, THE 2021 SIF NATIONAL LEADERSHIP GRANT RECIPIENTS ALESSIA WELCH The Charles Evans Scholarship
Hometown: Dallas, TX School: University of California San Diego – La Jolla, California
• Earned a perfect score of 36 on the ACT and an unweighted 4.0 at Ursuline Academy of Dallas * Completed over 650 hours of community service volunteering for the Dallas Zoo as a Zoo Crew Volunteer, Global Elementary Model United Nations as Secretary General, and the Dallas Mavericks as a Ball Kid • Competes as a figure skater for the Dallas Figure Skating Club
ALEXANDER DENNIS Columbus Citizens Foundation Scholarship
Hometown: Franklin, MI School: University of Michigan Medical School – Ann Arbor, MI
• Received a Fulbright Student Award to teach English in Campobasso (Molise region), where he taught in classrooms with curricula focusing on economics, marketing, and international relations • Joined a local theater school in Campobasso, where he taught improvisational acting courses in Italian • Spent the 2020 summer translating his grandfather’s
memoirs into English from the Barese dialect of Italian
AMANDA COCCIA The Anthony J. & Eldora B. Perfilio Scholarship for Italian Language Hometown: Medford, NY School: Middlebury College – Middlebury, VT
• Presented at the Middlebury College
Spring Student Symposium on the History of Italian American Food (in Photos) • Awarded scholarships from the National Organization for Italian American Women (NOIAW) and the National Italian American Foundation (NIAF) to continue her Italian language studies • Awarded a scholarship through the Italian American Committee on Education (IACE) to participate in their Summer Program studying Italian and experiencing Italian culture in Narni, Italy (Umbria region), for two weeks in collaboration with the Narnia Arts Festival
ANTHONY ZITO The Henry F. Salvatori Memorial Scholarship
Hometown: San Jose, CA School: California Polytechnic State University – San Luis Obispo, CA
• Earned Principal’s Honor Roll eight
times and is a National Honor Society
1 2
and California Scholarship Federation member
• Served as FIRST Robotics Team 1351 Vice President and
was FIRST Dean’s List Semi-Finalist
• Served as Staff Writer for The Monarch, Archbishop Mitty
High School’s student newspaper
BENNETT DiDENTE COMERFORD The Lucia & Antonio De Vico Family Scholarship Hometown: Bend, OR School: Harvard University/Harvard Divinity School – Cambridge, MA
• Received the Italian Book Award,
Boston College Romance Languages and Literatures Department • Awarded the U.S. Department of State Critical Language Scholarship • Received the Harvard University Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning Certificate of Distinction for Teaching
CATHERINE CAVANAUGH The Franzone Family Scholarship Hometown: Lansdale, PA
School: University of Pittsburgh – Pittsburgh, PA
• Named 2021 U.S. Presidential Scholar
and received National Honor Society Scholarship
• Performed at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center in the
Nashville Fields of Gold Honors Orchestra
• Founded the Spanish Translation Project, helping hundreds
of student learn biology, health, and chemistry in five countries and 13 states
COLE MCCUBBINS The DeSantis/Giuffrida Scholarship Hometown: Salt Lake City, UT School: University of Cambridge – Cambridge, United Kingdom
• Graduated magna cum laude from the
University of Utah
• Recognized for his novel economic
research on food insecurity and disruptive technologies
• Became the first in his family to acquire Italian citizenship
by jure sanguinis
ESTER LUNA The Lido Club of Washington, DC Scholarship Hometown: Washington, DC School: Yale University – New Haven, CT
• Speaks three native languages (Italian,
English, and French) and is fluent in Chinese and Spanish
T h e S o n s o f I ta ly Fo undati o n
