L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, MAY 4, 2023 www.italoamericano.org 20 L'Italo-Americano O n M a r c h 1 s t , Raffaella Valentini became the new Consul General o f I t a l y i n L o s A n g e l e s . B o r n i n R o m e i n 1975, Valentini had her first work experience at the Min- i s t r y o f F o r e i g n A f f a i r s i n 2003 when she oversaw pro- jects promoted by Italy in the Balkans, North Africa, and the Middle East. Later, in Albania, she led the Embassy's Eco- nomic and Commercial Office in Tirana and then in Cairo, f r o m 2 0 1 3 t o 2 0 1 6 . A f t e r returning to Rome in May 2016, Valentini was assigned to the Office of the Diplomatic Adviser to the President of the Council of Ministers, where she worked on global issues related to sub-Saharan Africa, the G7-G20 dossiers, and on international organizations. Consul Valentini, what are your first thoughts about the city and your new role? As I have had the opportu- nity to emphasize in these first weeks, this has truly been a "baptism of fire." March is, t r a d i t i o n a l l y , a m o n t h o f intense promotional activity for Sistema Italia in Los Ange- les. During the Oscar season, two Italian film festivals are held here and many actors, directors, and producers from our country come to the city, in a moment of great impor- tance for cinema globally. This year, the activities related to the Festivals took place at the same time as the first mission to California of 35 small and medium-sized companies of Confindustria Moda - the Ital- ian industrial association that brings together companies in the sector - and the Italian Design Day, which was attend- ed by the world-renowned architect and interior designer, Roberto Palomba. So my first month was under the banner of Italian excellence and Made in Italy, and the impact Los Angeles made on me could not have been better. I was wel- comed with enthusiasm and affection by the Italian and Italian-American community. I was very impressed by such a diverse community of talents, professions, and trades, rang- i n g f r o m c o m p a t r i o t s employed in more traditional sectors to Italian researchers at Caltech, from entrepreneurs in digital marketing to star chefs. Y o u c e l e b r a t e d Women's Day with your team, which is largely made up of women. How important is it that, final- l y , m o r e w o m e n a r e working in Italian diplo- macy? The Consulate team I have the pleasure of leading is of the highest caliber and 2/3 of it are women. This is some- thing I am very proud of. Diplomatic positions were opened to women in 1967, and 2005 was the year when two women were awarded the title of "Ambassador" for the first time. Today, after 18 years, we can say that the r o l e o f w o m e n i n I t a l i a n diplomacy has undoubtedly grown, albeit at still too slow a pace and with a very uphill path. As of today, women in diplomacy make up 23 per- cent of the diplomatic corps, a n d o u r A m b a s s a d o r t o W a s h i n g t o n , M a r i a n g e l a Zappia, the first woman to hold this very important post, is one of the most obvious s y m b o l s o f t h e p r o g r e s s made over the years. Today we have female heads of mis- sion in Paris and Athens, in Lebanon in Slovakia. Talent- ed women who contribute with their work to the pro- m o t i o n o f o u r c o u n t r y abroad. However, it is not only the number of women employed in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, diplomatic and non-diplomatic, to really show that times are chang- ing. Rather, it is the special contribution they make to the promotion of Made in Italy; it is in the way they listen to the prerogatives of our com- munities abroad, and in the way they develop the idea of "working family" that our structures abroad are called upon to implement. D u r i n g t h e s e f i r s t weeks in Los Angeles, w h a t e v e n t s , a m o n g those you took part in, affected you the most, and why? I a m p l e a s e d t o r e c a l l , among the many events, the Italian Research Day cele- brated recently at the Italian C u l t u r a l I n s t i t u t e i n L o s Angeles. The reality of Italian research in the city brings together many of the charac- teristics that make the Italian presence in LA unique: as you may know our country, with just over 60 million i n h a b i t a n t s i s t h e e i g h t h largest country in the world in terms of scientific publica- tions. And part of this out- standing achievement is also due to the presence of Italian scientists at Southern Califor- nia research centers and uni- versities, most of whom are g a t h e r e d i n t h e n e w L o s Angeles chapter of the Asso- ciation of Italian Scientists in America (ISSNAF). F r o m y o u r p o i n t o f view, how should we rep- r e s e n t o u r c o u n t r y abroad? In general, and even more so in a city as influential in the world as Los Angeles, representing Italy is a great challenge, in the first place of perception. Especially in an era like this, marked by a strong push for communica- tive simplification on social media, representing the com- plexity and variety of Italian culture, history, and econo- my is not easy. Let me give you an example: the State of California, along with the States of New York and New Jersey, account for about two-thirds of Italian food and w i n e c o n s u m p t i o n i n t h e United States. These markets and consumers are clearly sensitive to Italian quality, yet they may not always be k n o w l e d g e a b l e a b o u t t h e great variety of wines, grapes, and territories that exist in I t a l y . N o t t o m e n t i o n tourism: American tourists in I t a l y , a c c o r d i n g t o t h e National Agency for Tourism (ENIT), were 19 million in 2019. Of these, 76 percent c o n c e n t r a t e d i n 5 I t a l i a n regions (in order of impor- tance Lazio, Tuscany, Veneto, Lombardy, and Campania). Therefore, it is evident how much room for growth there is for people to discover less- er-known Italian villages, beaches, and art cities. And these considerations concern r e a l i t i e s t h a t a r e e a s y t o u n d e r s t a n d . M u c h m o r e complex is shifting the focus on small and medium-sized Italian aerospace companies or on the contribution of Ital- ian excellence in semicon- ductors. In my opinion, the most important challenge is to represent a lesser-known b u t i n n o v a t i v e I t a l y a n d change the perception of our country, giving an image of a place rich in creativity and niches of excellence. A r e t h e r e a n y g o a l s you have set for yourself for this term in the Unit- ed States? My main goal is to ensure the effectiveness, transparen- cy, and efficiency of the Con- sulate in serving our users, primarily Italian and Italian- American citizens. Secondly, I would like to help change both the perception of Ital- ians in Los Angeles and Italy by Los Angelinos. First of all, i t i s i m p o r t a n t t o b e t t e r understand that Hollywood is only a part of this market. Los Angeles alone represents the 17th largest economy in the world (of which only a lit- tle over $120 billion is gener- ated by the movie industry). It is therefore important to offer a more complex but also more complete idea of what Los Angeles offers. Then, I would like to foster processes of aggregation among Ital- ians in the city. Italian immi- gration to LA is special in nature: it is rooted in the ear- liest migratory flows, and it grew over time with the con- tribution of aerospace engi- neers, advanced materials researchers, and digital mar- keting experts, all too often scattered over an enormous city space. R a ff a e l l a V a l e n t i n i i s t h e n e w Consul General in Los Angeles SILVIA NITTOLI The new Consul General in Los Angeles, Raffaella Valentini, with Giancarlo Giannini (Photo: Daniele Venturelli) NEWS & FEATURES TOP STORIES PEOPLE EVENTS

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