Student Profile: Angelica Caterino

Angelica Caterino is a go-getter. She went from Montpelier (Vermont) to Portland for a week’s training in grant writing, Returned home and immediately got a  job as development director for a nonprofit housed in a historic old house.

Angelica also is a person of enthusiasm and a wide range of interests. She is currently working on a graduate degree in Colonial American History in an interdisciplinary Humanities Program through California State University. She reinterprets traditional folk songs as a hobby and art, plays the guitar and mandolin, collects old books, and dabbles in genealogy for fun.

History has always been a passion for Angelica, and in her mid-twenties she decided to pursue a degree, entering Johnson State College in Vermont, graduating Magna Cum Laude with a degree in history at the age of 32 (and picking up a certificate in business management along the way).

Angelica seems to find her interests wherever she goes. She became a work-study student in the development office, then worked there as an employee. One bonus of the job was the opportunity to work in the alumni archives, and she did a lot of research there. Her thesis was on the early history of the Normal Schools – or teachers’ colleges, many of which became the state colleges and universities of today, using Johnson State as a case study.

“I knew nothing about the field of development, but had an incredible mentor, Sally Laughlin,” she reports. “I always delve into the history of everything I touch, and I soon realized that it is actually a great field for a historical researcher – There is so much having to do with history in terms of personal legacy, institutional history, and a sense of place and memory to draw upon.”

After graduation, she went looking for a professional development course in grant writing to strengthen her fundraising credentials and found exactly what she was looking for in the program at USM Professional Development Programs.

After returning to Montpelier from her “working vacation” in Portland for the grant writing course, she heard about a development job with a nonprofit, Food Works at Two Rivers Center. The job, the organization, and the center itself fit perfectly with her varied interests.

The position had the added benefit of some flexibility, allowing Angelica to spend more time with her son Rowan, 8 (“the light of my life”).

Food Works has a variety of programs in cooking and nutrition for all ages, focusing on underserved populations, and offers low-cost food distribution to support local farmers and institutions.

The 25 year old organization bought a historic 1830s farmhouse that was once home to one of Montpelier’s original settlers, and is gradually preserving and restoring it. Eventually, it will be a multifunction education center for food and sustainable agriculture.

“I am the development coordinator – the sole fundraising staff – and in this job I get to be involved with so many of the things I love: food, people, the local economy, preservation, and the history of the place I live. It’s wonderful!”

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Student Profile by Jim Milliken, President & Principal Consultant at Jim Milliken, Inc.