🇮🇹Honoring Girls Leaders🇺🇸
The celebrated Donna Distinta Award, offered by the Italian Sons and Daughters of America (ISDA) and the Convention of Presidents of Main Italian American Organizations (COPOMIAO), celebrates excellent ladies of Italian descent to highlight their contributions, from tradition and trade to philanthropy and advocacy.
The March 2025 Donna Distinta Award goes to Ms. Andrea Bartlett, a driving drive behind the nationwide younger generations motion, Italian American Future Leaders (IAFL).
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For over a decade, Andrea Bartlett has curated high-profile Italian occasions in Washington, D.C. and New York Metropolis, bringing collectively distinguished Italians and Italian People from world wide. Now, because the Government Director of Italian American Future Leaders (IAFL), she spearheads the most recent group devoted to uniting youthful Italian People by a flagship annual occasion — one which conjures up them to embrace and rejoice their heritage extra deeply of their on a regular basis lives. Her experience lies in seamlessly weaving Italian traditions into each occasion and guaranteeing attendees depart with a renewed sense of satisfaction of their Italian roots.
Andrea’s journey again to her heritage was something however typical. Born right into a army household, she moved each two years throughout the US and internationally on account of her father’s assignments as a army officer. She attended army base colleges, surrounded by friends with comparable nomadic upbringings, all the time getting ready for the following transfer. Whereas her household proudly traced their roots to Sicily and Calabria, visits to her Italian family in upstate New York had been uncommon, as her household was ceaselessly stationed in locations like Spain, Turkey, and Japan. It was solely when her father’s assignments introduced them again to the U.S. that she may actually expertise the heat of her Italian household, savoring her nonna’s treasured recipes throughout brief however significant reunions.
Basil M. Russo, the president of ISDA and COPOMIAO, will current the 2025 Donna Distinta Awards this June.
To see previous winners, click on right here.
After highschool, Andrea attended Outdated Dominion College in Norfolk, VA, the place she studied Occasion Planning and Economics. Her ardour for management flourished as she served as President of the Scholar Authorities Affiliation, growing a love for planning, logistics, and main groups towards success — all whereas guaranteeing these round her reaped the advantages of her onerous work.
Upon commencement, Andrea pursued occasion planning roles that additionally glad her insatiable wanderlust. Her profession took her to Manila, The Hague, and Amsterdam, all whereas she continued to discover Europe and Southeast Asia in her private travels. In 2014, she found a gap at The Nationwide Italian American Basis (NIAF) for an Occasion Coordinator function and eagerly utilized. On the time, NIAF’s youngest-ever president, John Viola, was on the helm and provided her the place — one that might change her life eternally. Immersed on this planet of Italian American management, she labored alongside influential figures like Basil Russo and have become deeply entrenched within the tradition she had longed to expertise firsthand.
“For me, embracing my Italian heritage wasn’t one thing I grew up with every single day, however at NIAF, I needed to dwell and breathe it as my job. It was as if I used to be making up for misplaced time,” she mentioned.
Over the course of a decade at NIAF, Andrea rose to Director of Occasions, main groups in orchestrating exceptional Italian cultural experiences whereas ceaselessly touring to Italy. Now, because the Government Director of IAFL, she works alongside founders Viola, Russo, and Patrick O’Boyle to form the following technology of Italian American leaders.
As IAFL enters its fourth yr, the group acknowledges the numerous work forward in constructing an enduring basis for the group. Essential choices will form its future, and the manager group is dedicated to making use of their collective expertise to make sure its success. Their aim is to stability innovation with time-honored traditions, making a thriving 501(c)(3) that evolves with the instances whereas staying true to its mission.
For Andrea, the thrill of main a brand new group comes with late nights, fixed emails and telephone calls, and the problem of growing insurance policies from the bottom up — one thing she has embraced since her college years.
“Time flies whenever you’re having enjoyable, and whenever you’re fortunate sufficient to be born Italian,” she concluded.
Go to IAFL’s web site, iafuture.org, to study extra about this thrilling new Italian American group, and observe @italamericon on Instagram and Fb for updates!
