Lindsay Marie Morris

The bulk of Italian immigration to the United States occurred between 1880 and 1920, with approximately 4 million Italians arriving during this period, mainly from Southern Italy and Sicily. That means most Italian Americans are at least four generations removed from their Italian heritage.

Traditions fade along with those connections. It's no wonder that one of the most pressing concerns among cultural organizations is how to reach and inspire younger audiences.

At 27 years old, Patrick Ross Campesi bucks the trend. 

While many of his peers may feel distanced from their roots, he's spent the past five years leaning in. It all started with the passing of his Sicilian grandfather in 2016 and a desire to better understand and embrace his legacy. He began researching his genealogy, learning more about his great-great-grandparents, who emigrated from the Trapani area to the United States in the 19th century and found work as sugarcane farmers in Louisiana. 

About five years ago, Patrick decided he could do more and help other Italian Americans connect with their heritage. He's since taken on leadership roles with St. Expedite Lodge Order of the Italian Sons and Daughters of America, American-Italian Federation of the Southeast, and Italian American Future Leaders. In 2023, he founded the Louisiana Italian American Heritage Foundation, for which he serves as president. 

Patrick shared his experience, present and future challenges, and what he hopes to give back to the greater Italian American community.

Patrick Campesi's great-grandfather Joseph Campesi with parents, Vincenzo and Gaetana

Tell us about your background and connection to your heritage.

My great-great-grandparents Vincenzo and Gaetana came to America in 1890 from Sicily because there were not many job opportunities for them in Sicily. 

Some of the families stayed in New Orleans, and not long after that, the other half went up to what's called Iberville Parish, where I was born and raised. We moved up there probably in the early 1900s. 

We were sugarcane farmers there until the 1927 flood, which pushed us more toward the river. Once that flood happened, the levee broke, water crested, and my family worked with the Army Corps of Engineers in our little town to rebuild the levee. Half of the men in the family used the mules and the donkeys to help rebuild the levee with whatever forming equipment we had. The other half went down to some smaller towns in Louisiana to trade fur and provide for the family. It wasn't long after that, after the Great Depression, my family moved further south, about 15 minutes by car now to White Castle, and that's where I was really brought up. 

My connection to all of this was my grandfather Ross Joseph Campesi. He was born in 1925. He grew up farming sugarcane, but he was the one who really took the family from tenant farmers to owning the land. He started building businesses from there, and with only a high school education, achieved the American dream.

Poggioreale, Sicily

I was 18 when he passed, so I knew him for a good portion of my life, and he always would talk about how we're Sicilian. We're from Poggioreale, and there's an organization called Poggioreale in America. I didn't realize that there were other Poggiorealesi in America outside of my family. We grew up in what they called the Campesi Compound. I was with my uncles, cousins, and everyone in that area. I was just so confined to that little box. But then I found this organization, and this opened my world up.

My grandfather would say, "Family first, always." It is something that stuck with me and was very impactful to me.

Once he passed, and as we entered the pandemic, I started learning more about the family, genealogy, and history. My dad was telling me more and more stories; I was just more interested in it.

Not long after that, I reached out to a gentleman named Charles Marsala, who is very involved in Louisiana. He's been my mentor and has brought me through the ranks, introducing me to people like Marianna Gatto, Basil Russo, and John Viola, the Italians pushing to get young Italian Americans involved again. And I've been very lucky because of that.

I was instituted as President of the St. Expedite Lodge of the Order ISDA. That was my first foray into any type of nonprofit cultural leadership position. From there, I was elected Vice President of the Federation of the Southeast. Then, two years ago, I started the Louisiana Italian-American Heritage Foundation. Lastly, from 2024 to 2025, I was Chairman of the Italian American Future Leaders. It's been a busy four years, but I wouldn't change it for the world.

Tell us about St. Expedite Lodge Order ISDA and your role.

St. Expedite Lodge of the Order ISDA is a local chapter of ISDA. I was put in as vice president in 2021, and then the president ended up stepping down. He said, "Look, you're really the one who's pushing to get the younger people into it; you should take the presidency."

