Board of Directors
Eleonora Corsi, President
Eleonora was born and raised in Siena, Italy. She has a B.A. in English and German Language and Literature from the University of Siena and a Master’s degree in International Tourism and Management from the University of Verona. In addition to German, Italian, and English, Eleonora has studied French and Spanish. Professionally, Eleonora has managed and supported hotel openings, focusing on Customer service and Operations at some of the most well-known properties in Italy, New York City, and Portland. In 2019, Eleonora moved to Portland with her family and opened the largest hotel in Oregon.​Outside of hospitality, Eleonora has always had a passion for teaching. She worked with several Italian language schools for American students in her hometown of Siena and conducted private lessons for children and adults in New York. In Portland, Eleonora has taught classes in the children’s program at the Scuola Italiana, teaching in the preschool, online private lessons, and after-school programs. Eleonora is the mom of two children, Alice and Leonardo, and in her free time, she enjoys spending time with family and friends, dancing tango, and sailing.​
Sadie Durante, Secretary
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.
Erik Bagwell, Treasurer
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 at Rose City Futsal.
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.
