Prideful Connections Ep 7: Lights, Camera, Advocacy: Storytelling for Change

Sarah Celotto is a wife and mother of 3. She was born in Ireland and moved to Connecticut with her family when she was 7 years old. She was educated in a catholic school and continued her high school education at Kylemore Abbey Boarding School in County Galway, Ireland. She came back to the U.S. and attended Albertus Magnus College where she pursued a degree in Business and Economics with a concentration in Management. From there she married and got a Masters in Elementary Education from University of New Haven. Sarah has had various positions over the years ranging from a manager at a fitness studio to a para educator for special needs students.

Tony Ferraiolo is internationally known as a compassionate and empowering Life Coach who has earned his reputation as a thought-provoking and motivational speaker and trainer. Since 2005, Tony has worked with individuals, groups, and educational institutions to reach thousands of people worldwide. In 2008, he was the founder of multiple support groups for transgender and nonbinary youth and their families. The work Tony does has allowed him to see firsthand how children’s lives are transformed from hopelessness to hopefulness through the process of simply affirming their gender, and he has witnessed firsthand the positive impact that this has on them and their families. He is the subject of the award-winning documentary A Self-Made Man and the author of the book series Artistic Expressions of Transgender Youth and his memoir “Finding My Way Out of the Darkness” How I Found Self-Love & Acceptance. He is the co-founder of the Jim Collins Foundation where he held the position of president of the board for ten years. Tony's advocacy work is done through his position as the Director of Youth and Family Programming at Health Care Advocates International out of Stratford CT.

David started his video career in the early 1990s working on video crews as an independent contractor for such companies as Martha Stewart Living, IBM and Xerox. After graduating Southern Connecticut State University with the degree in Corporate Communications, David continued his video production career and accepted a position at WFSB in Hartford, CT. Within a few years the news and production studios became his charge and David designed, installed and maintained the televisions sets for the various programs at the station. At the end of 2013 David founded DirectLine Media, a video production company that specializes in creating memorable and compelling video content for businesses.

Stefania's acting journey began as early as the fourth grade, where she took on the role of Scarlett O'Hara in a stage production of Gone With the Wind. This early experience sparked a lifelong passion for the arts. With a background in musical theater fueled by her love of music and singing, Stefania stepped into larger roles, such as Fraulein Kost in Cabaret during her sophomore year at the University of New Haven. This performance earned her a nomination for the prestigious Irene Ryan Acting Award at the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival—an honor she would receive again in her junior year.