Building community is the driving force behind MaryAnn Cicala’s experience.  She brings 15 years of alumni development, event production, city government, non-profit, and arts administration experience to her work.  Mary Ann joined the Austin Community College team in November of 2014 as the Director of Alumni. Before relocating to Austin, she spent a decade serving her alma mater, Emerson College in Boston, MA.

As the Director of Alumni Relations, MaryAnn provided leadership to the Emerson College Alumni Association and the many volunteers that represented regional chapters, shared interest groups, and reunion classes. She collaborated with various offices on campus to produce special events designed to foster and maintain alumni pride and devotion. Her collaboration with International Student Affairs and Admission was recognized in 2009 with the Emerson College Outstanding Team Award for building the Emerson Global Network.  She has received accolades and presented talks on best practices for alumni engagement at numerous conferences including the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) and Harris Connect Client Conference.

Prior to her career in alumni relations, MaryAnn worked for the Cambridge Arts Council (CAC), a public non-profit and city agency in Cambridge, MA that provides arts services and programming designed to stimulate public awareness of and support for the arts.  In this capacity, she helped broker strong relationships between the City and local artists and organizations by managing the state and city funds in the Local Cultural Council grant program, overseeing the lively Street Performer Program, and producing arts and music festivals.  MaryAnn has a strong history in building community participation and civic engagement.  This expertise extends to event planning, volunteer management, production, and stage management for major audiences.  She developed these skills as Co-producer of the Cambridge River Festival, a one day celebration of the arts on the Charles River that attracts over 100,000 people and Producer of the Summer in the City performance series that takes place in the many green spaces in the City of Cambridge.

MaryAnn holds a Bachelor’s degree in Performing Arts/Theatre Arts Management (1999) and a Master’s degree in Communication Management (2009) from Emerson College, where she was recognized with the Communication Studies Graduate Departmental Award.

She has been on the teaching staff at the Harvard Extension School for Oral Communication: Business and Organizational.  MaryAnn’s affiliations include past membership on the Board of Directors with the Passim Folk Music and Cultural Center, Federal Club membership of the Human Rights Campaign, National Council Executive Board of Zeta Phi Eta (A National Professional Fraternity for Communication Arts and Sciences), and planning committee member of the Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival Boston.  She is currently enrolled in the Certificate for Nonprofit Leadership Management here at ACC and looks forward to formally joining the ACC Alumni Network in May of 2016.