Biography

Born to first generation Italian-American working-class parents in rural Massachusetts, Ann learned to appreciate nature and hard work. Ann’s was the first generation to attend university and push through the barriers of disempowerment, language and class discrimination. Her passion is to join the willing, co-create the unimaginable, and advocate for positive change.

As an educator, Ann’s goal is to create a dynamic, interdisciplinary classroom of inquiry where students cultivate a meaningful connection to the academic material and their role in the world. Ann sees herself as a professor of practice. Her life work has been about positive change, political economy, equity, human rights, indigenous youth leadership, communication, resilience and international sustainable development. Her Communication Studies lectures include case studies of social justice, environmental sustainability, global public health, and resilience.

Ann has lived and worked in several countries throughout Asia, Africa, and Latin America and is now settled in coastal Rhode Island. She is a member of the Spanish Language Honorary Society, has been recognized in the Who’s Who of American Women for her humanitarian work to promote child rights and global studies, and holds an MA in Global Policy Studies and Latin American Economic Development from the Middlebury Institute for International Studies at Monterey, California.

Publications include articles on role of corporates in international development, Communication as a Tool for Empowerment: A Model for Resilience (China Media Research, 11 (4), 2015; and an article submitted for peer review, which highlights the dynamics of communication in positive environmental, social and economic change and resilience. The article is about to be published, with research on the role of communication and telecommunication on livelihood transitions out of poverty among women in Burkina Faso, Guatemala, India, and Mali with Jaya Sarkar, Vice President for Programs of Trickle Up based in New York City.

Ann enjoys skiing, yoga, walking the family dog, and coaching beginner piano. The values Ann treasures most are to inspire kindness, build trusting relationships, engage in authentic dialogue, mindfully appreciate the present, actively listen, and challenge growth and development at every turn. Married to Michael, a dedicated Central Falls Middle School teacher for over 38 years, their life’s journey has led them to work side-by-side-with communities of human struggle and strength in conflict zones of rural Mexico, Guatemala and post-disaster zones of the Dominican Republic where they lived and learned among “some of the most hospitable and generous people on earth”. They share their lives with their daughter Marina, a URI student and Health Studies major, and with their son Aidan, a film and technology aficionado and high school junior.