Ventotene Summer Camp is rooted in a family story and a personal journey that spans my entire life. My name is Lorenzo Tonello. I founded Sullaluna in the West Village and moved to New York when I was twenty-three. But long before New York, there was Ventotene. It’s the island where I grew up, where I learned to sail, where I met the friends who are still with me today, and where every summer I see the same spark in the eyes of the kids who arrive for camp.

My father, Rodolfo Tonello, founded the Scuola Vela Ventotene and has been running sailing programs since 1985. Sailing is his life’s passion, and he passed it on to me, season after season. I grew up surrounded by boats, wind, Roman harbors, sunsets, and the emotional goodbyes at the end of each week. I’ve watched thousands of kids live the same formative experiences that shaped me, and over the years I stepped naturally into a management and coordination role, continuing the work my family started decades ago.

Ventotene is more than a place to me. It’s belonging. It’s an island half the size of Central Park, almost completely car free, with a scale that creates an intimate and safe atmosphere unlike anywhere else. It’s where deep friendships are born, the kind that last a lifetime. The sea has a color you don’t forget, and the sunsets feel almost unreal. At the end of every camp week, the same scene repeats itself: kids boarding the ferry with teary eyes, carrying much more than they expected. And the most beautiful part is seeing them return the following year, because once you go to Ventotene, you always go back.

My family’s work has always revolved around young people aged six to eighteen. First through the sailing school, then through Sullaluna and its carefully curated illustrated books for children and teens. It’s the environment I grew up in and the one where I know how to deliver real value.

In 2024 we began designing Ventotene Summer Camp as a premium program for American students. It took a full year to build the structure, align with U.S. standards, and bring a true piece of our island to New York. Now the camp is officially open, and for me it represents the most meaningful project of my life. It’s the bridge connecting my two worlds: Ventotene and New York.

I’m genuinely excited to meet families in person and to guide their children through an experience that I believe is unique, safe, and deeply transformative. This is not just a summer program. It’s an island, a story, a community. It’s the place where everything began for me, and where, I hope, something special will begin for them too.