I had to bring together people that I knew at the time, four years ago, to help create an organization. Some of the roster has changed; now, it's just an amazing group of people. They're hardworking.

A group of us went to the Italian American Future Leaders Convention. We typically go down to New Orleans a couple of times a quarter, and we'll see Louis Prima's daughter Lena Prima perform and maybe go to an Italian restaurant. Our focus is on social events for young professionals. But we do have events like a Christmas event at a place called Houmas House, where we have people of all ages. We want anybody who is Italian or Italian-loving to celebrate the culture with us here. 

Patrick's great-grandparents, Margherita and Joseph, in the sugarcane fields where the family worked

How did the Louisiana Italian-American Heritage Foundation start, and what is your vision as President?

I started that in December of 2023. It began as a political action committee, but because I'm in finance now, I can't be involved in any PACs. We pivoted straight to a nonprofit, and we focus more on fundraising and some lobbying, but not directly like a PAC.

One of the main things we're focusing on right now is fundraising for a monument to the Sicilian sugarcane harvester. So my family obviously came over here and did that. A lot of Sicilians came over and contributed to the growth of sugarcane production, not just in Louisiana but across the country and the world.

My grandfather worked with Louisiana State University to go around the world teaching third-world countries how to actually cultivate a better crop and to have a better yield. We lucked out in that, being here in Louisiana with such great soil. So he was teaching those practices, but that's a direct contribution just for my family, not to mention all the other Sicilians who came here and did that.

Another thing that we're doing is the Heritage Commission. New Jersey has established the New Jersey Italian American Heritage Commission, a piece of legislation that gets passed. It's a commission that the New Jersey State government established. It's not appropriated in any funds by the state. They have internal fundraising or grants from the Italian government. They create coursework that they can provide for schools to teach Italian contributions and Italian history here in America. One of the videos is about the relationship between Italy and America, as far as Amerigo Vespucci (we're named after an Italian), how the American government is mimicking the Italian Republic, our accounting system, and all these everyday different contributions with an Italian root. That's something we want to bring to Louisiana. 

Share more about your involvement with the Italian American Future Leaders.

It is like a melting pot and a mastermind group where people come from all different walks of life, from 21 to 35, with all different experiences. Whether they run organizations or are members of them or have ideas for social media, it's a way for all of us to come together and say, "Hey, I was dealing with something with my lodge in Louisiana; how did you do it in Indiana?" And that's real-life experience. There's a guy who does amazing festivals up there, and he's helped coach us on how to do some of the feasts we do down here. So it's just a great way for us to connect and network.

What led me to want to get involved with it? I'm a people person. I like to be connected. I like to network with people and to share in our culture. It's something that's so beautiful but will die out if we don't pass it on to the next generation.

As far as leadership was concerned, I saw something great and wanted to be a part of it. But it wasn't just me. There was a team of people that I was working with, and even while I was chairman, a lot of people helped us put together that conference that we have every year. But just to be a part of something like that and to learn from all the Basil Russos, John Violas, and Pat O'Boyles of the world, who have done so much for the community in their lifetime, but even more so with IAFL, has just been an amazing experience. 

Attracting younger generations is a challenge for cultural organizations. How are you working to overcome that?

It's difficult across the board. One of the things we've found is that having leadership positions available for the younger people makes a difference. Representing the young Italians of Louisiana and having the positions I have shows others that if you are active in this, this is also something that you can attain.

In many of these older organizations, the old guard doesn't want to hand over the baton; it could be more vanity or ego. As Italians, we're sometimes guilty of that; we're also competitive. When you have an older organization that's strong but won't allow younger people to participate, well, they're going to start their own thing, and now you're splitting the community you're trying to bring together. So it is not really fruitful for anybody.

It's important to have good mentors who help bring you up through the ranks and introduce you to the people that you need to know if you were to take that position, so you're not thrown to the wolves. I've mentioned Charles Marsala because he's just been such a huge part of my life in the Italian world. Working with him was the first time I'd ever been in a nonprofit and working in any type of leadership. So I had to learn a lot of stuff, but he taught me the ropes. He had somebody who taught him the ropes, so it's like them reaching out that hand.

