HAWAIʻI ISLAND — Nico Leilani Verissimo has been promoted to director of alumni engagement for Hawaiʻi Island. She has been with the Foundation since 2004, most recently serving as the associate director of development for the ʻImiloa Astronomy Center/UH Foundation.
In the newly created position of director of alumni engagement for Hawaiʻi Island, she will be responsible for building and sustaining engagement and relationships with alumni from all ten campuses of the University of Hawaiʻi currently residing on Hawaiʻi Island. She will also be instrumental in establishing partnerships with organizations that provide services to alumni and University of Hawaiʻi Alumni Association (UHAA) members. "There are currently more than 27,800 system-wide UH alumni living on Hawaiʻi Island," said UH Hilo Chancellor Donald Straney. He continued, "Our UH alumni are making a significant impact on the economic revitalization of our island's economy and contributing to our community in countless ways." He concluded, "This new position will help us nurture relationships with this key group, and ultimately enrich our campuses and our alumni."
The primary focus of this position is to enhance alumni engagement for system-wide UH alumni on Hawaiʻi Island by providing outreach and communications, working closely with the UH Foundation Office of Alumni Relations, campus leadership at UH Hilo and Hawaiʻi Community College, and existing Hawaiʻi Island alumni chapters and volunteers including the UH Hilo Alumni & Friends Association, the UH Hilo College of Pharmacy Alumni Association, and the Hawaiʻi Community College Alumni Association.
Verissimo was born and raised on Hawaiʻi Island and is an alumna of both Kapiʻolani Community College and UH Mānoa. She started working for the UH Foundation Office of Alumni Relations in 2004, where she helped to build the UH Alumni Online Community, the first-ever alumni e-newsletter, and chapter webpages for 40 system-wide alumni chapters. In 2007, she returned to Hawaiʻi Island where she was responsible for building a membership engagement and fund development program for the ʻImiloa Astronomy Center.
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The University of Hawaiʻi Foundation, a nonprofit organization, raises private funds to support the University of Hawaiʻi System. The mission of the University of Hawaiʻi Foundation is to unite donors' passions with the University of Hawaiʻi’s aspirations by raising philanthropic support and managing private investments to benefit UH, the people of Hawaiʻi and our future generations www.uhfoundation.org.
