FROM THE AMHS NOMINATING COMMITTEE

The Nominating Committee is pleased to announce three exceptional candidates for the AMHS Board of Directors: Andrea Balzano, Alfred Del Grosso, and Helina (Ellie) Zewdu Nega (please be sure to read their bios). If elected, these candidates will replace Sarah Scott, Jon Stern, and Lourdes Tinajero, whose terms on the board expire at the end of this year

The election of the three board members shall take place during the general Society meeting on November 11. Additional nominations for office may be made in writing to the Nominating Committee, prior to the meeting, or from the floor during the meeting, after which the nominations will be closed and elections will be conducted by secret ballot. The elected board members shall assume office on January 1, 2019, and they shall be installed at the January 2019 general Society meeting. Their term of office is for three years. (Submitted by the AMHS Nominating Committee: Maria D’Andrea-Yothers, Joe Novello, and Lourdes Tinajero)

Meet the Three Board Candidates:

Andrea Balzano

Andrea Balzano’s grandmother was born in Bonefro in Molise. In the United States, she met and married Andrea’s grandfather, who was from Missanello in Basilicata. During her first AMHS meeting in 2015, Andrea met a new member who was born in Bonefro and has subsequently confirmed through Ancestry.com DNA testing that they are cousins!

Andrea works as a prospect development professional at World Wildlife Fund in DC, and previously worked for higher education, community development, and cause-related nonprofits, including Pomona College, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Bennington College, Cornell University, Enterprise Community Partners, the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, and Just Detention International. She also volunteers as a development and communications consultant and grant writer, helping small nonprofits to develop the skills and systems needed to build and sustain major giving programs. She has written articles for professional publications and attended Goddard College in Vermont and The Claremont University in California.

Alfred Del Grosso

Alfred Del Grosso is a native Washingtonian who grew up in the Fort Washington area of Prince Georges County and currently resides in Kensington, Montgomery County. Following graduation from the University of Maryland, College Park he began work at the Food and Drug Administration. He graduated from the American University with a Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry in 1991. He will be retiring from the government at the end of this year after over 42 years of service. He has been married to Diana Marks Del Grosso for 29 years, they have two children Adriana, 21, currently residing in Boulder, CO and Anthony, 19, currently a student at Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA.

Al has been interested in Italian language and heritage for most of his adult life. He has taken Italian classes at Casa Italiana 3 and the Italian Cultural Society as well as studying independently. His Italian roots are in Roccamandolfi, Molise, from where his grandfather immigrated in 1911 and in the province of Avellino in Campania from where his paternal great-grandparents immigrated in the 1890s.

Al has been active in several professional, fraternal, cultural and religious organizations. He has been an AMHS member for several years and would be happy to serve the Society as a member of the Board.

Helina (Ellie) Zewdu Nega

Helina Zewdu Nega is a native of Addis Abeba, Ethiopia. She left Ethiopia at the age of six to live in Rome, Italy until she was 15 years old. Although Helina was enrolled in an international school (St. Francis and Claire International School) with the academic programs tailored to that of the American system, she also grew up speaking Italian and her native tongue of Amharic.

Helina has been living in the United States for 17 years and for past 12 years has called the Washington, DC area home. She has earned a Bachelors’ Degree in Communications as well as a Masters’ Degree in Public Administration. She is passionate about the non-profit sector, particularly when it comes to organizations that assist abused and neglected women and children as well as organizations that seek solutions to end poverty. As a result, she currently works for the One Campaign, an international, nonpartisan, non-profit, advocacy and campaigning organization that fights extreme poverty and preventable disease, particularly in Africa.

Although Helina has spent the majority of her life in the United States, her love for her Ethiopian culture as well as that of the Italian culture has greatly influenced her life and has shaped her worldview.

Fun Fact: her favorite soccer team is AS. Roma and her favorite player (now retired) is Francesco Totti.