MEET YOUR ONSITE STAFF!

Alessandro Bruno

CIS Abroad Florence Site Director
Email:  abruno@cisabroadonsite.com

Alessandro was born in Maryland and raised in Rome, Italy. He has traveled extensively through Europe, Central America, North America and China and considers himself a citizen of the world. During his travels, he acquired a passion for the environment and its preservation, cultures and languages. This passion led him to obtain a BA in Geography with a minor in Chinese Studies from Humboldt State University. In 2010 he spent a semester studying abroad at the University of Shanghai in China and has since become an even stronger proponent of study abroad programs, no matter where. Alessandro has also successfully completed the National Park Service Law Enforcement Training Program and a Wilderness First Responder course. Among Alessandro’s favorite activities are wake-boarding, kayaking, diving, traveling and getting lost on purpose in new places, eating sushi, learning new languages and cooking.

Travel Tip:  Never be afraid of getting lost.  That’s my favorite way to explore a new city!

 

Chiara Salvi

CIS Abroad Florence Assistant Site Director
Email: csalvi@cisabroadonsite.com

Originally from Florence, Italy, Chiara graduated from the London College of Communication in Photography with a special focus on alternative processes and darkroom printing. Following graduation she exhibited her work and curated exhibitions in Italy and abroad, slowly approaching the education field by designing art workshops and educational programs. More and more interested in languages and cultures she obtained a CELTA teaching certificate and taught English in Italy and Italian in Australia. She spent the past year working and volunteering in Melbourne, teaching, facilitating, curating, travelling, making art and making friends. Since a young age she has been an avid traveller and explored Europe thoroughly. Throughout the years Chiara also visited the United States, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and New Zealand. She believes International education is the key to gain a global mindset, to step out of your comfort zone and discover more about yourself and the world we live in. Outside of work Chiara wonders around museums and galleries, hikes in the woods, reads, fights for the environment and plays hide and seek with her precious maltese Charlie.

Romina Marchionne

CIS Abroad Italy Site Director
Email: rmarchionne@cisabroadonsite.com

Romina is a native Roman, who graduated with a degree in International Communications at the University for Foreigners of Perugia in 2005. In the same year, she returned to Rome where she started working for the IES. In the following two years she decided to study International Relations and enrolled in the MA in International Affairs at the SIOI school in Rome. In 2007 Romina graduated in International Relations at the same University of Perugia and after completing the MA she undertook an internship at the Italian Development Cooperation Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Rome. At the beginning of 2008, after completing the internship, Romina was offered a position to work as a Communication and Public Information Officer within the civilian component of the Provincial Reconstruction Team in Herat for the NATO mission in Afghanistan. Between 2008 and 2009 she accomplished two missions in Afghanistan. In 2009 she started working for the Italian Development Cooperation Office at the Italian Embassy in Beirut. In Lebanon she worked as a Communication and Public Information Officer and she was also in charge of the joint projects which were later carried out together with the Italian troops within the United Nations mission in Southern Lebanon. In the summer of 2010 Romina left Lebanon to work in Yemen, where she held the same office within the Italian Development Cooperation Department of Sana’s. In the spring of 2011, due to the serious and uncertain situation in Yemen, all the Italian Embassy staff was ordered to leave the country for security reasons. Because of the consequences of the Arab Spring in all Middle East, the Arabian Peninsula, and in Northern Africa, Romina has decided to work in Rome and enjoy with her friends and family the beauty of the Eternal City.

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Alessandro, Chiara & Romina will be present in Italy and available to students for activities, emergencies, issues or concerns about your program, or just if you’re feeling out of place and need some support. Alessandro & Chiara reside in Florence full-time, and Romina in Rome.  All students will be formally introduced to them prior to the start of the program, and they will maintain contact with you throughout the program to ensure that everything is going well.