Many younger Italian Americans looking for that identity, and our culture and community will take that offering, that olive branch, if you will, and get more active. One thing that we do is just have events that people want to go to. We want to keep an air of tradition and culture while making it modern and attractive for a young Italian professional to actually want to come to the events, keeping it upbeat but still maintaining that central tradition and culture we all collectively share. 

What initiatives or programs are you most proud of implementing or supporting?

I'm a very proud Italian American from Louisiana. When people think of Italian Americans, they think of New Jersey and New York, but they forget about California, Florida, and everybody across the country. But we're here, just a different flavor of the Italian American pie. So one of the things I'm most proud of, outside of just seeing the growth of IFL last year, was the Louisiana delegation that we had come in. Some people I was very close with, and some I didn't even know were from Louisiana, and they showed up there. Now, we've got our group, which has experienced IAFL, and we represented Louisiana very well.

Outside of that, locally with the St. Expedite Lodge, it's just the growth that we've had, not only in total membership but also with leaders who want to take action, take part, and take responsibility in the development of this organization. We now have a marketing department that works on social media, whether it be Instagram posts, Instagram Reels, or Stories, trying just to have content continuously put out there, not just something to put out there, but something meaningful. We have an event coordinating department as well, which is planning the Spring Serata. 

Patrick's grandfather Ross with cousin Grace Cannizzaro

What do you hope to share with your community?

It's multifaceted, for one, as I look back to the little enclaves here in Louisiana. We used to have the little Italys across the French Quarter. It used to be called Little Palermo. There were so many Sicilians and Italians there, but as people age, they move out, die out, or become more successful because their families saved enough money to send them to school. They wanted a better life, and when they moved out, that community disappeared.

I want to bring that community back, not just locally, but on a national scale where it's a national enclave, not just limited to Louisiana. I think IAFL is the perfect breeding ground for that.

I got stuck in New York two years ago on a flight back from Italy. I had some friends I met from IAFL who drove in from Massachusetts, and I had people who stayed with me for one day, took me around, and showed me around the area. I would never have known them and never would've been able to experience that had I not been at IAFL. Another example was when I was in New Orleans last October. Two friends, one from North Carolina and the other from New Jersey, came down for our film festival. Sure enough, we met another guy who happened to be in New Orleans and had attended IAFL the year before from Texas. We all just got coffee and beignets in the French Quarter.

It's just bringing that community together. And I think outside of just the local sense of things, we're in a digital age where network is just so much more expansive, and that's something that I'd like to bring for us here is not just in Louisiana, but being able to help a friend who wants to maybe move to New Orleans or who wants to open a business or has a connection that I have here that could benefit them. I'd like to be able to expand that. We will bring that back together, but on a national scale.

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Chris R. Vaccaro sits in front of a wall of plaques and a display case, where you'll find his nine Murrow awards, two Emmy statues, his high school letter, and a collection of bobbleheads. The Long Island, New York-based media executive, professor, and author is just as proud of his Italian heritage, which includes ties to Palermo and Giuliana, Sicily, and Turin in Northern Italy.

He's found a way to combine his passions for storytelling, sports, and promoting Italian culture in his daily work and community leadership. He founded the Italian American Heritage Society of Long Island and serves as the Executive Trustee of the Italian American Baseball Foundation and U.S. Press Officer for the Federation of Italian Baseball and Softball. He's also the Director of Graduate Journalism at Hofstra University's Lawrence Herbert School of Communication and Vice President/President-Elect of the Society of Professional Journalists. He's doing all that and more as he pursues a doctorate in leadership studies at Louisiana State University. 

Chris took time to share more about his involvement, journey, and what he hopes to contribute to his community.

How and why did you found the Italian Heritage Society of Long Island?

There were these kinds of come-to-Jesus, lightbulb moments, like, "There are a lot of Italian organizations out there. Not all of them are working together."

Many of them are not focused on regional advocacy. Long Island is big—118 miles long and 26 miles wide, with millions of people. If it were a state, it would be the 12th biggest state in terms of population. So a lot is going on here, including one of the most heavily dense populations of Italian-Americans. I never felt that any single organization was rallying from a regional perspective.

