March 18, 2024
Francesco Isgro

Dear Voce readers,

After nearly fourteen years of managing Voce Italiana, it’s time to let other fresh voices be heard and to pass the torch to a new editorial team.

During the past two years I have spent increasingly more time on my volunteer duties as President of the Casa Italiana Sociocultural Center Inc. and toward the creation of the Italian American Museum of Washington DC. I now plan to focus my time almost entirely on these cultural programs, which I hope will grow and enrich our community and beyond.

 

Voce Italiana has taught me so much about our Italian and Italian American community, and I hope to use that knowledge to find ways to support our rich and diverse community. As our readers know, we have a number of active Italian and Italian American organizations in the Washington, D.C. area, each with their own goals, programs, and activities. The cultural footprint of the Casa Italiana Sociocultural Center has expanded, with our newly inaugurated museum, gallery spaces for art exhibitions, an Italian American library, an archive space to process and store the history of our community, and conference room facilities, in addition to Casa Italiana Language School programs. With our expanded facilities, I hope that we can find opportunities to collaborate more closely across the various local organizations and plan more integrated community- wide projects to achieve some of our common goals.

As I close this chapter of Voce Italiana, there are so many I would like to thank, including editorial contributors, Ciro De Falco, Nancy De Santi, Daniela Enriquez and Generoso D’Agnese, who were always ready to take on last-minute assignments in their typical professional manner, and all the visiting contributors who shared their stories with our readers over the years.

My gratitude to Lucia Portanova, Joan Dodaro, Martha Finelli and Rosa Mayer, who kept the process running smoothly each month. I also benefitted greatly from the inhouse editorial advice and contributions of my wife, Anna, a journalist and author, whom I would like to acknowledge.

Thank you to former pastor Fr. Lydio Tomasi who had the vision to move Voce Italiana from a cut-and-paste paper into the digital age. Thank you also to Fr. Ezio for continuing to entrust us with Voce when he became pastor of Holy Rosary in 2013, and for closely reviewing every issue before going to press. Thanks also to you, our readers, who encouraged us along the way.

My very best wishes to all for a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Francesco Isgro, Executive Editor