Biographies of the Board of Trustees Candidates November Election

Executive Committee

Prof./Cav. Philip J. DiNovo - President/Executive Director

Degrees: AAS, BS, MBA

Professor DiNovo taught at Morrisville College (SUNY) for 32 years and was the founder of the Business Administration Department. Students choose him twice as Professor of the Year. The Professor founded the American Italian Heritage Association in 1979 and the American Italian Heritage Museum in 1985. He has served as President since 1979 and the Executive Director of our Museum since 1985. He was knighted by the Italian government for his many years of outstanding service to Italy and the Italian American community.

Vacant Position - Vice -President

Vacant Position - Secretary

Donna Severino DiNovo – Treasurer

Donna has been a member of the American Italian Heritage Association and museum for five years, volunteering at its Thrift Shop for four years. For the past four years she has helped at the annual Christmas Market served as the bake sale chairperson, and assisted in other areas. Donna was employed at St. Peter’s Health Partners for 27 years. The last 17 of those as Cash Posting/Reconciliation Manager. Donna has served as treasurer for the past two years and is seeking a second term.

Board of Trustees Candidates

Rosanna Aiuppa: Rosanna has been a Real Estate Broker and an entrepreneur in the Albany area for more than 40 years. She has been active in numerous Italian American organizations in the Albany area including as past President, Treasurer, Board of Trustee for the Italian American Community Center, and a Board Trustee for the American Italian Heritage Association. Rosanna chaired the Association’s Building Acquisition and Planning Committee during the first phase of renovations to the 127 Central Avenue building complex.

C. Thomas Barletta: Tom is a graduate of Christian Brothers Academy, Boston College (Magna Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa, and the Albany Law School. He completed two semesters of study at the University of Florence, Italy prior to attending law school. Tom is fluent in Italian. His professional career includes serving as Counsel to the Assembly Majority Leader, Director of Governmental Relations for the New York State Bar Association and lastly as Legislative Counsel to the NYS Department of Financial Services. Tom completed two terms as President of the Roma Intangible Lodge of the sons of Italy. He is married to Anna Barletta and has two grown children. During his tenure as a Trustee he has provided legal counsel to the AIHA&M on a number of occasions and is currently lobbying the Legislature to secure a capital grant for structural repairs to the Thrift Shop building.

Ralph DiMarino: Ralph received his BA in History Education and MS in Education Administration from SUNY Albany. He taught high school Social Studies, was a High School Dean of Students and a Middle School Assistant Principal before becoming Principal of Maple Hill High School in Castleton, NY, a position that he has held for 20 years. In 2002, Ralph was recognized by the Greater Capital Region Principals’ Center as High School Principal of the Year and in 2003 by WTEN-TV as Educator of the Week. After retiring from public education in 2005, Ralph worked at Siena College as the Director of Field Experiences coordinating the college’s student teacher placements and teaching education courses. Ralph held this position for 12 years, retiring for a a second time in 2018. Ralph is an active member who volunteers at the American Italian Heritage Museum and the Thrift Shop. He is a member of the security team, serves on the Christmas Market Committee, assists with the mailing of the newsletter and is the Museum’s presence at the Pruyn House’s Family fun Day in September. He is seeking this third term on the Board.

Jim Held: Jim has volunteered with AIHM since 2020 as part of the grounds team, host of pizza/movie nights, and grants writer ($17,500 secured to date). Jim is Italian-American on his mother’s side. He and his wife, pam, have attended many AIHM social and cultural events, and have enjoyed meeting many fellow members. They have two adult sons who look forward to the Feast of the Seven Fishes each Christmas. Jim is an economist and is the former Research Director of the state economic development agency, Empire State Development. He is currently on the board of A Place for Jazz, a cultural organization based in Schenectady, and served as Board Chair for the Council for community and Economic Research, a national professional organization.o:p>

Philip Maiello: Before retirement, Phil was a Tax Processing Specialist for 25 years at the NYS Department of Taxation and Finance. He heads the Grounds Committee and has volunteered at many of the Association’s events. He has served on the Board for eight years and, with others he has made a number of improvements in and around our campus and its buildings.

Catherine DicCocco McGuire: Cathy has been an active member of the American Italian Heritage Museum and Association for twelve years. For the past ten years, she has chaired the Fundraising Committee which has successfully raised thousands of dollars. She holds a Business degree from the College of Saint Rose and was employed by General Electric Company for 13 years before owning her own business for the past 22 years.

Dominic A. Paratore - Currently entering his fourteenth year as keyboard player for the country music pop group, Skeeter Creek, Dominic has served as a board member since the opening of the Museum at its current location in Albany, NY. He is our webmaster (www.americanitalianmusuem.org) and routinely sends an e-newsletter to Association members. He retired from a 35 year career with Albany County with 17 years in the Social Services field and finishing his career there in Information Technology.

Steve Woodard: Over the past eight years, Steve has been a dedicated volunteer at the American Italian Museum. Initially drawn to the museum because he wanted to learn Italian, he sought community service opportunities after retiring from the New York State Police Aviation Unit. His involvement at the museum has included various administrative tasks, such as routine building maintenance, scheduling annual inspections required by the Town of Colonie, assisting with special projects, and coordinating the use of external contractors for museum or thrift shop repairs when needed. Additionally, he has served on the board for several years and actively participated in the finance committee’s efforts to establish a mutual fund account with Morgan Stanley. As a continuing board member, he will be committed to actively contributing to the ongoing operations of the American Italian Heritage Museum.

Rocky Piaggione: Rocky is a retired government attorney. His first involvement with AIHM was from 2003-2005 when he helped it (“pro bono”) obtain a Museum Charter from New York State. From 2005-2016 he relocated to Washington, DC and was not involved with the organization. When he retired and returned to the Albany area he renewed his involvement. He was asked to clean out the de bris and organize the artifacts in the attic of the Thrift Shop building. He did that and has been the “Curator” for AIHM ever since. His work includes assisting in the changing and soring of exhibits and assisting in a more efficient use of the materials in the artifact.  

Theresa Viva: Theresa has been an active member for over 17 years.She helped reorganize the museum gift shop resulting in increased shop sales. Theresa has been involved in various fundraising events that helped raised funds for the second floor sprinkler system. Since its inception she has been the co-chair of the annual Christmas market and held cooking classes generating income for those events. In 2019 she took on the responsibilities of the Second Chance Thrift Shop which generated $75,526 in income for 2024.Her fresh ideas and her savvy business sense will be a great asset to the Board.