I'm already very involved with the Italian-American Baseball Foundation and write for the National Italian American Foundation as their sports columnist. I felt inspired to create a regionally focused organization while respecting the Sons of Italy, the Knights of Columbus, and the lodges and smaller chapters that exist through other organizations.

I don't want to be some outsider coming in and working my way up the ladder. I don't need to do that at this point in my life and career. I'm already established. I am a leader. I have a vision. I know how to form nonprofits. I know how to advocate, educate, and build community. So I said, "Let me do it with my own organization."

That process started in 2023 and came to fruition in 2024 with some partnership agreements and the first inaugural Italian celebration. Now, we have so much more planned for this year and beyond. So it's been a lot of fun and a privilege to do it on behalf of our ancestors and millions of Italian Americans on Long Island.

Share some of the Italian Heritage Society of Long Island activities with us.

The biggest thing we've done is build the organization through partnerships—partnering with the Long Island Chapter of the American Association of Teachers of Italian and the Center for Italian Studies at Stony Brook University. Those are very important strategic steps to let people know we exist, do it with people in education and advocacy, and promote their language, heritage, and culture. That was a big part of 2024.

I immensely respect teachers. I have been a professor for many years at Hofstra. I've worked very closely with many school districts and school systems from a communications perspective. I felt that if I could connect with the teachers who teach about culture, heritage, and language, that would be a really important step. So, we did that from both the public school and higher education perspectives.

We hosted our first big Long Island Italian Celebration, where hundreds of people came out and had some incredible honorees. We celebrated who we are as a heritage group. We did it in October for Italian Heritage Month. We also hosted a bocce get-together last year from a fun social perspective. And I organized Italian Heritage Night with the New York Islanders.

This year, we're looking at specific social outings to bring together different businesses and partnerships. We're looking at doing the second annual Italian Celebration again in October.

We're looking at having events at a local vineyard, specifically with the American Association of Teachers of Italian. I hope to launch or form a bocce tournament for a Long Island championship this year.

Regionally speaking, we want to be the connective tissue of all Long Island groups here. I want people to come to us to see what else is going on everywhere. This year, we will launch a directory and database where you can find all of that. We're in the process of putting it all together. And believe it or not, a lot of stuff goes on, including data mining, calendar mining, and relationship management, to help make that happen.

You also co-host the Renaissance Minds podcast. Tell us about that.

The idea came from Silvia Davi, an Italian American Heritage Society of Long Island executive board member and somebody I admire greatly. She is a woman who cares deeply about her heritage and her family. We have so many ideals and values that align.

She reached out on LinkedIn about 18 months ago with similar thoughts and wanted to get involved. And I said, first of all, "We'd love to have you on board." Shortly after, she told me about the Renaissance Minds blog she has kept for many years and uses as a cross-pollinator of content. I said, "Hey, we should turn that into something with a podcast." She had the idea as well.

And I said, "I am a professor at Hofstra. I think I can get us on 88.7 FM, and we can probably film it and record it in a studio there."

It didn't take long for that to come to life. So now we have half a dozen episodes out there and another half a dozen or so in the can that will be published over the coming weeks and months.

It's a wonderful platform to educate people about Italian heritage and culture, but through complex thinkers and doers who have done things differently than others in the world—business people, doctors, lawyers, professors, writers, media folks, and entrepreneurs. We don't have one specific type of person. The person we speak to is Italian or Italian American. They're passionate. They're doing something unique and something that, again, we could educate our audience on.

It's been a lot of fun. Every time we have one of these conversations, we learn something, and then we know they're good people we'd like to tie to our brand. And Renaissance Minds is sponsored and underwritten by the Italian American Heritage Society of Long Island.

IABF at Fenway Italian Night

Share more about the Italian American Baseball Foundation, for which you serve as Executive Trustee.

IABF was founded by Joseph Quagliano and Carmine Gangone, friends of mine who have worked hard to make their vision come true. Five years ago, they brought me into that vision. Since then, I've helped them grow it, telling the story, managing the marketing and communications, creating many relationships, building Italian Heritage games across the country, and amplifying what we do with our annual gala.

