Daily News

HCC Welcomes John Sieracki as Leadership Gift Officer

HOLYOKE — The office of Institutional Advancement at Holyoke Community College (HCC) recently welcomed John Sieracki as its first leadership gift officer and manager of campaign initiatives.

Sieracki joins HCC after nearly 19 years at Mass Humanities, where he started in 2003 as director of Development. In that role, he built a multi-faceted Development office from scratch that now has a thriving major donor program, a robust and engaged volunteer group, a prestigious awards dinner, and multi-platform annual appeals. He also managed a portfolio of major gift prospects resulting in five- and six-figure donations and oversaw capital campaign planning.

Prior to that, he served as director of Development for the Northern Forest Center and Baltimore Educational Scholarship Trust. His 30-year career also includes stints in development at Landmark College, New York Law School, New York Academy of Sciences, and Children of Alcoholics Foundation.

He has also been active in the Western Mass. community as a volunteer, serving as a board member and president of the Amherst Committee for a Better Chance program, and treasurer of Blues to Green, producer of the annual Springfield Jazz and Roots Festival.

“We are thrilled to have John on board,” said Amanda Sbriscia, HCC’s vice president of Institutional Advancement. “He brings a wealth of development experience and a genuine passion for connecting with folks to advance college priorities and support our students.”

In his new role, Sieracki will manage a portfolio of donors and prospects and seek new major gifts and deeper philanthropic relationships. He will also manage and support the efforts of HCC’s capital-campaign steering committee, work closely with the college’s board of trustees and HCC Foundation’s board of directors on fundraising involvement, and organize and lead other campaign-related initiatives.

Sieracki holds a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Delaware and a master’s degree in fine arts in creative writing and poetry from UMass Amherst, where he received the Best New Poets Award from the Department of English.