Dr Manuela Picariello is a Lecturer and Programme Leader (BSc Sport Management) in the Department of Sport and Event Management at Bournemouth University. Her main areas of research focus on mentoring for women and minorities, corporate social responsibility, sustainability, within organizations in US and internationally. She recently added human brands and sport for development to her research interests.

She was born in Avellino, Italy. She attended University of Napoli, Federico II, in Italy, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in Management Engineering while pursuing a basketball career in the Italian minor leagues. In 2013 she earned her Ph.D. in Management Engineering with a concentration on Sport Management. During her doctoral studies in San Marino, she has been a visiting scholar for the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

She moved to Knoxville in 2014 to earn her second doctoral degree in Sport Studies from the University of Tennessee and pursue the academic career in the U.S. She finished her second Ph.D... in May 2017 and she accepted a position as Assistant Professor in the Sport Management program at Texas Woman's University in Denton, Texas. She held this position from May 2017 until August 2021, when she decided to join Bournemouth University.