It's a lot of fun because we love being Italian, obviously, but we also love baseball. Many people in Italy feel the same way, and we're trying to amplify their message and their need for resources. The ability to bring those Italians to America to play is really special. We partnered with Francisco Cervelli and the folks in Grosseto, Italy, to launch the Francisco Cervelli-Italian American Baseball Foundation Academy. We do camps and clinics, ensuring the youth hear from incredible coaches and have a beautiful experience. We're getting just as much out of it as they are because it's a profound moment for us to be able to stand on a baseball field in Italy. The history is such that American servicemen brought the game to Italy during World War II. They played it there when they had time, and after the war, the game has stayed, and the memory of those servicemen lives on because baseball is America's pastime.

So there's a really fun full circle. Every time we're there, we see the history and how we're building for a brighter future that impacts Italian kids, which is what it's all about. Could our ancestors have ever imagined we would be traveling back to their native land to teach and coach and build relationships? They could have never imagined that. I can't even put into words how special it is when we're there on that soil. And we do that because of all the work we put in for fundraising, the events we host, and the relationships we've created here in America. 

Describe your role as the U.S. press officer for the Federation of Italian Baseball and Softball.

That came about because of my work and dedication to the Italian American Baseball Foundation. We've formed these relationships over the last several years, and based on my knowledge of the game, my connections in media and sports in America, and my pure love and devotion to all things Italian baseball, they tapped me to work with their press office.

A lot of work involves translating their Italian stories into English versions and posting them on social media, primarily through IABF. We're all connected in many ways, informing America about what's going on in Italy, whether I'm writing about it or posting about it on social media.

The role will be amplified, especially during 2026, when the World Baseball Classic happens and Team Italy comes to America to play their first-round games in Houston. I'll be a very valuable asset on the ground before, during, and after that really big international tournament, helping with media, content strategy, and total promotion of the Italian team.

Incredible players, coaches, and front-office executives are helping build that roster and will eventually facilitate playing and coaching. I will be a storyteller with them. I will be some of the glue that could help bring people together and understand what they're doing, whether working with Major League Baseball, other partners in the United States, or sponsorships and development—however I can help. 

We have a really fun stretch ahead of us. After 2026, we set our sights on the 2028 Olympics, which will be in Los Angeles. It's going to be a unique few years, for sure.

Chris R. Vaccaro throws the first pitch at a Washington Nationals game in 2023.

You threw the first pitch at a Washington Nationals game. Tell us about that experience.

That was a product of my coordinating the Italian Heritage games across Major League Baseball. Through the Italian American Baseball Foundation, one of the key endeavors I have built and executed is reaching out to every Major League club and many Minor League clubs to facilitate the Italian Heritage Games.

Those games could include several marketing and promotional activations, whether it's a giveaway item that somebody gets when they walk into the stadium, like a jersey with some sort of Italian rhetoric, markings, or logos, music played in the stadium, members of our board bringing out the lineup card, or, in my case, throwing out the first pitch.

It will forever be one of the coolest moments of my life, especially from a sporting perspective. And I've done a lot of unique things in sports. I threw a strike right down the plate; no pressure at all! I was practicing the week before with my son and my brother in my backyard. And the really special aspect of it was after I threw the strike, after everyone's cheering, I walked off the mound doing the Italian hand gesture and smiling. It was a really, really fun moment. 

The bigger connection there for us is that the general manager of the Washington Nationals is Mike Rizzo, a proud Italian American whom we have honored as our executive of the year with IABF at our annual gala. He has helped roll out the red carpet, but we've also sold thousands of tickets to those games. A percentage of the sales for the Italian Heritage Games goes towards the IABF Scholarship Fund, which helps get Italian Americans to play college baseball or softball.

It's a full circle, a cycle of doing good, making an impact, enhancing the cultural experience for people who want to come here, and educating Americans about what is going on in Italy through baseball and softball. It always revolves back to the bigger picture. 

Chris R. Vaccaro was married on the Sachem High School football field.

