FAITH IN FABRETTO

While most of his classmates anticipated their first careers after graduation, Kevin Marinacci (C’89) felt a different purpose. Sparked by Georgetown’s value of service, the then-20-year-old ventured with a small group of Hoyas to Nicaragua on an immersive mission trip founded by theology professor Otto Hentz, S.J.

They arrived in Nicaragua during one of the last chapters of the Cold War, fought between the Nicaraguan government and the U.S.-backed Contras. The civil war caused tremendous economic damage and fatalities.

Marinacci and several volunteers worked at the Fabretto Children’s Foundation, established in the 1950s by Padre Rafael Fabretto, a Salesian missionary priest, to provide quality education to desperately underserved children. In March 1990, Fabretto died, leaving a significant void.

“Though I was only going to serve one year as a volunteer, I called home and asked my parents for permission to stay one more year,” Marinacci recalls. “And that was 30 years ago.”

Driven to help, Marinacci started by contacting organizations and individuals—including Hoya friends—for financial and volunteer support.

“Thanks be to God, a lot of good friends and many Hoyas, little by little we began building the organization,” he says. “My father came down, intent on bringing me home, but he caught the bug and got deeply involved.”

Since the summer of 1996, Marinacci has served as the CEO of Fabretto. The organization once housed 500 orphans and now operates nine educational centers and schools and provides substantive support and services to more than 40,000 Nicaraguan youth and families. Fabretto focuses on education, community development, food security and economic entrepreneurship.

The impact of Fabretto still amazes Marinacci. He shares the example of his colleague, Mariela Robles, who is a former foundation student. “She’s now one of the top leaders in our enterprise incubator, helping students and families with business plans and agricultural entrepreneurship. She truly took advantage of the opportunities that our program gave her and ran with them.”

While returning to the Hilltop this spring for his 30th class reunion, he reflected on the newest Georgetown alumni.

“I’m so excited for these new Hoyas,” he says. “The world has many challenges, but they are walking away with the tools the university has given them and the support of older alumni like myself. They shouldn’t be afraid of jumping in. They’re not alone.”