Directors
You know your mission, how to do it and why you do it.
We know philanthropy!
We understand that in the current climate the capacity for mission-driven funding is limited, so we try to make our grant process as intuitive as possible for applicants. Our team is ready to support compelling, inspiring missions that are evident in everything they do—fundraising, operations, marketing, and other areas.
Our Team
Meet Our Directors
ANGELO VIVOLO
Angelo Vivolo, a graduate of Long Island University, started his professional career as a teacher in New York City public high schools in Brooklyn and Queens.
After nearly a decade of teaching, Mr. Vivolo embarked upon a forty-year plus career in the hospitality industry as an acclaimed restaurateur and owner of five widely respected Manhattan restaurants. Angelo is especially proud of having had the great honor of directing all dining services for Pope Benedict in 2009 and Pope Francis in 2015 at the residence of the Nuncio in New York City.
Angelo is a lifelong advocate for educational opportunity and promoting and supporting his Italian Heritage and Culture. Recently he was elected as a member of the City University of New York Board of Trustees. CUNY and its 25 schools are the largest group of higher education institutions in the country. Mr. Vivolo serves on the Board of Directors of John Cabot University in Rome.
CLAUDIO DE VELLIS
Mr. De Vellis, a trusts and estates attorney with over 15 years of experience, advises individuals, closely held businesses, and charitable organizations on all aspects of estate planning, retirement planning, income, estate, and gift tax treatment of charitable giving, and pre-immigration and tax planning for international families. He assists clients with the acquisition and sale of business interests, as well as the creation of business succession plans. He also represents individual and corporate fiduciaries in estate administration matters, as well as conflicts resulting from estate and trust administration.
JUSTINE DEVITO TENNEY
Justine DeVito Tenney is a Partner with WeiserMazars LLP, one of the country’s leading accounting and consulting firms, and oversees the firm’s Private Business Group from its Lake Success office.
Justine earned a BS in Accounting with a minor in Economics from St. John’s University, as well as an MBA in Finance. Justine started her career as one of the few women working in the field of public accounting at a “big eight” accounting company. She started a family and was a forerunner in the concept of work-life balance. She worked for a local CPA business in New York City on a flex-time basis (nearly unheard of at the time) while her three children were little.
She was also an assistant professor at St. Francis College and Wagner College, where she taught accounting classes. She eventually rose through the ranks at the firm, becoming the firm’s first female partner in 1987.
“Thank you for this lecture that truly educates the person (me) who finds herself an Italian American educator in a system that is new ground in so many ways to my family. As a Sicilian American, this talk sheds light on things known but not truly known. I’m so glad to HEAR it. To begin to understand it” — Christina Marrocco
