What is arguably the most exclusive Italian American entity in the United States —
its members are qualified on merit by the Italian Government and each is conferred with a degree of knighthood by the President of Italy —
has-re-elected New York Supreme Court Justice Dominic R. Massaro [2]to an unprecedented third two-year term of office as its president. Justice Massaro was the first to step forward in support of the IADP (Italian American Digital Project)  when it was launched last year. His re-election will make him the longest serving Society president since its founding five decades ago.

Headquartered in New York City, the American Society of the Italian Legions of Merit i [3]s comprised solely of those individuals residing here who have been so decorated. It engages in chivalric, diplomatic and beneficent activity in furtherance of the friendship between the United States and Italy.

Justice Massaro is one of only a dozen Americans of Italian descent to hold Italy’s highest decoration — Cav. Di Gran Croce della Repubblica Italiana. His presidency is credited with having totally revamped the Society. 

 

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ASILM [3] Mission Statement

The American Society of the Italian Legions of Merit serves as the chief reference point in the United States for all links between the chivalric world of the Italian state and its decorati residents here.

Now in its fifth decade, the Society is comprised exclusively of those individuals who, because of some personal quality or the rendering of some special service, have been decorated by the Republic of Italy. The decorations are conferred in one of five Order of Chivalry awarded by decree of the President of Italy (who by virtue of office is “Head” of all Italian Orders), each internationally recognized as rooted in the umbilicus of Italian history and as a prerogative of Italian sovereignty.

Founded on the basis of strengthening the traditional bonds of friendship existing between Italy and the United States, the Society is national in scope, international in spirit, and functions at the highest levels of the chivalric, diplomatic and beneficent arenas. Historically providing financial assistance to a wide range of cultural and humanitarian endeavors both here and abroad, its prestige as a pre-eminent institution, headquartered in New York, ranks the Society as an important American situs for focusing the shared interests of both nations to a wider audience.