Basil and Pat Russo were joined by Alice Salvo, President of the National Italian American Bar Association for an evening at the Italian Cultural Center and Innovation Hub in Menlo Park.
Basil gave an inspiring talk covering the work of the Italian Sons and Daughters of America, the Conference of Presidents of Major Italian American Organizations, and the Italian American Future Leaders.
Basil was followed by attorney Alice Salvo who is the President of the National Italian American Bar Association who spoke on the activities of the association and the path for many Italian-Americans to become lawyers.
The event was hosted by We the Italians Ambassador Charles Marsala, who owns the building in Menlo Park. Several of the attendees are involved in Silicon Valley Artificial Intelligence Startups including two recent graduates of Stanford University, which recently moved their startup into the building. There are 370 members of the Italian Club at Stanford, which is located 2 miles from the building.
An interesting fact was presented during the event. Tesla uses parts from Catania, Sicily, specifically silicon carbide chips manufactured by STMicroelectronics. STMicroelectronics is building a new €5 billion ($5.4 billion) chip plant in Catania, with production starting in 2026, to supply its customers, including Tesla, with energy-efficient microchips for electric vehicles. These silicon-carbide chips are critical for the energy efficiency and performance of EVs.
