Maria E. Scordo Allen, Honorary Vice Consul of Italy

Advisor to the Board: Government Relations Representative

Maria Scordo Allen was born in New York City and moved to to Denver, Colorado at the age of eight. Following a multicultural education and a 10-year career as flight attendant at Continental Airlines, and raising a family, Maria began to assist her mother, Mrs. Caterina Noya Scordo, with her responsibilities as the Honorary Vice Consul of Italy. Upon Mrs. Scordo’s retirement, Ms. Allen was appointed herself as Honorary Vice Consul of Italy for Colorado. Among other leadership roles, Ms. Allen served as Vice President of the Federation of Italian Organizations in Colorado.
E-mail:  italyconsulcolo@msn.com

Dick Marin

Mr. Marin has recently retired after a 40-year career in Computer IT and Telecommunications where he held several management roles.
He is a First Generation Italian American. His Father, a veteran of the
Italian Army Infantry, immigrated in 1925 and his mother in 1938. Dick still visits relatives in the Veneto region on occasion, where both of his parents were born. Mr. Marin inherited from them knowledge of the Italian language and to this day speaks the Venetian Dialect. E-mail: dmarin@rmiacc.org

Lee Rhodes

Treasurer

Mr. Rhodes is a CPA with over two decades of experience in international business finance, accounting and executive management.  Lee is a Certified Public Accountant and earned an MBA in International Management at the University of Denver.  He has worked in and around financial systems in the United States as well as England, Italy, Canada and Mexico.  Currently, Lee is managing director of Rhodes Consulting International, a tax and financial administration consulting firm. E-mail: rcicpa@comcast.net

Emanuela Panebianco

Chair, Member Services Committee

From Rome, Italy, Ms. Panebianco is a bilingual marketing and communications consultant with over 10 years of executive management experience. She left her position as Corporate Strategy Manager at Electronic Data Systems (EDS) in 1993 to co-found DDD, Inc., a Colorado market leader in innovative VOIP services. Since then, she also founded MyItalianConnection.com, locally known as “Colorado’s link to Italian culture, language & local events.” Ms. Panebianco holds a MBA degree in Marketing and Entrepreneurship, and a BS in Media Communications. She’s also a graduate of LLLEP (Entrepreneurship Training for Educators Program) and practices as PT faculty at CU and Front Range Community College teaching business as well as Italian classes. E-mail: manu@rmiacc.org

Filicia Marchesi Dodson
Secretary
Mrs. Dodson is a native of the Detroit , Michigan area and moved to Colorado in 1997.  Her background includes over twenty years in private banking and mortgage lending.  She is the daughter of two first generation Italian-Americans.  Her father’s family is from the town of Vestone , in the Lombardy region, near Brescia .  Her maternal grandfather was from Cosenza , in Calabria , and her maternal grandmother is from Ivrea, in the Piemontese region, north of Milan and near the French border.

Joseph M. Fanganello, Esq.
Legal Counsel
Mr. Fanganello is a Denver native; his family has been in Denver for over 100 years.  He graduated from Regis University, and the University of Colorado School of Law.  He has practiced law for 37 years, with concentration in real estate, general business, and wills and probate.  He has been very active with many professional and cultural programs including Central City Opera Company, Denver Opera Company, Opera Colorado, Il Circolo Italiano and Amici. Mr. Fanganello has served as legal counsel for hundreds of Colorado businesses and families.  He and his wife, JoAnne, have three children:  Duffy (Alaskan Salmon fish company – Denver), Anne (fashion designer with Zac Posen – New York City), and Joan (insurance and investment services – Denver). E-mail: jfanglaw@solucian.com