SAVE THE DATE Youth Leadership Workshop

This winter our first class of students graduated from the Youth Leadership Workshop, presented by the Estée Lauder Companies Charitable Foundation. During the ten-week program our students worked with industry leaders to learn and develop their professional skills. The Workshop focused on a variety of important topics including Networking and Professional Development, Collaboration and Working as a Team, Public Speaking and Cultural Competency in a Globalized World. Students had the opportunity to directly connect with and learn from business executives, educators, and leaders of cultural institutions through weekly moderated discussions and guided exercises focused on leadership development with an emphasis on opportunities and challenges for women as leaders They cultivated networking skills through identifying mentors and creating LinkedIn profiles; engaged in exercises focused on understanding multiple perspectives through field trips to the United Nations and the Staten Island Museum; and met with leaders from corporate partners including Google, JPMorgan Chase, Allspring Financial, Empire State Bank and others

The Workshop culminated in the Innovation Summit Students had the opportunity to present their creative solutions to a problem posed in a case study to a panel of guest judges. We are so proud to celebrate the growth and accomplishments of the young leaders graduating from the program!

Our next cohort of the Youth Leadership Workshop will launch on February 27th. We look forward to another exciting semester!

Save the Date: San Francisco Ball of the Year, Honoring Dick Ghilotti

Welcome to the Team

Our San Francisco Ball of the Year is fast approaching! We are thrilled to recognize longtime supporter Dick Ghilotti as our honoree of the year Dick's father Gino was a benefactor of Boys' Towns of Italy, and we are honored and touched that Dick has continued that family legacy

For tickets, tables, sponsorships and journal ads, visit www.achanceinlife.org/events.

A Chance In Life is thrilled to welcome Christopher Dowling as the Director of Community Engagement at The Village and Claire Walton as the new Communications and Development Manager.

"I am immensely grateful for the opportunity to work at A Chance In Life. After 3 successful years as the Director of the Staten Island Community Partnership and a lifelong resident I feel I am uniquely qualified to help The Village reach its full potential in serving the youth in Staten Island "

Chris joins the team with an extensive career working in retail, information technology, customer service and nonprofit management

"I am proud to contribute to an organization that leads with compassion and supports the education and empowerment of young people My background in research and experience with international organizations will support my work as the Communications and Development Manager"

Claire earned her BA from Cornell University and her Master’s degree from the University of Oxford in the History of War Programme

After war broke out in Ukraine in late winter 2022, 20 year-old Anna Ivanova and her family - like millions of Ukrainians who had the means - fled to Italy. Italy was already home to the second-largest Ukrainian population in Europe (after Poland). Gabriele Delmonaco, the President of A Chance In Life and Father Rafael, the director of La Repubblica dei Ragazzi, welcomed Anna, her mother and sister to our program in Civitavecchia, where we were prepared to offer support to families fleeing the conflict After living at La Repubblica for one month, Anna moved to New York to live with her godmother As a show of her deep gratitude to A Chance In Life, she spent time volunteering at The Village in Staten Island.

Anna graciously sat down with A Chance In Life's communication's intern, Sofia Slade, a junior at the Nightingale-Bamford School in New York City, for an interview about her experiences in Ukraine, in Civitavecchia and in New York. Thank you to Anna and Sofia for your contributions

This interview has been edited and condensed for space

Sofia: How did you connect with A Chance in Life and the program in Staten Island, The Village? Can you tell us about the work you are currently doing with A Chance in Life?

Anna: A Chance in Life gave me a second chance in life too I would never have believed in my life that war would be in my country This word I had only heard from my grandmother during my childhood But one day I woke up and found out that my country was being bombed by rockets and people were dying there, and I was not ready, no one was ready.

A Chance in Life gave a second chance in life for me and my family. Even before I came to the United States, when I was in Italy, I knew that I would volunteer for A Chance in life.

Sofia: Please tell us about your experience volunteering at The Village. What lessons or takeaways have you had from volunteering?

Anna: Volunteering is when people help other people who have a very long history and need it at a given time in their lives My family and I are refugees who were helped in a difficult time for us When I volunteer with A Chance in Life, I do it with love, not because I feel sorry for people, because I know what it’s like to be on the other side when you accept help and the most pleasant thing is when you receive it with love.

Sofia: What are you most looking forward to in the future?

Anna: I hope for only one thing in the future, that is peace. To have peace in every country, in the whole world. It pains me to realize that many children who have not yet really learned about the world will have to go through war.

Sofia: Do you hope to continue your education in the US? If so, what do you hope to study?

Anna: I really want to continue my studies in the US I’m still thinking about what I want to start learning