Fra Noi Embrace Your Inner Italian
Mario Salerno has been elected president of the Calabresi in America Organization.
A member for eight years, Salerno served as an advisor for two years and worked his way up through the vice presidential ranks before being elected president.
“Being involved has given me the opportunity to share my Calabrese background with others and celebrate it as well,” he explains. “I like being able to provide outreach not only to other Calabrese but to members of other Italian-American organizations.”
Being elected president is both on honor and an opportunity for Salerno, who follows in the footsteps of his father, Frank, a longtime member and current treasurer.
“It feels great knowing that I have grown with the board for so many years, and that I now have a chance to lead, and it’s also great having my family members to help me as advisors on the board,” he says. “I look forward to working on new ideas for growth.”
Outreach to young Calabresi is high on the list of Salerno’s priorities. “Its an enormous step to give of their time to be a part of the community and spread our traditions across the area,” he notes. “We need to create new events that appeal to all ages of our community while strengthening the traditional customs we have in place as well.”
Salerno works in procurement for UChicago Argonne LLC, formerly Argonne National Laboratory. He has been with the Lemont-based company for eight years.
Hie is the son of Frank and Rita Salerno, both of whom were born in Cozenza, Calabria. The youngest of three siblings, he graduated from Divine Providence Grammar School, St. Joseph High School, and Dominican University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in corporate communications with a minor in business administration. A fitness enthusiast, he is a fan of the White Sox, Bears and Bulls, in that order.
