Ambiente e Lavoro, she took part in the first Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 and—as President of the EU Committee of the Regions—in the second summit in 2012.
In her political career, she served as Regional Councilor for Parks and Water Resources for the Piedmont Region (1994–1995). She was President of the Province of Turin (1995–2004)—where she contributed to founding Hydroaid—and later served as President of the Piedmont Region (2005–2010). She was also a Member of the European Parliament (2004–2005, 2014–2019, 2023–2024), where she served on the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety.