Pamela Say-Witter Recognized with SUNY Empire State College’s 2019 Emerging Leader Award

Achievements Awards Employees News
Pam Say-Witter, MBA

Trocaire’s vice president for development and community engagement has been recognized by SUNY Empire State College’s Alumni Awards program.

Pamela Say-Witter, who graduated from SUNY Empire’s Master’s in Business Administration program in 2017, has received the 2019 Emerging Leader Award, which recognizes a graduate who has completed his or her degree within the last five years and, since graduation, has demonstrated significant leadership in his or her profession, community and/or for SUNY Empire.

Say-Witter completed her MBA with a 3.87 GPA. Her final project was a full strategic plan for Trocaire, for which she received a perfect grade. In her role at Trocaire, Say-Witter is the youngest executive on the college’s leadership team. She is a national speaker and consultant and current president of the Associate of Fundraising Professionals Western New York Chapter.

A published author of three books, she wrote the novel “Hope Rising” (Tate Publishing and Enterprises, 2013), a story about the difficult relationship between a mother and her teenage daughter. Say-Witter has won numerous awards, including:

  • The Allegany Pomona Grange Citizen of the Year Award, 2014
  • The Leadership Cattaraugus Alumna of the Year Award, 2012
  • Buffalo Business First 40 Under Forty, 2011
  • The Outstanding Achiever Award, the Greater Allegany County Chamber of Commerce, 2012

The other awardees include: Danielle Asher ’18, recipient of the 2019 Community Impact Award; Christopher Feeley ’86, recipient of the 2019 Distinguished Leader Award; and Raul Rodriguez ’17, recipient of the inaugural Veteran Service Award.

Honored annually by the SUNY Empire State College Alumni Student Federation Board of Governors, this year’s recipients were approved at the April 13 meeting of the federation board.

“Again this year, four of SUNY Empire’s most outstanding alumni have been recognized for their significant contributions to the college, their professions and the communities where they live and work,” SUNY Empire State College Officer in Charge Mitchell S. Nesler said. “My congratulations to Danielle, Chris, Raul and Pam for all they have done to earn this prestigious recognition and my thanks to the members of the Alumni Student Federation Board of Governors and the award committee for their good work in identifying our exceptional alumni.”

All four recipients will be honored at an awards dinner in Saratoga Springs to be held Thursday, Oct. 17, hosted jointly by the federation board and the Empire State College Foundation Board of Directors.

The federation board established the Alumni Awards Program in 2016. The purpose of the program is to recognize the college’s exemplary alumni who have made a lasting impact on society and SUNY Empire through outstanding professional, philanthropic or volunteer accomplishments.