FYIDC | WHO’S NEXT
WHO’S NEXT Anastasia Dellaccio talks Giving Tuesday, Earth Day and Dolci Gelati. BY ERICA MOODY
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he’s a petite firebrand who’s played key outreach roles on special inititaives such as the International Day of Happiness and Giving Tuesday, the United Nations Foundation’s charitable answer to Black Friday and Cyber Monday. In March, Anastasia Dellacio, 34, was honored by the Global Connections for Women Foundation for her work in community development and advocacy for women. She is also co-owner, along with her husband, of artisan gelato company Dolci Gelati.
AND YOU ARE INVOLVED WITH THE BIG EARTH DAY FESTIVAL ON THE MALL? Yes, the Earth Day Global Citizen Festival on the National Mall is going to bring thousands to the Mall for a purpose. It’s part of the new set of sustainable development goals by the U.N., a pathway for the next fifteen years to eliminate poverty, create more sustainability and create a better world, so this concert is going to rally people around the new global goals. There are certain things in the world that really bring people together and know no boundaries. No matter where you are in the world, gelato brings happiness,
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YOU SEEM TO LOVE WASHINGTON. WHAT IS IT ABOUT THE CITY THAT YOU’RE DRAWN TO? I’m definitely a Washingtonian through and through. I love this city. It seems to me that everyone you meet here has such a deep sense of purpose. Even the businesses are connected to a cause. At Dolci Gelati, we have a ton of events where we give gelato donations. I’m a true believer that as a small business in the city, we might not be a platinum sponsor, but we can certainly give back in our own way.
(Photo by Tony Powell)
and music brings people together, so why not bring people together around music for a good purpose as well. WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS FOR THE WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENTS DINNER WEEK? We [The U.N. Foundation] are getting ready for our third year of the Global Beat, which is during the week of the dinner. Of all the parties happening, ours is the premier one that focuses on celebrating foreign correspondents. Normally foreign correspondents aren’t necessarily the ones who get noticed at all, but this year is different because not only are they making the news, they’ve been part of the news. We’ve also confirmed
YOU RECENTLY OPENED A DOLCI GELATI IN SHAW. WHAT’S NEXT FOR THE BUSINESS? We are going to have a really big grand opening bash on May 5. It’ll be a way to bring the city to us and show everyone that it’s spring and time to eat gelato! Our gelato is from homemade Italian recipes that have been in my husband’s family since the 1920s. We’re always getting new flavors and we love to crowdsource them. We love when people Tweet and Facebook us with flavors they want to see. We now have fresh fruit sundaes, a popsicle dip station and new summer flavors like a melon mint, along with our top-selling flavors like salted caramel and toasted coconut. Also, we are franchising our store to our partner Wahoo Foods from the Nats stadium so a Dolci Gelati will open early June in Alexandria if everything goes well! DO YOU EVER TAKE A VACATION? I’m actually going to Vegas for my birthday! We’re doing a girls’ weekend.
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YOU WORKED ON LAUNCHING GIVING TUESDAY. DID THE U.N. FOUNDATION COME UP WITH THIS CONCEPT? We launched it with the 92nd Street Y. I was brought on to help strategize and launch it in 2012 and I’ve been serving as a spokesperson for Giving Tuesday and helping to run all the communicationså ever since. Last year we had around 24,000 partners around the world join. Everyone, from Donald Rumsfeld to Pharell, all banded together.
Alfre Woodard, which we’re really excited about.