L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2016 www.italoamericano.org L'Italo-Americano 7 SAN FRANCISCO ITALIAN COMMUNITY T he Bay Area is pleased to welcome Lorenzo Ortona as the new San Francisco C o n s u l G e n e r a l o f I t a l y . Although headquartered in San Francisco, the Italian Consulate s e r v e s N o r t h e r n a n d C e n t r a l California, and a territory that extends from Hawaii to Alaska and Washington State. Consul General Ortona gradu- ated with a law degree from "La Sapienza University" of Rome, I t a l y . H e j o i n e d t h e I t a l i a n Foreign Service in 2002 and his f i r s t a s s i g n m e n t w a s a t t h e OSCE Office and, later, Russia and the countries of the former U S S R D e s k o f t h e I t a l i a n M inis tr y o f F o r eign A f f air s . From 2003 to 2004, he worked a s D e p u t y H e a d o f t h e Secretariat of the State Secretary for Foreign Affairs responsible for Europe. From 2004 to 2006, he served at the Crisis Unit of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs dealing with Italian nationals in crisis situations throughout the world, ranging from the 2004 Tsunami of December 2004 to abductions and evacuations of nationals globally. F r o m 2 0 0 6 t o 2 0 1 0 , M r . O r t o n a w a s a s s i g n e d t o t h e Permanent Mission of Italy to the European Union in Brussels as part of the foreign policy and c o m m o n s e c u r i t y i n t h e E U P o l i t i c a l a n d S e c u r i t y Committee (PSC). In 2010, he was assigned to the Embassy of Italy in Israel as Head of the E c o n o m i c , C o m m e r c i a l a n d Scientific Department. From December 2013 to September 2016, he acted as the Head of the Secretariat of the Directorate General for the European Union a t t h e M i n i s t r y o f F o r e i g n Affairs. On September 19, 2016, Mr. Ortona took over the functions of Consul General of Italy in San Francisco. He is married to Sheila Hanson Pierce and has two children, Luca and Sofia. Mrs. Ortona, originally from New York, is a journalist. C o n s u l G e n e r a l O r t o n a recently shared his thoughts with L'Italo-Americano about his new post by saying, "I feel deeply honored to be able to represent Italy in San Francisco and in the Northwestern quad- rant of the United States. "I feel the great complexity of the chal- lenge that awaits me and the expectation placed in the San Francisco Consulate General as a reference point for the remark- a b l e I t a l i a n a n d I t a l i a n - American community present here, a community that with its creativity, talent and hard work has made a decisive contribution to the creation and growth of this marvelous city, known and loved around the world. Today, the young fellow countrymen who come to the Bay Area and the U.S. Northwest continue to bring the best and the charm of our country. "We are going through a crit- ical moment in European and Italian history, and today, more than ever, we must engage in e v e r y e f f o r t t o p r o m o t e o u r country's system. The culture, the economy and Italian technol- ogy continue to be admired all over the world – especially in the United States - but require major reforms in order to be at the forefront of attracting invest- ment and creating jobs. In this part of the United States where innovation is an integral part of everyday life, you can certainly find the right answers to many obstacles by providing our ideas and capital to entrepreneurs n e e d e d t o r e v i v e o u r country. My staff and that of the Consulate are committed, u n d e r t h e g u i d a n c e o f o u r Embassy in Washington, to cre- CATHERINE ACCARDI The San Francisco Bay Area Welcomes Lorenzo Ortona, San Francisco's New Italian Consul General ate opportunities for our compa- nies and s tart-ups , to attract investments to Italy, and to pro- mote our language and our cul- ture, which is so strong and root- ed in this part of the United States. We shall do this in con- junction with the San Francisco I t a l i a n C u l t u r a l I n s t i t u t e " . C o n s u l G e n e r a l Ortona shared how delighted he is to be in San Francisco and how much he has enjoyed get- ting acquainted with the Bay Area. He is looking forward to the month of October which is considered the Italian Heritage M o n t h i n S a n F r a n c i s c o ' s Italian-American community. The Consul General partici- pated in the recent Madonna del Lume Parade, the October 9th San Francisco Italian Heritage Parade, welcoming the members of the Associazione Nazionale Carabinieri participating in the Parade, and the Grand Ball. Additionally, Consul General Ortona, in these first days, inau- gurated the Anna Magnani Film Festival and the exhibition of the I t a l i a n c o n t e m p o r a r y a r t i s t Fiamma Montezemolo, and was the guest of honor at the 10 th Anniversary of BAIA, Business A s s o c i a t i o n o f A m e r i c a Italy. Particularly touching for t h e C o n s u l G e n e r a l w a s t h e recent tribute to Enzo Torresi, one of Italy's main representa- t i v e s o f S i l i c o n V a l l e y . T h e C o n s u l G e n e r a l n o t e d h o w important Torresi's contributions w e r e i n p a v i n g t h e w a y f o r Italian innovations, building a solid bridge between the United States and Italy. Of particular importance, the Consul General has been sup- p o r t i n g t h e o n g o i n g w o r k t o assist Italy with recent earth- q u a k e r e l i e f e f f o r t s , s u c h a s f u n d r a i s e r s h e l d a t v a r i o u s Italian restaurants and venues throughout the Bay area. He is moved by the Bay Area's dedi- cation to these efforts. The connection between the United States and Italy is espe- c i a l l y i m p o r t a n t t o C o n s u l G e n e r a l O r t o n a a s h i s o w n Grandfather, Egidio Ortona, was an Italian diplomat who spent 25 years in different moments of his c a r e e r i n t h e U n i t e d States. Egidio Ortona ended his c a r e e r a s A m b a s s a d o r t o Washington D.C. in 1975, in which he managed to strengthen the ties between Italy and the United States. The Consul General shared that his grandfather "came over to America after WWII when t h e r e w a s n o t y e t a n I t a l i a n E m b a s s y , w i t h t h e g o a l o f rebuilding the trust between the two countries. He loved America and he passed that on to me." What better way to embrace our new San Francisco Italian Consul General, Lorenzo Ortona, t h a n t o e x t e n d t o h i m o u r warmest welcome throughout October during San Francisco's Italian Heritage month. The Consulate General of Italy in San Francisco is located a t 2 5 9 0 W e b s t e r S t r e e t S a n Francisco, CA 94115. For more information, you may visit their website at http://www.conssan- francisco.esteri.it. The phone number is (415) 292-9200, and email address is con.sanfrancis- co@cert.esteri.it. Consul General Ortona (seated in center), with BAIA at their 10th anniversary event on September 30, 2016 (Photograph courtesy of Brett Garling) Consul General Lorenzo Ortona. Photograph courtesy of the San Francisco Italian Consulate General

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