The BP explained that as a student and young man, he did everything right- he did what everyone told him to do: he went to school, got good grades and graduated law school. But even after all that work, there were no jobs.
“I'm a kid from Old Town Road,” he told a packed room at Borough Hall. “I wasn't born into a political family. Then I met my mentor, John Fusco, and my life changed.”
He created “A Night of Mentors” with the hope that SI students could make connections with professionals in the community and that a mentor relationship could emerge.
“Maybe, just maybe, you'll connect with someone,” BP Oddo told the students.
Among the mentors were Adena Long, Assistant Commissioner for Public Programs NYC Parks Department; Aileen Gemma Smith, CEO, Vizalytics Technology; Ed Wiseman, Executive Director, Historic Richmond Town; Eddie Joyce, Author of the book Small Mercies; Alfred C. Cerullo, III, President/CEO, Grand Central Partnership and a Commissioner, NYC Planning Commission; Honorable John A. Fusco, General Counsel to the Borough President; Jillian Jorgensen, Senior Politics Editor, New York Observer; Lynn B. Kelly, CEO and President, Snug Harbor Cultural Center & Botanical Garden; Rose Kerr, Director of Education for the Borough President's Office; Scott Van Campen, Executive Director, Staten Island MakerSpace; Sharon Henry, Principal, Ralph McKee Career & Technical Education HS; Fr. Michael Martine; Kristine Garlisi, Chief of Staff for the Nicotra Group; Joseph Esposito, FDNY; Dr. Ginny Mantello, Director of Health & Wellness at the Borough President's Office; Reverend Dr. Demetrius S. Carolina Sr., Senior Pastor at First Central Baptist Church; Erin Salzillo, RN, BSN, OCN, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center; Chief Ed Delatorre, NYPD; Eddie Canlon, Restaurateur, owner of Canlon’s; and Amarjit Kaur, M.D. Attending Psychiatrist at Richmond University Medical Center.