leadership

Kim Quinney is a full-time Lecturer in the History Department at the California State University, San Marcos, where she teaches courses on immigration, U.S. foreign policy, the Cold War, and modern Europe. She previously taught at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo. She has an M.A. in international relations from the Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University in Washington, D.C., and a Ph.D. in history from UC Santa Barbara. Dr. Quinney has spent two years researching in Italy, first as a student enrolled in the Nitze School’s program in Bologna, and then as a Fulbright Scholar in Pisa. Her work has focused on fascism, and her doctoral thesis examines the lackluster U.S. and British efforts to purge fascists from high-ranking positions in postwar Italy. In recent years, her focus has shifted to the relationship between U.S. foreign policy toward Italy and the domestic policies toward Italian immigrants during World War II and the early Cold War era.

Joe Raffa is a longtime enthusiast and supporter of Italian culture. His contributions include chairing San Diego’s Little Italy preservation committee that led to the existing master plan; conceiving of and keynoting at an educational conference in Rome to showcase Italian culture and image to American educators; supporting initiatives to provide college credit for Italian studies; and chairing the San Diego Italian Language committee to promote the study of Italian in high schools. Dr. Raffa earned his doctorate in Education (Leadership Studies) from the University of San Diego in 1997. In 1990, he inspired the first international conference on cancer prevention hosted by the Republic of Italy in Venice. For this collaborative event combined with his other contributions to Italian culture, he was honored with knighthood by the Republic of Italy in 1994. Locally, he has also served as the executive director for San Diego County Cancer Navigator, a countywide program.

After narrowly missing being named Pasqualina at birth by her Neapolitan great grandmother, Alysse lived a relatively normal American life until she moved with her dear husband and three children to Italy in 2000. Upon stepping onto Terra Firma, she realized despite her Italian ancestors refusing to teach their children to speak Italian, they had taught them how to LIVE as Italians! Finally here was a place where food was religion, no one thought she was crazy for wanting to see her vongole move before she ate them, everyone had something to say, and you were expected to always have a decent purse and shoes. She was home.
For two blessed, exciting, difficult, fabulous years, Alysse went completely native and lived in a small villa overlooking the Bay of Pozzuoli with Capri, Ischia, and Procida in the distance. She made it her mission to consume every bivalve and cephalopod put on her plate and was nearly successful until she met her friends, Antonietta and Biagio. She made her own limoncello, cooked “pesce con capo” (That’s not how you say “Fish with Heads” in Italian–her neighbors, Fiorella and Gennaro still love to tell that story and laugh heartily each time!), taught English as a Second Language, and did all the other normal things Moms do for their families.
The woman who spent two weeks cheerfully wishing everyone “Buon Natale e Felice Capo d’ano” until her landlord, Nonno Luigi, corrected her is still a functional illiterate in Italian. Thankfully, her great appetite and zest for living life to it’s fullest, cross nearly any language barriers. Someday she’ll learn how to speak in the past but for now, she’s happy to live in the present.
Thrilled with urbane Roma, sophisticated Firenze, and studious Pisa, her heart still belongs to Bad Boy Napoli… she visits at least once a year where fish leap out of the sea and onto your plate, clams are happy, and the best wine comes in a bottle with no label.
Professionally, she’s worked million dollar deals with international banks and brokerage firms on Wall Street, volunteered and worked in numerous wildlife areas (swam with sharks, fed hawks, and resisted eating her octopi friends in several aquariums), and managed thousands of volunteers for non-profit organizations on the East and West Coasts.
Alysse lives in San Diego because she loves her husband a tiny bit more than Napoli and because he’s agreed to make her homemade wine. She can often be found at Our Lady of the Rosary Church or sipping espresso in Little Italy where she delights in chatting with her neighbors.

• Jim Bregante
• Clarissa Clo’, PhD
• Frank Lieggi
• John Marino, PhD
• Fran Stephenson

Frank N. Lieggi is an active member of the San Diego Italian Community with a variety of skills and interests:
Corporate: Financial Services
For nearly a decade, Mr. Lieggi has served as President & CEO of Domani Investments LLC, a Registered Investment Advisor Firm providing financial planning and investment management services.
Nonprofit: Italian Culture
Founder & Director of The Italia Foundation, Inc. (italia.org),  a nonprofit organization to preserve and promote Italian heritage, language, and culture. Mr. Lieggi also serves as the San Diego Coordinator for The National Italian American Foundation (NIAF).
Education: Professor
At St. Michael’s Preparatory, a Catholic Boarding School adminstered by the Norbertine Fathers of St. Michael’s Abbey, Mr. Lieggi serves as a member of the Academic Council, Science Department Chairperson, and Professor of Science Instruction.
Diplomacy: Hon. Vice Consul
Frank N. Lieggi also has experience as a Diplomat for the Republic of ITALY, serving as the the Honorary Vice Consul in San Diego from 2004-2006.

Rosemarie Motisi-Brunetto bio coming soon…

Fran Stephenson, author and longtime Italian community member, was born and raised in the Italian waterfront area of San Diego (today’s Little Italy district). In 2003, she published her memoirs (Frenchie’s Memoirs), in which she fondly recollects her childhood experiences growing up in this close-knit neighborhood of Italian immigrants. She is also the author of a cookbook, A Little of This and a Pinch of That.

Phil Turner is a retired Navy Commander who works for BAE Systems in Liberty Station as the Program Director for several Navy contracts. He retired in 2009 after a 25 year career that started as an enlisted submariner, and continued through his officer career as a surface warfare officer and engineering duty officer.  He is a graduate of the US Naval Academy and Naval Postgraduate School, with degrees in History and Astronautical Engineering. In addition to multiple ship deployments worldwide from here in San Diego, he deployed for a year with Camp Pendleton’s I Marine Expeditionary Force to Fallujah Iraq in 2007. When stationed in Naples Italy from 2000-2002 as an aide to the US Navy admiral in charge of NATO’s Southern Force, he gained a true appreciation for Italian culture and the unique way Neapolitans see the world. 

Tom Cesarini has served as a longtime active volunteer in San Diego’s Italian community. Tom holds a Master of Arts degree in Nonprofit Leadership and Management from the University of San Diego (USD). Currently, he is enrolled as a doctoral student at USD in the Leadership Studies program. He is also chief executive and lead consultant of Social Sector Consulting, which provides a host of services to nonprofit-sector organizations. As a volunteer in the Italian community, Tom has helped to promote Italian arts, culture, and heritage for numerous local Italian cultural organizations. Noting an absence of a singular point of reference for San Diego’s myriad Italian groups, he founded Convivio in 2003 and the Italian Historical Society of San Diego in 2006 with the express goal of establishing an Italian cultural institute in San Diego. The future Institute for Italian Culture will include a language academy, reference library, computer and media lab, historical center and archives, and event and exhibit space. The institute will serve as the catalyst to unite San Diego’s Italian community.