Organizations We Support

 

 

 

 

 

Mission Statement

The Italian American Forum, a network of business and community leaders, serves as the catalyst where ideas and views on issues can be exchanged while supporting worthwhile initiatives dedicated to promoting and preserving the Italian and Italian American heritage.

 

The Italian American Forum, a network of business and community leaders, has taken its name from the place in Ancient Rome where the public met to deliberate and discuss the major issues of the day. The Forum today serves as a catalyst for the exchange of ideas on relevant contemporary issues while supporting worthwhile initiatives dedicated to promoting and preserving the Italian American heritage.

 

The Forum dinner series is an important educational and networking component for our membership. The speakers range from movie directors and authors to financial analysts and global business leaders. They bring their unique perspective to our group while we all share good food, good company and good conversation.

 

The dinner series though only represents one aspect of the Forum. We all share a deep commitment to promote our rich Italian cultural heritage while ensuring that our core Italian American values will be passed on to future generations. We initially committed to supporting three organizations that we felt could best fulfill on this important aspect of our mission: the Columbus Citizens Foundation, the Italian Welfare League and the National Italian American Foundation.

 

The success of the Forum has now provided us with the opportunity to support additional organizations that will promote our culture in new and innovative ways. Staying true to our mission and commitment of service to the community we have identified the following focal areas to identify worthwhile programmatic initiatives:

 

- Saving and promoting Italian heritage We would seek out existing successful exchange programs as well as opportunities to save underfunded archeological sites in Southern Italy as well as historically significant sites in our region. For example, a local Columbus statue was defaced and we should be prepared for similar unfortunate events in the future.

 

- Helping real people with real problems Families in our community at times need a helping hand. Partnering with experienced organizations we would seek to lighten their financial burden due to issues such as health related expenses.

 

- Supporting education and cultural programs for K-12 students We would work with public, private and parochial schools to expand the opportunities of the next generation to be exposed to our culture and heritage.

 

 

Board of Trustees

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Chair: Honorable Janet DiFiore

Vice Chairs:  Joseph Solimine Jr. , James Veneruso

Secretary: Joseph Ruhl

Treasurer: James D’Arcangelo

Chairman Emeritus: Honorable Judge Francis Nicolai

Immediate Past Chair: Joseph Armentano

 

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Rose Cali

John F. Calvelli

Linda Carlozzi

Michael Caruso

Domenick Ciaccia

Terri Ferri

Anthony Maddalena

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Anna Malafronte -Executive Director