FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

Contact:   Elissa Ruffino (NIAF) 202/939-3106 or elissa@niaf.org

**Dott. Fulvio Conti to Receive NIAF Award at Gala**

(WASHINGTON, D.C. – October 8, 2010) Dott. Fulvio Conti, CEO of ENEL S.p.A., Italy’s largest power company and Europe’s second largest utility by installed capacity, will be honored at theNational Italian American Foundation’s (NIAF) 35th Anniversary Awards Gala in Washington, D.C. Conti will receive the NIAF Special Achievement Award in International Business on October 23, 2010 at the Washington Hilton. The black-tie event begins with a 6 p.m. reception followed by dinner and an awards ceremony.

The NIAF gala is one of the premier annual events in the nation’s capital, attracting more than 3,000 guests from the United States and Italy. In keeping with our tradition of hosting the president, President Barack Obama has been invited to attend.

Giuliana DePandi Rancic, anchor and managing editor of E! News and star of the Style Network show “Giuliana & Bill,” will serve as the evening’s emcee.

Honorees joining Conti include Aurelio De Laurentiis, Italian film producer and president of the Naples Soccer Club; Tom Izzo, head coach of men’s basketball at Michigan State University;Christopher J. Nassetta, president & CEO of Hilton Worldwide; Dr. Thomas M. Scalea, physician-in-chief at the University of Maryland R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center; and Joe Uva, president and CEO of Univision Communications, Inc.

As CEO and general manager of ENEL, Conti’s focus is on innovation and alternative energy sources as they relate to climate change. ENEL serves 61 million power and gas customers with assets in 23 countries and has opened the first hydrogen-fuelled power plant in the world in addition to the first solar thermal plant to store heat in molten salts, again the only power plant of its kind at global level.

After receiving a degree in Economics and Commerce from the University of Rome “La Sapienza”, he started his career at Mobil Group in 1969 becoming the CFO of Mobil Oil Europe in 1986. Further to an international working experience he acquired in the American Campbell, between 1993 and 1996, he oversaw the financial restructuring of Montedison-Compart. He also served as General Manager and CFO of the Italian National Railways from 1996 to 1998 and later he became General Manager and CFO of Telecom Italia. In 1999 Conti joined Enel Spa as the company’s CFO, and in 2005 he was appointed the CEO and General Manager of the Group. Conti sits in the Boards of Directors of Barclays plc (since 2005), AON Corporation (since 2007) and of the National Academy of Santa Cecilia. He is also vice-president of Eurelectric and vice chairman of Endesa. In May 2009 he was appointed “Cavaliere del Lavoro” of the Italian Republic and in December of the same year he became “Officier de la Légion d’Honneur “of the French Republic.

Tickets to Saturday’s gala begin at $400 per person. Proceeds benefit NIAF’s educational programs. For tickets or sponsor information, contact Jerry Jones at 202/387-0600 or jerry@niaf.org, or register online at www.niaf.org.

The National Italian American Foundation (NIAF) is a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving and promoting the heritage and culture of Americans of Italian descent.