Kelly Rivas

?On the same day she received the 2005 Distinguished Alumni Award, Jeannette Vagnozzi, administrative superintendent for the city of La Verne, was sworn in as the Treasurer for La Verne. Vagnozzi is a breast cancer survivor. She says that she has found inspiration through the blogging community. Aside from maintaining her current blog, she is also finishing the project ‘Traveling Hope,’ a Web site that sends journals of inspiration to cancer patients looking for kind words to help keep their hopes up.

Lindsey Gooding
Staff Writer

Jeannette Vagnozzi is a very active community member as well as a University of La Verne alumna, currently teaching principals of effective communication at ULV. She also wears the hats of the city of La Verne’s administrative superintendent and treasurer; in addition, she has an up-and-coming Web site plus a vast array of community programs and projects.

Seven alumni, including Vagnozzi, were recently recognized for their accomplishments at the annual Alumni Dinner/Dance held last month.

Vagnozzi was given the award for service to community.

“She is an exceptional person,” City Manager Martin Lomeli said. “She is able to grasp political situations and look for solutions.”
In college, Vagnozzi had a professional career in mind but was undecided until she gave thought to a government job. She had a good opportunity, and what was once thought of as a quick internship by Vagnozzi turned into a lifelong career.

“When I first started working here I thought she was the future of this city,” Lomeli said. “And today, I still believe that.”

Many people that work with Vagnozzi consider her to be an incredibly smart woman, who has taken her strength of leadership and management to the next level.

“She is the ultimate in competence and conscientious professionalism,” Mayor Jon Blickenstaff said.

She considers herself very lucky when she was given the opportunity to stay and turn her internship into something more.

“The projects that I get to be involved with have a direct impact on people’s lives and to compare that to other careers...I choose to make people’s lives better,” Vagnozzi said.

Vagnozzi had a very active mother who was heavily involved with the Parent Teacher Association and community service.

“When you’re surrounded by that sort of role model it’s hard not to follow in their foot-steps,” Vagnozzi said.

Vagnozzi is also a survivor of breast cancer. She was diagnosed at the age of 39, and is currently finishing the reconstructive process.

Soon after being diagnosed, Vagnozzi started a blog titled 2 Hands.

Her welcome message is, “One body, one soul, one heart, one fight . . . join on my journey.”

Through this Vagnozzi is publicly sharing her personal experience with breast cancer.

She hopes to educate people about breast cancer and bring awareness to the ways it can affect a person emotionally, physically, psychologically and spiritually.

To add to the list of commitments, she has a new passion called Traveling Hope.

This is a Web site that will offer people outside of the blogging community a chance to put their feelings onto hard copy to share it with others.

Through the Web site, people that have been touched or affected by breast cancer can sign up and receive a journal that Vagnozzi sends.

The journals will be a collaboration of sorts.

People are welcome to write or draw their feelings associated with breast cancer. There will be a total of 12 journals, all expected to be full.

When complete, Vagnozzi plans to put the journals in a traveling exhibit.

Many have survived, but many have also died.

Fortunately, if you catch it quick enough you have a better chance of treating it and surviving.

That is why Traveling Hands has become such a passion for Vagnozzi.

The blogging communities give people a way to share the experience in hopes of helping others.

More people are becoming aware of the seriousness behind this life threatening disease and getting their regular check ups. This seems to be the No.1 factor in treating the disease.

A pharmaceutical company that makes breast cancer drugs wants to publish it and distribute it free to cancer patients through its network of doctors, Vagnozzi said.

Vagnozzi has dedicated a lot of time and effort to helping the community through her job and volunteer work. She has worked especially closely with Bonita High School.

She has worked with students in many projects and fundraisers such as Water Awareness Days as well as an accelerated core-project, called Ride Attraction project.

The Ride Attraction project gives students a chance to design and build their own roller coaster and present it to a panel of people from Universal Studios.

If chosen, the students receive a faux contract from Universal and an award from the city of La Verne.

With so many different projects going on one can see Vagnozzi anywhere at any time.

The job as administrative superintendent entails a variety of responsibilities, including budgeting, managing customer service and different construction projects.

“I manage certain construction projects on capital projects,” Vagnozzi said.

“Like this year I will be doing two pipeline projects,” she added.

Additionally, she deals with grant funding, waste management contract and AB939, the Integrated Waste Management Act of 1939.

Other interests include traveling, Italian culture and a good book such as
“Under the Tuscan Sun.”

“The most important thing about going to school here, working here and living here is that working here has given me not only the opportunity to not just make a living in this town, but it has given me an opportunity to make a life here too,” Vagnozzi said.

“Support that with activities that I find interesting, inspirational and motivational that keep me going and enhance my life.”

Lindsey Gooding can be reached at gryde4ever@ya-hoo.com.