Profiles

“I always say I was born here, but my heart was truly born in Italy.” Those are the words of Anna Izzo, who studied in Italy, traveled the country extensively, and now teaches Italian at Elk Grove High School in suburban Chicago. Izzo, who calls herself “a student at heart,” holds several degrees. She has undergraduate degrees in Italian, Spanish and secondary education from the University of Iowa. She also has three master’s degrees: one in curriculum and instruction with an English Language Learning concentration from National Louis University; one in health and wellness from the American College of Education; …

During her senior year at the UIC College of Dentistry, Dr. Lauren Allegretti was granted a scholarship from the Arcolian Dental Arts Society. She joined the society after graduating residency in 2016, became a board member in 2020 and now will ascend to be the society’s president this April. “It’s cool,” Allegretti says. “It feels very full circle.” That she has become so involved with the Arcolian Society is even less surprising given her family’s professional history: She is the 11th member of the Allegretti/DiFranco clan to become a dentist. She attended society meetings while she was in a dental …

From the moment she stepped on U.S. soil at age 5, Giulia Feiza Voirol despised the name Roseanne, given to her by her adoptive mother. It was only recently that the now 71-year-old decided to once again go by her Italian birth name, Giulia. Feiza Voirol lives in La Grange, in suburban Chicago, with her husband of nine years, James Voirol. She has a daughter from her first marriage, along with two grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. She grew up with her adoptive family in Cicero, also in suburban Chicago, and has been on a decades-long quest to find her birth …

A team-sport player from grade school through college, he felt drawn to the military because of the similar opportunity it provided to be a part of something bigger than oneself. The middle of five children, Mark Evangelista was born in Wheaton, Illinois, to Mark and Suzanne Logan Evangelista. His great-grandparents emigrated from the Abruzzo region. Evangelista grew up close to his large extended family. “We were always by family,” he says. “Sundays were either at our house, Grandma’s or my aunt’s house.” His aunt and grandmother wrote down their recipes and their descendants had the good sense to preserve them. …

Led by the father-and-sons team of Vincent John, Vinny Sr. and Nick Adinolfi (left to right), the Bronx Wanderers worked its way up from family barbecues on the East Coast to the hallowed clubs of Vegas. Just about two decades ago, a dad and his two sons embarked upon a journey that began in the Bronx and ultimately landed them among the brightest stars on the Las Vegas Strip. Vinny Adinolfi was a successful producer with Columbia Records, working regularly with legends like Neil Diamond, Paul McCartney, Barbra Streisand and Billy Joel as well as a host of up-and-comers. He …

As the point person for Lega Serie A USA, it’s Andy Mitchell’s job to raise the profile of Italian soccer in one of the world’s most coveted markets. Since 1898, when Italians have wanted to enjoy calcio at its finest, they’ve turned to Lega Serie A, one of the top domestic soccer leagues in the world. In the spring of 2022, the Italian league opened an office in New York City and tasked Andy Mitchell with convincing more Americans to join in the fun. Calcio is the most popular sport in Italy and its national team is second only to …

Boasting a successful corporate career in accounting and finance, S. Joseph Bruno continues to devote himself to a variety of charitable causes. After emigrating from Italy at age 8, S. Joseph Bruno has had a highly successful career as a certified public accountant, entrepreneur and philanthropist. He was a partner in two “Big 4” accounting firms and the CFO of a public company. He is the President and CEO Emeritus of Building Hope, a nonprofit that supports charter schools. In December, he joined the board of directors of the Italian American Museum of Washington, and in January, he was appointed …

From a young age, Ida Fiore knew she wanted to be a teacher. “I loved school and everything about it, from learning new things to building relationships with my teachers and classmates,” she says. “Teaching felt like a natural path for me, combining my passion for education and my desire to make a difference in the lives of others.” Now 32 years into her teaching career, Fiore has made an indelible mark by co-founding SaLT (Service and Learning Together), a volunteer-run nonprofit whose mission is to empower students by giving them the opportunity to travel, learn and serve. “We started …

Steve Schmidt’s first visit to Italy was in 2002 as part of a delegation of Elk Grove Village leaders to Termini Imerese, a town on the north coast of Sicily east of the city of Palermo. Schmidt, who was then the village’s police chief, said he wasn’t crazy about having to go. “I’d never been out of the U.S. before,” says Schmidt, an “honorary Italian” of German descent. “But once I got there I fell in love with Italy and Sicily and they had to drag me back to the plane.” So it isn’t much of a surprise that after …

When Enza Spilotro’s family moved from Chicago’s South Side to suburban Addison, she chose to attend the local public high school rather than a private institution because she wanted to take Italian language classes. Nowadays, Spilotro walks the halls of her alma mater, Addison Trail High School, as an Italian teacher, a role she’s held for the last 18 years. “From as far as I can remember, I wanted to teach,” she recalls. “I always had a natural desire to help others, and become involved in the educational system. I love giving back and teaching allows me to do that …