Americo “Rico” Allegrino

Board Member

Americo (Rico) Allegrino grew up in upstate New York. His father came from Chieti in the Abruzzo region of Italy and his maternal great grandparents came from Sicily and Naples.  He earned a Masters’ degree in Meteorology from the University of Maryland.   He current works as a government contractor for NOAA’s satellite division providing programming support to the next generation of weather satellites.  Rico has worked for NOAA for 21 years.  Previously, he worked at Goddard Space Flight Center studying sea ice and snow cover using various remote sensors.

He has volunteered as a special events coordinator for an organization of single Catholics called the Catholic Alumni Club.  There, he organized picnics, happy hours and dinners.  He was also membership chair for several years for this group. Currently, he leads a group of volunteers from his local parish to provide a monthly dinner for homeless men in Prince Georges County.   He also volunteers his gardening services to his local parish.  He is an avid gardener.   Rico previously served on the AMHS Board from 2018-2020.

Frank Bonsiero

Board Member

Frank Bonsiero has been an AMHS member, along with his wife, Susan, for eight years.  He was raised in Baltimore, Maryland, and lived at an Italian orphanage run by the Pallottine nuns in the Little Italy section of Baltimore.  He Served in the United States Air Force during the Vietnam era. HE is a graduate of Regis College in Denver, Colorado. Frank spent most of his federal career with the Administrative Office of the United States Courts and the Office of the Inspector General at the Department of Defense. He has worked as a government audit consultant after federal retirement.

Frank has been married for 48 years to his lovely bride, Susan – they have two children and six grandchildren, who range in age from 21 years to seven months!  Frank is proud of them all, including the oldest who plays second base for the University of Arizona (look for him in the big leagues in couple of years!).

Frank currently resides in Clifton, VA and attends St Andrew the Apostle Church. He loves coming to AMHS meetings and the fellowship that exists. He enjoys celebrating all things Italian. He hopes to serve honorably and proudly.

Jeff Clark

Board Member

Jeffrey (Jeff) Clark grew up in Utah and has lived the last seventeen years in the District of Columbia. He has worked as the chief financial officer for a several small government contractor s in the DC area and holds an MBA degree and CPA designation. In addition to the AMHS, Jeff is a member of the Lucchesi nel Mondo Tuscany Club and the Centro Espanol de Washington, DC. He claims Italian heritage through his 6th great grandfather who was a native of Naples and immigrated to New Orleans in the early 1700s.

Jeff currently serves on the AMHS Budget & Finance Committee. He previously served on the Board and was the AMHS Treasurer from 2014 through 2015.

Julie Finigan Dal Forno

Board Member

Julie was born and raised in Massachusetts, and after completing her Master’s degree at Johns Hopkins, she moved to Rome, Italy for six years; Bangkok, Thailand for two years; and Singapore for five years. Julie has taught high school for over twenty-five years on three different continents and currently teaches at the Bullis School in Potomac, Maryland.

She has had a lifelong interest in Italian language, literature, and culture and is a member of the Italian Language Foundation (ILF) and Italians in D.C. Julie enjoys traveling to Italy each year and skiing whenever she can. Julie is married to Corrado and they have two sons, William and Nicholas, They reside in Potomac, Maryland.

Lucio D’Andrea

President Emeritus & Board Member

Lucio D’Andrea is a native of Roccamandolfi in the region of Molise. He immigrated to the United States in 1948 along with his brother Joseph and mother Candida to join his father, who lived in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Upon completion of his secondary school education, he enrolled at the Univeristy of Pittsburgh, graduating in 1957 with a bachelor of Science degree in Petroleum Engineering and a commission as Second Lieutenant in the United States Army Corps of Engineers. Following his military service, he moved to Wyoming to work for an oil company. He later accepted a position with the Federal Power Commission in Washington, DC. He served in a number of government agencies and in 1986 he accepted an appointment by the Secretary-General of the United Nations to serve as Senior Economic Officer with the Economic Commission of Europe (ECE) in Geneva, Switzerland, becoming deputy director of its Energy Division. He retired from the ECE in 1983 and entered private practice as an energy consultant.

During his long professional and military career, Lucio received numerous awards and recognitions. One which he is particularly proud of is the “Order of Merit of the Republic of Italy,” which he received in 1972 for his involvement with the Italian Cultural Society in promoting Italian culture in the Washington, DC area. He has maintained a steadfast commitment to the promotion and development of Italian culture, traditions and values. His pride in his heritage was demonstrated when he took the initiative to establish the Abruzzo and Molise Heritage Society of the Washington DC area. He remains active in the Italian-American community by also being a member of the Order of the Sons of Italy and the National Italian American Foundation.  Continuing his commitment to the promotion of Italian culture, Lucio established the Italian Heritage Society of St. Mary of Sorrows in Fairfax, Virginia, and the Italian Heritage and Cultural Society at the Church of the Nativity in Burke, VA.