Sports play a large role in your personal life and relationships. You were married on the Sachem High football field. Share that experience.

We were married on the football field. My wife, Theresa, and I are very involved in our community on Long Island. Sachem is the second-largest school district in New York State. It's also not just a town. Several towns were centralized from an educational perspective in 1955 to form Sachem. It is a massive school district—2000-plus employees, 13,000-plus students, two high schools, 10 other buildings, and many elementary schools.

I'm a product of it. I grew up there, and I went there. We live here, and we raise our children here. They attend the same schools I attended. I am the district historian. I am the president and founder of our alumni association and our education foundation. I run our Hall of Fame. I founded and run our Hall of Honor. I provide speakers. I speak on certain topics; we bring alumni back.

We're talking 11 years ago (12 years ago in October). My wife said, "Hey, wouldn't it be unique if we got married on the field?"

She brought it up. I always like to make that very clear. It wasn't my idea, but, of course, I jumped at it, and we made it happen. And we are the first and only people to marry at Fred Fusaro Alumni Stadium.

It was tremendous. We had seats on the turf at the 50-yard line (it's a turf field), and we walked out of the Native American headdress that the team ran out of. We ran out with smoke machines and AC-DC's "Thunderstruck" playing as I walked down the aisle.

We had mini football giveaway items for attendees. We created a game day program modeled after the same design as when they dedicated the field's name to our legendary head coach. There is a lot of connectivity between our history, community culture, and what we did that day. It was a special moment for my wife and me and the community. 

Which recognition has been the most meaningful to you personally among your many honors and awards, and why?

The Emmy Awards are very special because there's tremendous significance in winning those in broadcast and the Murrow Awards, which I've also won. They're all team awards based on my leadership and the teams I oversaw at News 12, a New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut broadcast outlet. Those are really important. The awards I've gotten from the Italian American community, the Dante Award from the Italian American Teachers Association, and the Leadership Award from the Italian Language Foundation are special because they are about way more than just me. I wouldn't be here if it weren't for my ancestors who came here not knowing what they were getting into when they got on those ships and came to America. I always talk about how I am a product of what they sought. I am living the American dream. 

While those are really important, the Beacon Award I received from the Ellis Island Honors Society is tremendously important and meaningful. It speaks to the foundation that was set up in honor of the place where my ancestors went. They went to Ellis Island, got off the ships there, and were registered there. To have received recognition for my work in culture and heritage is profound.

I'm in the Long Island Journalism Hall of Fame, and IABF was inducted into the New York State Baseball Hall of Fame as an organization. I'm also in the Sachem Athletic Hall of Fame for contributing to our community. All of those things are so important.

It's almost difficult to put into words, but the ones related to my heritage define my blood, my existence, and my overall being.

I'm lucky. I put in the work and am happy to get honored, but when I'm honored, it's really about the people I do the work for. It's really about my children, leaving them a legacy that they should look up to, aspire toward themselves, and be proud of our name. That's what it's all about. 

Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito with Chris R. Vaccaro

How do you hope to influence future generations in media, education, and cultural preservation?

The most important thing is ensuring we don't forget who we were or are as a heritage group, a community, or an industry. In everything I do and all the hats I wear, I'm huge on honoring the past and inspiring the future. I mean that. I try so hard to make sure we paint a vivid picture of our history and ensure that the current generation and future generations concurrently understand where they came from.

There's a story to be told. They need to understand it. It's not just what's happening to them right now. We got here for a reason. Let's understand that, learn from it, embrace it in almost all cases, and grow from there. I firmly believe we can't get to where we're going until we understand where we were. 

That's my personal thesis. That's how I build my organizations and run nonprofits. There's a connective tissue there. It's also being very clear about what we're trying to do. It's having a story and making sure everyone understands it. That's where my background in media comes into play. We can tell stories differently, have a strategy, and educate on social media with video, words, long-form storytelling, long-form features, and audio.

My background in media—both in production and leadership—allows me to tell the stories of the people and places I'm associated with. And I do that. I put all those pieces together, and I am constantly promoting what I'm doing, not to promote myself but to promote the stories and the reason why we're doing it.

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