Dear Hamilton Community,
Following an extensive national search with a pool of exceptionally experienced and talented candidates, I am delighted to announce the appointment of Marisa Sanchez Benincasa as vice president for communications and marketing. Marisa currently serves as executive director of institute affairs at the Arizona State University (ASU) Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts. She will start at Hamilton immediately after Labor Day.
Marisa has worked at the Herberger Institute since 2019, first as director of communications and marketing, and since 2022 in her current role. She served previously, in various capacities, for Cancer Treatment Centers of America in Phoenix, the Scottsdale Unified School District, A Stepping Stone Foundation, and as principal for her own communications firm and vice president of a multimedia design firm based in New Jersey. She also served on the Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors as the Latina Business Enterprise Chair. Marisa received her bachelor’s degree from ASU and her MBA from the University of Phoenix.
During the five years that we worked together at the Herberger Institute, Marisa impressed me as an experienced marketing and communications executive skilled at building relationships, thinking and executing strategically, increasing engagement and brand loyalty, and driving student recruitment and retention. She organized and managed multiple large projects simultaneously to achieve measurable results, and she was a calm and thoughtful colleague in stressful situations. Marisa was especially adept at building, managing, and motivating a highly effective and collaborative team of diverse colleagues at the Herberger Institute.
I am grateful to David Wippman and the members of the search committee who conducted this search during the spring semester. I had the opportunity to interview each of the finalists on several occasions, and I shared the committee’s enthusiasm for the quality and depth of the candidates’ experience and expertise. I’m also grateful to Gill King for overseeing the Communications and Marketing Office since January.
Marisa will bring optimism, energy, and generosity to this role. She is an engaged and analytical learner, she listens, she rolls up her sleeves, and she is one of the most genuine and caring people I have ever worked with. I hope you will welcome and introduce yourself to Marisa when she arrives in September. I am certain you will enjoy working with her to advance Hamilton’s standing among our many constituents as we seek to convey the College’s outsized impact on our democracy.
Steven