Lucio is married to Edvige (Pitassi) D’Andrea, a native of Pacentro, in Abruzzo. They have six children and eight grandchildren. Lucio and Edvige reside at The Westminster at Lake Ridge, where they enjoy an volunteer in the local community, teach Italian language to the residents, and overall enjoy an active social life. Lucio is a member of the AMHS Scholarship Committee.

John Iazzetti

Board Member

John was born in what is known as the Little Italy section of the Bronx, hinged by Arthur Avenue. His maternal great-grandfather emigrated from Agnone in Molise in 1886 and settled in the Bronx. His great grandmother followed in 1899. (His father’s family emigrated from Avellino).

John worked at Citibank fresh out of high school and attended college at night, for a BS in Marketing. He later received a Master’s in Religious Studies and a Postgraduate in Theology. He is a former member of the Westchester County Genealogical Society, and a current member of the Sons of Italy and the Knights of Columbus. He is married with four children and four grandchildren. He is currently working on his Italian dual citizenship

Mark Lino

Board Member

Mark Lino’s paternal family is from Avellino in the Campania region of Italy. He has been a member of the AMHS for about 15 years and is looking forward to serving on the Society’s board. Mark was born in East Boston, Massachusetts and holds degrees from Boston College (B.S.) and Cornell University (Ph.D.). For the past 33 years, he has been employed as an economist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture where he works on food policy and programs. Outside of work, he enjoys reading mysteries and wine tasting.

Benjamin O’Hara

Board Member

Benjamin O’Hara was born and raised in Washington, DC. He graduated from Georgetown University in Spring 2021 and now works as a housing counselor in DC. He hopes to attend law school and work in housing/immigration law. Benjamin’s great-grandfather was from Savoia di Lucania, Potenza, Basilicata and his great-grandmother from Ancona. His dad is also from Ireland. He learned Italian in high school and had the opportunity to live briefly in Bologna, Italy. He is interested in learning more about Italian history and promoting Italian culture. Benjamin was also a National Italian American Foundation (NIAF) Congressional Fellow in 2020. In his free time Benjamin enjoys playing soccer and watching his favorite team Juventus, as well as cooking and spending time with family and friends.

Teresa Margaret Talierco

Board Member

Teresa was born in Coatesville, Pennsylvania, on April 15, 1951. Her paternal grandfather, Giovanni Taliercio, had emigrated from the island of Ischia in the Bay of Naples and her paternal grandmother, Olivia Nerone, had emigrated from the city of Naples.

Teresa graduated from Coatesville High School in 1969 and received a full scholarship to attend Trinity College (now University) in Washington, D.C. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology in 1973, and then she earned a Master of Arts degree in sociology from Loyola University in Baltimore in 1975. After graduation, she moved to Falls Church, Virginia, where she was employed as a Licensed Professional Counselor by the Dominion Psychiatric Hospital.

In July 1982, she joined the Avanti Italiani Lodge in Alexandria, Virginia. It was associated with the Order of the Sons (and now Daughters) of Italy in America. She served as the lodge treasurer from 1983 to 1984 when she was elected president. She served two years until July 4, 1986, when she married Joseph Scafetta Jr. They honeymooned in Italy, visiting both her family in Rome and Ischia and her husband’s family in Rome and Abruzzo. After their marriage, because the lodge was for singles only, Teresa and her husband transferred to the George Washington Lodge in Arlington, Virginia. She was elected vice president in 1991 and served for two years until she was elected president, serving from 1993 to 1995.

When their son, Joseph Anthony Scafetta III, was born on October 28, 1998, in Washington, D.C., Teresa resigned from the Dominion Psychiatric Hospital and started a private practice in McLean, Virginia, specializing in counseling teenagers, young adults, and families with young children.

When the George Washington Lodge was dissolved, Teresa and her husband transferred their memberships to the Italian Heritage Lodge in Fairfax, Virginia, where they remain active. Teresa, her husband, and their son last visited their families in Italy in 2002. After her husband became a member of the Abruzzo Molise Heritage Society (AMHS) in 2008, Teresa and their son joined later. Teresa has been active in AMHS events and activities.

Julia Paola

Board Member

Julia Paola is originally from Annapolis, MD and will be graduating this Spring from The George Washington University with a Bachelors’ Degree in International Affairs and Political Science with concentrations in International Politics and Europe and Eurasia. She is also obtaining a minor in Italian Literature and Language and has served as the president of GW’s Societa’ di Cultura Italiana since May 2020. She was an AMHS scholarship recipient in 2019 and served as a temporary intern for the Society. Her paternal grandparents are Torinese and Calabrese, and she has been fortunate enough to visit her family in Torino and study abroad in Italy. During the 2020-2021 school year, she worked as a teaching aid for Italian virtually at her former high school. Currently, she interns for a non-profit in DC promoting family diplomacy and hopes for a career in immigration, refugee studies, or international diplomacy. Following graduation in the Spring, Julia intends on staying in DC to attend graduate school for her MA in International Relations or begin a full-time job. She loves her rescue dogs back home, her ever-expanding collection of plants, and despite having Celiac disease, has a great love for Italian food and culture.