UPROOTING PASSION

Lucio Antonio Bianchi is a San Antonio-born, Italian-raised doctoral researcher at Michigan State University. His journey reflects a unique blend of African American and Italian influences that shaped his journey toward a profound passion for...

Ilaria Colasanti is an Italian entrepreneur born and raised on the seaside of Rome. Growing up with traveling parents, she harnessed an international mindset that led to her living abroad in Australia and the UK....

Donnatella Bove Parra is an Italian-Venezuelan born and raised in sunny Zulia State. Her background is nothing short of impressive as a former Deputy Assistant to the Venezuelan Ambassador of Canada and current Technical Adviser...

Vardon Hamdiu is the Swiss-Albanian Co-Founder of the revolutionary social platform Sparkable. With Albanian roots in war and conflict, Vardon has taken his passion for bridging divides from working for a Swiss president, to caring...

Sandra Kambikambi is on a deeply rooted mission to transform financial independence for women in Zambia. As the founder and managing director of MyScape Resource Center Limited, she has earned over 14 dedicated years of...

Fierce and driven, Kachusha Nkosha is a global health expert and WASH innovator. With deep roots in northern Zambia, she learned from her parents at a young age the importance of perseverance and living in...

Sally “Alex” Poppe has worked in conflict zones like Iraq, the West Bank, and Ukraine. In this captivating interview, she shares her life journey from a burnt-out actress and marketing professional to a highly impactful...

Jonathan Alphonse is a Haitian-Canadian-American with a myriad of cultural influences that has led him to his current career as an information security policy analyst. He shares in this inspiring interview how grit, perseverance, and...

Rockwell (Rocky) Clancy is a Doctor of Philosophy with a rooted passion in applying philosophy to areas of the rest of the world. He first sparked his interest in academia growing up near Chicago which...

Giorgia Calvaresi is an Italian entrepreneur based in Brussels. With experience living across countries and continents, she has demonstrated dynamic skills in public relations. No matter where Giorgia travels, she shares how deeply connected she...

Swapneel Mehta is the Mumbai-born and raised Founder of SimPPL- a non-profit providing open access research toward rebuilding trust online. Among many titles, Swapneel holds a doctorate in philosophy from the NYU Center for Data...

Rajita Dang is an Indo-Canadian, born in India and raised in Vancouver, Canada. From an early age, she was exposed to travel and the experience of living in unfamiliar places. In this interview, Rajita shares...

Coding prodigy and self-starter Salif Tankoano was born and raised in Burkina Faso. Studying and living across Europe and NYC, Salif never lost sight of his West African roots by emphasizing a strong work ethic...

Sarmed Rashid has demonstrated a diverse and impressive career spanning humanitarian aid in foreign countries like Afghanistan to working on the opioid crisis at the White House. Before Sarmed was traveling the world and working...

Laura Pioli is an Italian-raised, UK-based Senior Digital Marketing Expert with an impressive career working with brands like McLaren, Serie A, and Anthropologie. Inspired by some of the greatest writers like Fitzgerald and Fante, Laura...

Long Island native Max Hill is a seasoned financial analyst with an impressive career as a published contributing author and founder of the Built in the Bronx podcast at Lehman College. With humble beginnings growing...

Diina Engelbert is a Namibian-born fashion designer and CEO of Sparkle Couture. In addition to designing clothes, Diina is an entrepreneur coach, and alumni of She Rebuilds the World (SRW). In this inspiring interview, she...

Anna Paterlini is the Co-Founder of NEWU, a creative consulting agency based in Rome, Italy that specializes in the phygital approach. Before working on creative projects with brands like Prada and Google, Anna began her...

Martin Joseph is a New York-born archaeology student at the American University of Rome in Italy. Martin shares in this interview how his passion for archaeology developed into his focus on the technical side of...

Born in New York and raised across the United States before enlisting in the U.S. Army, Reydel Castillo is familiar with the concept of change. Today, Reydel is pursuing a Master’s in Entertainment Management while...

Eric García is a Richmond-raised Army Veteran based in Austin, Texas. With deep roots in valuing family and hard work, he has demonstrated these qualities across a six-year enlistment in the US Army and his...

Sowaida Nezami is a computer science major and current Master’s student in Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution at the American University of Rome. Born in Afghanistan, Sowaida’s life has taken many routes and paths. Through...

Before Jerry Calabrese became one of the leading experts in accountability at McDonald’s Corporation, he began his life deeply rooted in an Italian-American upbringing. In this interview, he shares how the early values he was...

Camilo Bayona-Mañosca is a Colombian-born, Canadian-raised U.S. Army Veteran who served in the 173rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team. He served an impressive term with notable achievements as an interpreter for NATO and Special Service missions...

Serenity Discko is the Founder of Aloe Bud, a self-care and mental health app designed to encourage taking time away from technology. Inspired by their upbringing, Serenity shares the story of how they discovered that...

Ashley Kippley is a current Sustainability and Built Heritage Intern at ICCROM while completing her master’s in Cultural Heritage at the American University of Rome. Born and raised on the New Hampshire shoreside, she shares...

Ieva Jākobsone is a Latvian-born businesswoman, entrepreneur, professor, and EU lawyer. Across the many impressive titles Ieva has earned, she is the co-founder of the Latvian-African NGO, “She Rebuilds the World” (SRW). This project aims...

Umar Shiru is an Employee and Labour relations manager with the Nigerian Ports Authority in Lagos, Nigeria. Most importantly, Umar is a Nigerian reformist who believes in a safe, stable, and successful future for Nigeria....

Suzanne El-Haj is a Palestinian and Argentinian-American from the Rio Grande Valley. She shares the incredible story of the two cultures of her parents coming together in America to start their careers and family. Suzanne...

Mahboba Islami is one of the strongest women I know. Starting from life in a Pakistani refugee camp to surviving in Afghanistan, Mahboba endured many challenges while becoming a trauma surgeon. Her story tells only...

Franc Sebantu is an emerging street photographer in Phoenix, Arizona. His work primarily captures the emotion of the large homeless community in downtown Phoenix. The most compelling aspect of Franc’s work is his ability to...

Peter Merlo is a Chicago-area musician, songwriter, and marketing specialist. Learning from the inspiring line of entrepreneurs in his family, Peter has worked hard toward his passions with an impressive internship with Grammy-winning producer Seth...

Jenna Bonfiglio is my longest best friend, my little sister. From a young age, Jenna dealt with hearing loss which impacted her life in many ways that have transformed over time. From hiding her hearing...

In the fourth episode of my Uprooting Passion series, I talk with my good friend Jordan McDaniels. Jordan, JLO, is an upcoming music artist from Chicago who has been with me from the start of...

In this interview, Amaris shares the beauty of slow-paced living in Puerto Rico and how it taught her to be patient throughout the phases of life. Today she is pursuing a Food Studies Master’s in...

For the second episode of my ‘Uprooting Passions’ series, I had the pleasure of interviewing my good friend and colleague, Elisa “Eli” Aceri. Eli and I met last year when I interned under her during...

Can you talk about your family’s history and where you were raised? I am American-born and my parents are Mexican immigrants from Durango. They immigrated here when they were 19 years old so they were...

We hear about Alzheimer’s and dementia more than ever as the World Health Organization reported this year that it now affects over 55 million patients around the world. The Lancet Public Health released data projecting...

For the last semester of my undergrad, I moved in with my 82-year-old nonna for a little over a year. My nonna’s name is Santa which means “saint” in Italian. I think this name could...