About Francisca
Businesswoman, conservationist and philanthropist, Francisca has dedicated her life to the service of initiatives for the Integral and Sustainable Development of Chile and the world.

With an extensive background in the world of psychology, design and retail in Latin America, she founded, in 2002, Philanthropy Cortés Solari (FCS), a philanthropic project that promotes Integral and Sustainable Development through Integral Education, Climate Change Mitigation and Biodiversity Conservation.

FCS has been working for 21 years in programmes at the service of Integral Education, focused on the educational community in Chile and Latin America, with an experiential character and in connection with nature, with a pre-pandemic coverage of more than 7,000 young people and teachers per year.

In the field of biodiversity, FCS stands out for the effective conservation of three natural laboratories (Atacama Desert, Chilean Central Zone and Northern Chilean Patagonia) strategic to the mitigation of Climate Change, named Elemental Reserves.

In terms of climate change mitigation, FCS promotes both scientific research and the achievement of common minimums at the international level, to accelerated progress in meeting the SDGs and the 30×30 targets, always promoting the joint participation of the public, private and civil society sectors.

During these 21 years, Francisca has received several national and international awards for her leadership skills.

Origins of the Falabella Family

Granddaughter of Eliana Falabella and Alberto Solari, Francisca represents the fifth generation of Falabella at the helm of the Falabella group in Chile and Latin America.

The business origins of the Falabella family date back to 1899, when Italian immigrant Salvatore Falabella, originally from Caserta, Italy, opened his first tailor’s shop in Santiago de Chile with the help of his son Arnaldo, who enhanced the shop’s corporate image, expanding both the variety of products and the number of branches.

Later, the company experienced a new boom thanks to the leadership of Eliana Falabella, an avant-garde and visionary woman for her time, granddaughter of Salvatore and grandmother of Francisca.

Under the management of Eliana Falabella and her husband, Alberto Solari, Falabella ceased to be just a traditional men’s clothing tailor and became the leading retailer in Chile and later in Latin America.

On the other hand, the Solari family, also Italian immigrants, also came from the world of tailoring. At the end of the 19th century, they had settled in the north of Chile, in the city of Iquique, with a shop named La Confianza, under the company Solari Brothers.

Alberto and Eliana met and married, uniting the two families and sealing the incorporation of the Solari family into the Falabella Company.

Alberto and Eliana had three daughters: María Luisa, Liliana and Teresa, mother of Francisca, who would later become the heirs of the company.