With a plethora of positive experiences working in development, Nick Stagliano ’11 knew that he wanted to go into fundraising after he graduated from Hamilton. Stagliano says that he’s lucky to have found the perfect job—his new position in the development office at The Juilliard School in New York City blends perfectly his passion for fundraising with his love for performance art and higher education.
Stagliano’s day-to-day responsibilities include providing support for the vice president and director of development, coordinating meetings with the board of trustees, and, in general, acting as a liaison between the board and the school. He is also responsible for drafting correspondences to be sent to the board, and manages the Office of Development and Public Affairs, working with the staff, scheduling meetings and appointments, and managing the budget.
Stagliano has a long-standing interest in development, and took as many opportunities as he could during his time at Hamilton to cultivate his interest and talent for fundraising work. He was an intern in the Development Office at Hamilton for four years, work that he says, “has prepared me extremely well for what I’m doing now, and what I hope to do for the rest of my career.”
Besides working in Hamilton’s Development Office, Stagliano has had several internships in New York City that he says helped to foster his interest and hone his skills in development. Last summer, he interned at the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, at Lincoln Center for Performing Arts, in public relations, and at Ars Nova, an organization that encourages up-and-coming theatre, comedy and music talent. The summer before, he worked as the development intern at the Asian Cultural Council, a non-profit grant-making organization that supports cultural exchange among nations within Asia and between Asia and the United States. That summer he met Elizabeth McCormack, chairman of the Asian Cultural Council, who is also a member of both the Juilliard and Hamilton Boards of Trustees.
Stagliano said that he had many opportunities at Hamilton—working in Communications and Development and also through his job as tour manager for the Choir—to connect with Hamilton alumni and trustees, many of whom were more than willing to help him find contacts who could assist him in his job search. Stagliano is also the creator of the “Trustee Corner” feature in The Spectator, for which he periodically wrote profiles of members of the board, a job that he says paid off in more ways than he would have expected. “An unintended but very happy consequence of my writing ‘Trustee Corner,’” said Stagliano, “was that I left Hamilton with many wonderful relationships with Hamilton trustees, several of whom were great supporters and offered me much assistance as I was looking for the perfect post-Hamilton job. And I found it!”
The position at Juilliard combines his interests in fundraising, as well as the performing arts and higher education. In his job search, he says, he was applying to fundraising positions at both institutions of higher education and performing arts institutions, but with Juilliard he gets the best of both worlds, for which he feels immensely grateful.
At Hamilton Stagliano was a member of the College Hill Singers and the Hamilton College and Community Oratorio Society. He also served as editorial assistant to Professor of Philosophy Marianne Janack, helping her with research and editing for her two books. He majored in archaeology, which he says was a fascinating academic and intellectual pursuit that may become useful if he chooses to pursue development work at a natural history museum in the future.
Stagliano is a graduate of Clinton Senior High School (N.Y.)
