Ambassador’s Ball

Join the National Italian American Foundation on April 4, 2008 at the Westin Diplomat Resort & Spa in Hollywood, Florida, for the exclusive black tie Ambassador’s Ball hosted by Italian Ambassador to the United States, H.E. Giovanni Castellaneta.

This year’s honorees include Joseph C. Amaturo, general partner with Amaturo Group Ltd.; Joseph Natoli, senior vice president and chief financial officer for the University of Miami; Frank R. Nero, president and CEO of the Beacon Council; Camillo Ricordi, M.D., scientific director of the Diabetes Research Institute at the University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine; John F. Scarpa, co-founder of American Cellular Network Corporation; and Paolo Zegna, president of the Ermenegildo Zegna Group.

For information about purchasing tickets or gala sponsorships, please contact Carolyn Laurenzano at 202-939-3114 or carolyn@niaf.org. To learn more, visit www.niaf.org/ambassador.

Seeking volunteers

Do you live in South Florida, enjoy working with people, and want to get more involved in NIAF? If so, consider volunteering for NIAF’s Ambassador’s Ball on April 4. The Foundation is in need of friendly, personable volunteers to assist with the evening’s auction and other tasks. The ability to speak Italian and/or Spanish is not required but is a plus. For more information, please contact Rebecca Bartello at 202-939-3117 or rebecca@niaf.org.

NIAF will hold its annual East Coast Gala on April 14 in New York City with a special reception and live auction honoring the Big Apple’s Italian-American leaders and supporters. Held in the heart of Times Square at the Marriott Marquis, this event showcases all that is vibrant and thriving in New York’s Italian-American community.

Honorees include Robert Greifeld, president and CEO of the NASDAQ Stock Market, Marketsite; Giorgio Kolaj, executive vice president of Famous Famiglia pizzerias; Leonardo LoCascio, president and CEO of Winebow Wines; and Joanne Minieri, president and chief operating officer for Forest City Ratner Companies. Additional honorees and special guests will be announced shortly.

Event details and registration are available online.

For information about purchasing tickets or gala sponsorships, please contact Carolyn Laurenzano at 202-939-3114 or carolyn@niaf.org.

Perino addresses NIAF at public policy lecture

Dana Perino, White House press secretary for President George W. Bush, served as keynote speaker at a NIAF Public Policy Lecture Series on February 5 at Georgetown University’s historic Riggs Memorial Library, located in the institution’s Healy Hall. Former Congressman Marty Russo and Patricia de Stacy Harrison, both NIAF Board Members, introduced Perino, whose family hails from Italy’s Piemonte region.

NIAF Board Members Nancy Chistolini, former Congressman Marty Russo, and Patricia de Stacy Harrison pose with White House Press Secretary Dana Perino (center).

Perino spoke about her role as press secretary, the president’s policy agenda including his economic stimulus package and reform of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, and her family’s Italian heritage. She also discussed the role that changing technology plays in the field of communications, resulting in shorter news cycles and an increasing reliance on e-mail.

The NIAF Public Policy Lecture Series provides a non-partisan forum in which the Foundation can contribute to public discourse on critical issues facing the nation today while highlighting prominent Italian Americans.

Speaking Wednesday at a Rutgers University program, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito Jr. denounced HBO’s “The Sopranos,” which went off the air in 2007, for perpetuating negative stereotypes about Italian Americans and New Jersey.

“You have a trifecta – gangsters, Italian Americans, New Jersey – wedded in the popular American imagination,” Alito told the 100 guests attending the event, which was sponsored by New Jersey Italian American Heritage Foundation and the New Jersey Italian American Heritage Commission.

Alito’s comments were made as part of a larger discussion titled “Reflections on Growing Up As an Italian American in New Jersey,” during which he addressed the prevalence of stereotypes about Italian Americans. The Supreme Court Justice, who grew up in New Jersey near where “The Sopranos” was set, noted that these stereotypes make it more important to preserve historical accounts of Italians who immigrated to the United States, whether they succeeded or failed in their new country. These real experiences show the “true nature” of the United States “as a nation of immigrants,” he said.

NIAF is committed to promoting positive images of Italian Americans and their significant contributions to the U.S. “The Sopranos” often reinforced negative stereotypes, which motivated NIAF to voice concern and to encourage balance in programming at HBO.

NIAF Board Member the Hon. Marie Garibaldi also serves as a trustee of the New Jersey Italian American Heritage Foundation.

For more coverage of Alito’s speech, read “Justice Alito: ‘Sopranos’ guilty of stereotyping.”