Officers
Maria (Capicchioni) Harris, President
Maria immigrated to the United States with her parents at a very young age. She holds degree in Accounting and post-graduate degree in Taxation. Over the years she held positions in the corporate world and in various non-profit organizations. Maria has been a member of the IACL since 2002, served on the Board and Finance Committee Chairperson. Since 2005 Maria joined the IACL Charitable Foundation as director and she has served as President since 2014. In her role as President, Maria is passionate in promoting the Italian language and culture. Also she strives to encourage the young adults to join in this endeavor for carrying on our Mission into the future.
Nino Ruggirello, Vice-President
Nino was raised to be very proud of his Italian heritage. After earning his Bachelor of Business Administration began his career working in the family business. In March 2015, he was nominated to the IACL Charitable Foundation Board where he plays an integral role with promoting the growth and awareness of the Foundation within the Italian youth community. Nino also serves as a Director on the Club Board as of January 2018.
Maria Stante, Treasurer
Maria has played an instrumental role within the Metro Detroit Italian community since she immigrated to the Uunited States in her late teens. She is one of the original founders of the Italian American Club of Livonia where she held the position of club Treasurer for many years. She has also chaired the IACL Cultural Committee since the clubs’ inception creating and spear heading memorable programs and events that enrich the IACL member’s culture. Her dedication to the promotion of the Italian culture lead her to the IACL Charitable Foundation where she has held the role of Treasurer for over the past 10 years. Maria has been recognized amongst her peers with many awards including Italian Woman of the Year. As a businesswoman, Maria plays an integral role as an owner and founder of Stante Excavating.
Pasqualina Iaderosa-Kozak, Secretary
Pasqualina (better known as "Nina") grew up in Farmington Hills. Born of Italian immigrant parents, she has been immersed in the Italian culture since birth; where some of earliest memories include making pasta at her Nonna's house. A U of M graduate with a Bachelor of Art in Mathematics Education, Nina is currently a high school math teacher in Bloomfield Hills, where she also serves as freshman class advisor. She has recently obtained the Master in Mathematics from U of M where she is now teaching summer courses to incoming freshmens.
Directors
Mary Fleury
Mary Fleury is a director of Ford Motor Company and is responsible for Global Investigations and Business Continuity. For over 30 years with Ford Motor Company she has held positions in information technology, risk management, human resources and security. Mary Fleury is an active member of several charitable and community organizations. She is currently a core member of the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation for Ford Motor Company, a member of the Information Technology (IT) Women in Leadership and a member of the Volunteer Advisory Committee. Mary Fleury holds a bachelor's degree in business administration from Eastern Michigan University. Mary was born in Toronto, Canada and is fluent in Italian.
Mary Galasso
Mary has served on the Boards of all Club entities. She was the first female IACL President for four terms, eight years. She continues to serve as officer with the IACL. Her role with the Foundation and Club are extensive and she is very proud of her accomplishments as President of the Club and Director of the Foundation. She is a retired Legal Administrator and upon her retirement she opened her own consulting business called Legal Management Solutions. Mary is married to an Italian for more than 60 years and adopted the Italian Culture.
Viviana Garabello
Viviana Garabello was born and raised in Italy and was involved with music since her early childhood. While being a professional musician she also employed as a Quality System Engineer for Johnson Electric in Italy an International Automotive Company with headquarters in Hong Kong.
After developing successful professional experiences in Europe, China and Africa, she decided to move to the United States to expand her music career. With 20 years of musical experience and a bachelor degree in Film Music Scoring, Viviana is an accomplished musician who strives to incorporate the values of kindness, respect for others, strong work ethic and reliability to provide services wholeheartedly. Viviana is the director of the Italian American Chorale.
In 2016 she founded her own company “ALive Music Productions, Inc” which is a start-up business for both Music Productions and Music Services.
Viviana is committed to use music as a universal language to deliver important social and humane messages.
Anna Giammarco
A product of immigrant Italian parents, Anna Giammarco learned at an early age that her Italian culture would play an integral role in her life. She joined the IACL in 2000 and has held various officer roles within the organization but she believes her greatest success within the club has been her involvement with the cultural committee with starting special programs for the children which are geared toward their learning of their Italian culture such as La Befana, Carnivale and the children’s language classes. She has been a member of the IACL Charitable Foundation since inception where she held the position as President until 2013. Anna also loves to sing and is a member of the Rackham choir. Anna holds an MBA from U of M and is CEO of Studio H2G a retail design firm.
Franco Iaderosa
Franco Iaderosa was born in Cervino (Napoli), Italy and immigrated to the United States at age 16. After graduating high school he earned a degree in Mathematics and Spanish Literature from U of M, a degree In Computer programming from EMU and a degree in Mathematics Education from Wayne State. He is a recently retired Detroit Public School teacher where he taught mathematics and computer programming for 35 years. Since 1997 Franco has served as the Executive Director of the N.O.I. (Nuovi Orizzonti Italiani) Foundation Inc., a non-profit organization established by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Rome to promote the study of Italian Language as part of the regular curriculum of classes in K-12 schools for the Detroit Consular Jurisdiction. Because of his work with the Italian Goverment and Italian American Community and for his promotion of Italian Language within the five Sates of the Consular Jurisdiction of Detroit. In 2014 Franco was awarded the title of "Cavaliere (Knight) della Repubblica Italiana" from the President of Italy, Giorgio Napolitano.
Jerry Ruggirello
A lifetime member of the IACL, Jerry spent many years within the IACL organization preserving its’ culture for current and future generations. Currently he is the President of the IACL. He is an attorney and CEO/Founder of AJR Development Company. He also serves as the chairperson of the State of Michigan Manufactured Home Commission where Governors' Granholm and Snyder appointed him. A dedicated father of four, he is known amongst family and friends to spend many Sundays in his kitchen cooking large Italian family meals.
Anthony Rugiero
Anthony Rugiero is President and CEO of Antonio’s Cucina Italiana Restaurants, Roman Village Inc. and Rugiero Management Group. The Rugiero family operates five growing restaurants. He is founder and Chairman of the Rugiero Promise Foundation providing means for giving to charitable organizations. Mr. Rugiero also serves on various civic and charitable Boards including: Mid-West Chairman for the Italian Language Inter-Cultural Alliance (ILICA), currently serving as IACL Charitable Foundation Director, Board of Trustee for Michigan Opera Theatre, Italian Film Festival USA, 12th District Finance Chairman Republican Party, Veteran’s Court for Southeast Michigan and Founding Board Member of The Patrons of the Arts of the Vatican Museum Michigan. Mr. Rugiero embraces his heritage and traditional Italian family values. With his wife Sabrina and their four children make frequent trips to their family’s home in Italy and value the time they spend together. “As a member of the Club, it has been my honor to serve on the board to help support the mission of the Italian American Club of Livonia and its members.”