Board & Staff

Staff Members

Tiziana Cervesato, Events Director and Director of the Italian Film Festival

Tiziana joined the ICC in September 2015. Italian and Belgian national, Tiziana was born in Rome and has been immersed in different cultures all her life: Italy, Belgium, Switzerland, Niger, Somalia, Morocco, France and the U.S. Although Minneapolis is the 8th place she calls home, Friuli Venezia Giulia, her family's home region, remains her sweet spot.

Cristina Cocchi, Instructor

Cristina was born and raised in Modena, Italy, and moved to Minnesota in 2003. She holds a university degree in Modern Foreign Languages and Literatures, from the University of Bologna, Italy, and an M.A. in Curriculum and Instruction (Second Language Education) from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. She has 25+ years of Italian teaching experience in a variety of settings, including university and adult education. She always strives for innovative and enjoyable ways to help people better learn the Italian language and culture.

On temporary leave

Michelle DeBace,  Office Manager

Michelle’s love of Italian language and culture began after studying abroad in Florence during her college years. She began taking language classes at the ICC in 2019 and joined in an administrative role in 2022. She is currently in the process of having her Italian citizenship recognized.

Pierangela Garau, Instructor 

Pierangela  is an Italian artist born in Sardegna, a beautiful island in the center of the Mediterranean sea and lived in Brescia, Lombardia, for twenty years. After graduating from Liceo Classico, Pierangela earned a degree in Visual Arts from the Brera Academy  of Fine Arts in Milano followed by a Master in Visual Design from Nuova Accademia del Design (NAD) in Verona. She moved to Minnesota in 2021 and joined ICC in January 2023. Pierangela enjoys teaching Italian language and culture to students at all levels of proficiency. She likes to spend her free time practicing CrossFit and Yoga, traveling, and pursuing her passion for photography.

Mariateresa Maruska Monaco, Instructor

Mariateresa relocated to Minnesota in 2019 with her husband and children. Born and raised in Cuneo, Piemonte, after attending Liceo Classico, Mariateresa earned a Laurea in electrical engineering from Politecnico di Torino and a Diploma in Piano from the Conservatorio Verdi di Torino. During her engineering studies she met her husband, and after working in Italy for a while they decided to follow their “American Dream” and moved to the Boston area for graduate studies at MIT, in engineering and business. They spent many years studying and working in Boston, and then they moved to Iowa and now Minnesota! After raising three bilingual children (now all in college) and a long career in the stock market, she’s exploring her old passions for piano and Italian teaching, along with her finance and investment interests. Mariateresa joined the Board of Directors as Treasurer in 2023.

Romina Montanari, Food and Wine Events Manager & Instructor

Romina grew up in the food valley in the province of Modena in Emilia Romagna. She received her Bachelor degree in “Economia Aziendale” from the University of Modena and a Professional Diploma in Marketing from the University of California-Berkeley. She has been teaching Italian joyfully for more than 15 years and loves to share her passion about the Italian “Eno-Gastronomic” tradition and culture by organizing food and wine events. She is also pursuing the Italian Wine Scholar Guild Certification.

Luisa O'Gara, Instructor

Luisa was born and raised in Puglia in the Southern part of Italy, the land of the Trulli, and famous for Tarantella and Primitivo wine. Luisa is the youngest of three siblings. Her mother was a school teacher, which inspired Luisa to earn a degree in Education from the University of Firenze. Luisa met her future husband while in college, they live in the metro area with their two children. She joined the ICC Adult school team in Spring 2012 and directed the Youth School Program from 2015 to 2021.

Anna Olivero, Adult Language School Director & Instructor

Anna was born and raised in Asti, Piemonte, a region of wines and hills in Italy. She has been teaching Italian and foreign languages in college and adult education since 2002 within various settings, including the University of Minnesota, St. Olaf College, Carroll University, and the Italian Institute of Culture in Chicago. Founder of the ICC Adult Language School,  she has been a Board Member since ICC's inception. 

Rosanna Staffa, Instructor

Rosanna is an Italian writer living in Minneapolis. Born in Naples, she holds and MFA in writing from Spalding  University and a  PhD in Foreign Languages and Literatures from Statale University in Milan. She has taught at The Loft,  NYU, UCLA,  and The Getty Institute. Her work is included in the Best Small Fictions 2021. Her essays and short stories are  published by New Rivers Press American Fiction Anthology, The Best New and Unpublished Writers Vol. 15, Tampa Review,  The Sun and others. Teaching combines sharing her passion for languages and literature with the joy of creating a community of  curious learners.