Meet Our Team

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Mary Menniti Founder and Director Pittsburgh, PA

Growing up immersed in Italian culture, Mary enjoyed a close relationship with both her maternal and paternal immigrant grandparents. Her maternal grandparents hailed from Masio in Piemonte, her paternal grandmother’s family was from Agnone in Molise, and her paternal grandfather was from Sant’Angelo D’Alife in Campania. Having come from old world agrarian backgrounds of subsistence farming, self-reliance, and careful use of resources, they cultivated a way of life closely connected to the earth. Working in the garden beside her grandfather, Mary came to know and value the gardening wisdom and love of nature that characterized her immigrant family, lessons that led her to found The Italian Garden Project.

Read about Mary here.

Barbara DeRiso Board Member Pittsburgh, PA

An avid gardener for the past 40 years, she currently maintains the Legacy Fig Collection in Pittsburgh. Barbara's Italian ancestors immigrated from Castelbuono (Sicily) and Cervinara (Campania) and she, with her husband Don, have visited Italy 28 times together. Currently she serves as the American coordinator for the WhatsCookin' travel company. A student of history, Barbara firmly believes that preserving the knowledge of our antecedents creates an essential foundation on which to grow and progress. Barbara is a retired anesthesiologist.

Maria Ciarallo Streifer Board Member Benicia, CA

Maria was born in a small mountain village near Campobasso, in the Molise region of Italy. She immigrated to New Jersey at the age of seven and currently lives in Benicia, CA. Her father, a New York City carpenter working at 30 Rock, lovingly tended his small urban garden after work, where he grew the most delicious tomatoes that Maria still remembers today. Now, her husband (although non-Italian) continues the tradition of gardening with their small suburban garden. His tomatoes are great too! Maria loves the mission of preserving and showcasing Italian American home gardens, their traditions and values. Maria is a retired MFT/Behavioral Mental Health Educator.

 

Lucy Quacinella Board Member San Francisco, CA

Lucy’s father, Salvatore, was born in Sicily and immigrated to New York shortly after the end of WW II. Grapes were crushed and wine was made with relatives in the basement of their Crown Heights home. From the back of a red truck, Zio Giuseppe sold vegetables grown on his small Long Island farm. When Lucy was ten, the family lived in Siracusa for a magical year, where her grandfather grew oranges. Eventually, Salvatore re-located the family from Brooklyn to California for its Mediterranean climate and land, keeping the extended family on both coasts well supplied year-round with caponatina, roasted red peppers, and, of course, tomato sauce, all prepared with ingredients from his garden. Lucy believes that cultural heritage is medicine for both body and soul among all peoples. She supports The Italian Garden Project because it connects us to the earth and to what keeps us whole, no matter our personal roots. Lucy is an attorney in private practice.

Nina Menniti Board Member Pittsburgh, PA

Nina has experienced the joy of Italian gardening through both her maternal and paternal grandparents, and time spent in Italy throughout her life. She supports the Italian Garden Project in its mission to preserve and promote a sustainable way of life, founded on the principle of circularity and a natural understanding of our earth. She sees the Project’s work in conserving biodiversity through its heirloom seed collection and other efforts as crucial for our planet’s future. And she believes strongly in its message of uplifting the American immigrant story and its celebration of tradition, food, and care for the environment as something that can be shared universally. Nina is an attorney.