UNICO was founded in 1922 in Waterbury, CT by a group of professional Italian-Americans who were denied membership into a local service organization. They created UNICO to raise promote and preserve the Italian-American culture while doing charitable works in their community. The motto of UNICO is "Service Above Self". Since then, UNICO has developed into the largest Italian-American Service Organization in the United States of America. Currently, there are 5,792 members in 131 chapters in 16 states.
Waterbury is the "Birthplace of UNICO" and is the largest of the 6 Chapters in Connecticut District I. There are 3 Districts in CT and 131 in the USA. Each Chapter has a President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer and other officers. Each District has a District Governor to oversee the Chapters. The District Governors report to a Regional District Governor who in turn report to the National Officers. CT-I consists of Ansonia/Derby, Bridgeport, Darien, Oakville/Watertown, Stamford and Waterbury.
2011 - 2012 Officers
Glen Pettinato
National President
Chip Calabro
Eastern Regional District Gov.
Francine J. Nido
National Secretary
Giuseppe Pampena
CT-I District Governor
Waterbury Chapter
Frank Travisano - President
Dr. Joanne D'Angelo [PDG] - Vice Pres.
Peter Petrarca - Secretary
Joan Pesce-Veneziano - Treasurer
Rev. Ronald Ferraro - Chaplain
Tim Clark - Sargeant At Arms
Board of Directors
Peter Ciullo [PDG], Francine Nido [PDG],
Dr. Carmine Paolino, Bob Rinaldi,
Linda Lanza, Don Mancuso,
Frank DePaola, Bianca Daniels,
Dr. Martin DeSomma, Dianne Minardo
Tim Clark, Toni Beccia, Jim Petrauskas
