50th Anniversary Gala Schedule

Pick up your weekend schedule here, renew your NIAF membership and learn more about the Foundation’s activities!

What does it take to turn groundbreaking science into better lives for patients and stronger societies? BRIDGE 2025 – Biomedical Research Innovation Delivering Global Healthcare Excellence explores this challenge by uniting Italy and the United States, laboratory research and clinical practice, and diverse fields of medical innovation. Featuring advances in women’s health, sport genomics, and healthcare management, the program highlights how collaboration transforms discovery into impact, reaffirming medicine’s central role in shaping health, productivity, and human progress.

Italpress news agency, directed and founded by Gaspare Borsellino, is proud to return for the Third Annual Italpress Awards, held in conjunction with NIAF’s 50th Anniversary Gala. The third edition of the award honors important Italian and Italian American figures who elevate the excellence of Made in Italy in the world. This year there will be 10 winners of the Italpress Awards: the Vice President of the Chamber of Deputies Giorgio Mulè, the President of the Lazio Region Francesco Rocca, the President of Enav Pasqualino Monti, the President of ICE Matteo Zoppas, the President of Ita Airways Sandro Pappalardo, the President of Federturismo Marina Lalli, the Director of the Italian Institute of Culture in New York Claudio Pagliara, the CEO of ADR – Aeroporti di Roma, Marco Troncone, the Aleotti family of Menarini Group and President of the Fiera del Levante, Gaetano Frulli.

The luncheon will feature a conversation between Senator Joe Manchin and former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, moderated by journalist Maria Bartiromo. Under the theme “Bipartisanship & Civility Through Shared Heritage,” the two public servants from different political parties will discuss how their shared Italian American heritage—rooted in values of family, faith, community, and hard work—can serve as common ground in today’s divided political landscape. The dialogue will explore their personal journeys, examine how cultural heritage can bridge partisan divides, and highlight how the Italian American experience continues to inspire unity and civility in American civic life.

* This is a TICKETED EVENT.  Click here to purchase tickets.

The presentation of NIAF’s 50th Anniversary Report will underscore the Foundation’s evolution into a strategic bridge between the United States and Italy, in parallel with the analysis of relations between the two countries over the past 50 years. Over the decades, NIAF has emerged as a powerful and unified voice for nearly 20 million Americans of Italian descent and, from its origins as a cultural initiative, has evolved into a leading national institution deeply engaged in education (with over $10 million awarded in scholarships since its founding), media advocacy, disaster relief, and political representation. The Italian American community has also been a structural asset in bilateral relations, fostering investment, economic and trade ties (the U.S. is Italy’s most important non-European commercial partner and the largest foreign employer in Italy, with more than 350,000 people working for over 2,600 U.S.-controlled companies), as well as academic and cultural exchange and political dialogue. The report also examines the future trajectory of bilateral relations and the role that NIAF may play.

The NIAF/Aurelio De Laurentiis Film Prizes Program screening presents five compelling films by emerging filmmakers exploring Italian and Italian American stories. The lineup features Stefano Da Fre’s “A Slice of the Family Business” (a documentary about passing down a family cheese business), Jeffrey Santoro’s “Ciao Sommer” (a short about a Tuscan exchange student teaching an American family to live better), Adriana Serrato’s “Pomodoro” (a short about a grandfather teaching his granddaughter proper Italian cooking), Valentina Signorelli’s “Mamma, That’s All Right” (a documentary about Italian musicians finding success in Nashville), and Nina Slesinger’s “Chainstitch” (a documentary about Italian seamstresses at Joseph & Weiss). The winning film will be announced at the Gala Dinner following this special screening.

NIAF 50^th Anniversary Evening Events

Conclude your weekend at Holy Rosary Church, the Italian National Parish of Washington. Holy Rosary Church was established in 1913 to serve the Italian immigrants who first lived in its immediate neighborhood.