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Gene D'Adamo, Vice President Community Relations, The Arizona Republic
 Name: Gene D'Adamo Age: 49 3/4 Born: New York City Marital status: Married for 28 years to my high school sweetheart. Children: Three daughters who, thankfully, take after their mother: Danielle (26), Lauren (23) and Brooke (18). On the pet side: Avery (a beautiful Golden Retriever from the Humane Society, Jinxy (tuxedo kitty) and Sasha (Siamese mix). First or most interesting job: Hhhm, first formal job was as a janitor for a local architect who made me dry the bathroom floors with paper towels and sweep the parking lot with a tiny broom, all for $2 an hour. Then I moved up to busboy, car valet, selling clothes at Broadway and started my career at The Republic when I was 18 ... taking obituaries on the weekends. Hobbies/Favorite pastime: Love to ski (water & snow); racquetball; playing the poker machines in Vegas; dancing (still can't quite get out of the 1980's disco moves); and entertaining. Path to Philanthropy: I was in the sales, marketing & promotion side of the business for many years and knew it wasn't for me; but, had no idea what I really wanted to be. All that changed In 1992 when I was a Loaned Executive for Valley of the Sun United Way. Without being overly dramatic, I had an epiphany and saw a whole other side of the community and realized I wanted to be part of it and make a difference (very dorky, I realize). Fortunately, I came back from that experience and was moved from marketing to the community relations department and had the unbelievably good fortune of being mentored by Bill Shover, hands down one of the greatest people I've ever met. Bill taught me the meaning of philanthropy and how to leverage the resources of the newspaper to make the community a better place. I've been in community relations for 19 years and love what I do and the people and agencies I have the opportunity to work with. Current Position: Vice President Community Relations for The Arizona Republic, azcentral.com and 12 News Favorite quote or motto: I got this from Bill Shover, who lived by it. I'm not sure who the originally said it though: There's no limit to the good a man or woman can do if they don't care who gets the credit. | 
efforts!