Board of Directors
Adam Zappa, President
Adam is an educational leader and curriculum designer with over 15 years of experience in progressive school environments, including Reggio Emiglia-inspired and IB programs. He currently serves as middle school counselor at Portland Jewish Academy, where his work spans student support, health and advisory curriculum design, restorative practices, and family
collaboration. Previously, Adam held multiple leadership roles at La Scuola International School in San Francisco, including Dean of Students, Pedagogical Leadership Team member, Teacher Lead.
His background includes classroom teaching from preschool through high school, bilingual curriculum development, and the design of student behavior and discipline systems. Adam specializes in building human-centered systems that align educational values with daily practice - supporting both student growth and educator effectiveness. He brings a strategic, relational, and systems-oriented perspective to program development, staff collaboration, and organizational improvement. He lives in Portland with his wife and two kids, and is passionate about helping schools grow thoughtfully while preserving their core identity and quality.
Tim Cooper, Secretary
Tim Cooper is an experienced educator with over 15 years of teaching across early childhood, elementary, and adult education, with a particular focus on Italian language instruction and Reggio-inspired, inquiry-based learning.
He spent twelve years at La Scuola International School in San Francisco, an IB Italian-immersion school, teaching preschool through fifth grade — including math, science, social studies, English, and Italian — while mentoring colleagues and helping shape curriculum. Earlier in his career, he taught English in Vercelli, Italy, and holds a CILS Certificate of Italian as a Foreign Language (Level C2) from the University of Siena.
Tim holds a Master of Arts in Education from the University of the Pacific and a Bachelor of Arts in Italian and Sociology from the University of Oregon. He currently teaches adult Italian classes at Scuola Italiana di Portland and substitute teaches in local elementary schools.
With deep roots in Italian language education and Reggio Emilia–inspired pedagogy, Tim brings a rare combination of cultural fluency, curriculum expertise, and hands-on classroom experience to every learning environment he's part of.
Erik grew up in Portland. He attended the University of New Mexico, where he earned a B.A. in Political Science and a minor in Italian. He played Division I soccer at UNM, later had brief stints with the Colorado Rapids Reserves, and trained with the Portland Timbers. He has lived off and on in Italy, studying at the Universitá per Stranieri di Perugia and di Siena and regularly visiting his wife’s family in Siena. After spending 10 years in New York City, where he earned a Master’s degree in Urban Policy and worked for the City of New York, Erik moved back to the Pacific Northwest to be closer to his family. Since 2019, he has worked at ECONorthwest, a Portland-based economic consulting firm. He specializes in affordable housing development, real estate finance, and housing policy analysis. In his free time, he enjoys spending time with family and friends, mastering his bread and pizza recipes, and coaching youth futsal.
Erik Bagwell, Treasurer
Angela Zagarella, Board Member
Angela Zagarella grew up in Siracusa, Sicily, in Italy. Since 1993, she has taught at Portland State University, where she is the Section Head and coordinates the Italian language and literature program. Her areas of interest are cinema, contemporary literature, studies on the Mediterranean and Migration and translation studies. She has reviewed articles and textbooks, worked with publishing companies, and written scripts for videos. She has been a language consultant for local theatrical productions and has taught classes for singers at the Portland Opera, travelers, and business people.Angela is very active in professional organizations that promote cultural initiatives to disseminate, inform, and keep Italian culture alive in the Portland metropolitan area. She is the President of the Italian Cultural Association of Portland, organizing the Italian Film Festival in Portland since 2014. She has also been on the board of the Italian Benvenuti Club Foundation and was the co-executive director of the Portland Bologna Sister City Association. In 2020 Angela created the Caffè Culturale, a virtual space for writers, directors, and activists to explore issues related to contemporary Italian society.In December 2022, she was elected officer of the COMITES of San Francisco, an Italian body of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs representing Italians abroad and working closely with the San Francisco Italian Consulate. Angela enjoys cooking, swimming, and hiking in the beautiful Pacific Northwest in her free time.
Having lived in the Portland area since 2009, Delilah Moore enjoys the outdoors, running, hiking, skiing, and spending time with her family. With a PhD in Kinesiology from Louisiana State University, Delilah has a deep passion for exercise and fitness. Professionally, she has extensive experience in healthcare analytics and IT, including nearly 15 years at Kaiser Permanente NW and over nine years in management. Delilah has also taught a Data and Analytics course at OHSU and currently serves as an Associate Director of Analytics at Optum. In the community, she has been actively involved in volunteer work, including contributions to Kaiser Permanente's MLK Days of Service, STEM Connect programs, and the UCLA Alumni Chapter of Oregon/SW Washington. Additionally, she served on the Kaiser NICU Advisory Committee and volunteers with River West Church in Lake Oswego. Inspired by the positive impact StudioLingua has had on her son Lorenzo, Delilah is eager to join the StudioLingua Board to contribute to the school's future direction and continue her family's Italian legacy.
Delilah Moore, Board Member
Sadie Durante, Board Member
Sadie, a native Oregonian, is an alum of Fordham University and the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in New York City. She is a founding team member of Power Monkey Fitness, established by her husband, Dave, a former US Olympic gymnast of Italian-American heritage.
In 2011, Sadie and her husband lived in Italy while collaborating as artists in the Biennale di Venezia, a prestigious international art exhibition. Sadie and her family regularly visit their extended family in Rome and the Molise region. Last year, they spent time living in the Emilia Romagna region; together, they enjoyed traveling around different areas. Sadie is passionate about language acquisition and is excited to be a StudioLingua founder and preschool parent to provide this language-learning journey to her daughters.
Ashley DeLacy, Board Member
Ashley DeLacy has called Portland home since 2013, when she moved from the San Francisco Bay Area. As a parent and sports enthusiast, she loves skiing, hiking, swimming, soccer and sharing her passion for languages and cultures with her son, daughter and husband.
Professionally, Ashley is Vice President of Channel Sales at ADP, where she draws on 17 years of leadership experience to build strong partnerships and drive collaboration. In her work Ashley has developed expertise in supporting small and medium-sized businesses with their HR challenges to improve business outcomes.
Ashley earned her Bachelor’s in Economics from the University of Southern California and studied abroad in Scotland and Italy. It was during her studies abroad that instilled a passion for the Italian culture and language. As parents, Ashley and her husband, Bill, have seen the positive impact StudioLingua has had on their daughter and are committed to the school’s continued success.
Alex Revelli, Board Member
Alex Revelli grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and graduated from Washington University in St. Louis with a dual degree in Psychology and Italian. She studied abroad in Padova, where she focused on Italian culture, including art history and cinema. In 2018, she and her husband, Jason, were married in an intimate ceremony at a villa in Positano.
Alex worked in San Francisco and Portland as Director of People Operations at Expensify, where she helped scale the company through its IPO in the fall of 2021. She has since retired from the tech industry and is now raising her two daughters, Nina and Francesca, with Jason in the beautiful Pacific Northwest.
Italy has been a lifelong passion for Alex since a family trip when she was 14 inspired her desire to reconnect with her Piemontese and Sicilian heritage. Outside of language and culture, Alex loves reading, cooking—especially fresh pasta—and dreaming up new travel plans.
