Tom was born in Boston and was educated in the Melrose school system. His family’s roots are tied to the North End, as his mother and his grandparents all immigrated to the North End in the early 1900s from Sicily. He was drawn back to those roots and became a resident of North End in the 1970s after graduating from Boston University with a Master in Social Work.
 

He married in 1974 and raised a family of three. He's a member of FONE, a North End fraternal organization. In 1973 he became a partner in his family’s franchised Tupperware business.  He managed the business for 50 years and was recognized as one of the top franchise leaders in Tupperware worldwide while sitting on several strategic steering boards and committees.

In 2016, Tom sold the business and then became a corporate Tupperware Goodwill Ambassador. After retiring in 2018, he became more involved with his Italian heritage and is now Vice President of the Italian American Alliance. He joined the NEHS board in 2017 and became President in 2022.

Jessica Dello Russo was born in and has lived most of her life in the North End of Boston. She received her Ph.D. in Archaeology in 2022. Author of numerous studies about Jews in Ancient Italy, she has also written and lectured extensively on the history of Boston, especially on its post-colonial urbanization and shifting demographics. In addition to NEHS, she is a member of the Planning Committee for the North End Parish's 150th Anniversary and co-moderator of the North End/Waterfront Mothers' Association.

Anthony D. Cortese was born and raised in Boston’s North End in the 1950s -
1970s on North Bennet Street in the building of his grandmother’s family business of 72 years, D’Alessandro’s Religious Goods Store. Her brother, Bishop Bernardine Mazzarella, founded Christopher Columbus High School and was a Franciscan missionary in Honduras for 35 years.
 
He attended and graduated from the Eliot School and Boston Latin School.  He has B.S. (1968) and M.S. (1972) degrees in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Tufts University and a Doctor of Science from the Harvard School of Public Health (1976). 
 
Dr. Cortese was a U.S. Public Health Service Officer and a founding member of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 1970. He served as the
Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection in the Dukakis and King Administrations.  He has honorary doctoral degrees from Allegheny College, State University of New York, and the University of Maine.
 
He was Tufts’ first Dean of Environmental Programs in 1989.  He led a unique
program to make a healthy, just, and economically secure society a foundation of all learning and institutional practice. It resulted in Tufts receiving an award from President George W. Bush in 1990. In 1993, the Honorable John Kerry and he co-founded the non-profit Second Nature to pursue what was begun at Tufts across higher education. He worked with over 1000 colleges and universities in the US and abroad that have embraced these ideas, with 400 committed to addressing the climate crisis. In 2014, he co-founded the non-profit Intentional Endowments Network to help colleges, universities, and investment professionals align their investments with a just and sustainable world for all.
 
Dr. Cortese has served on several non-profit organization boards, including the
NEHS.  He has been a trustee at Tufts and Green Mountain College.  He is a
member of the Friends of the North End fraternal organization and the North End Athletic Association.  He is dedicated to enhancing and preserving the rich history of the iconic North End as a great urban model of a rich, diverse, and thriving community. His upbringing in this Italian American community has enriched his life and empowered his professional career.

Michele moved into the North End in 1971 while working as an RN at the forefront of kidney transplantation. Although a nursing career was rewarding, the neighborhood lure of Italian cuisine and culture became a magnet and, after work hours and vacations, turned into endless jaunts to study with chefs in Italy and the States. She has taught cooking, catered, and consulted on Italian food since 1979. From 1994 to 2020, she conducted the North End Market Tour to convey not only the secrets of the cuisine in the high quality of ingredients but also the sense of regional tradition, the healthfulness of the Italian diet, and that very Italian love of life. From 1998 to 2007, she also conducted culinary tours to Sicily.

Vito was born and raised in the North End. He attended and graduated from St. John School and Christopher Columbus High School; he received a BA in History & Education from Suffolk University in 1969. He served in the U.S. Army for two years. He was employed for the City of Boston for six years: and for the next 34 years with the Mass. Probation Commission in the Chelsea District Court, retiring as a Chief Probation officer.  He has been a member of the Bostonian Society, St. Mark Society of Sacred Heart Church, The North End Athletic Association, Friends of the North End, and The North End Historical Society.

P.S.: He left out his first job at the age of eight as Lecturer: reciting the History of Paul Revere (North End version) to Tourists. He didn't want to be accused of telling FAKE NEWS.

Victor was born and raised in the North End of Boston. He attended the Paul Revere School, Eliot School and am a 1961 graduate of Boston Latin School. He received a BS in Education from Boston College in 1965 and a M.Ed from UMass Boston in 1971. His career in education spanned 36 years teaching in grades 6 through 12 in the Peabody Public Schools. He is a proud founding member of the Friends of the North End, a fraternal organization established in 1972 in order to perpetuate memories of a cherished boyhood and to honor and support our iconic neighborhood.