Maritime Aquarium Names New VP For Philanthropy, Engagement

NORWALK, CT — The Maritime Aquarium, located on N Water Street in South Norwalk, recently named Danielle Tranzillo as the aquarium's vice president for philanthropy and engagement.

According to a news release, Tranzillo has served as the aquarium's director of development since April 2020, a position she took just weeks after the facility closed due to the ongoing coronavirus crisis.

During this time, Tranzillo led efforts to raise private and public funds that carried the aquarium through its COVID-19 financial crisis last year.

Aquarium spokesperson Dave Sigworth said the closing, which lasted three months, eliminated the aquarium's primary source of funding: admission revenues. Tranzillo, however, wasted no time creating a fundraising campaign for an emergency response fund and expanded efforts with new sources of funding, raising a total of $4.5 million.

These funds not only kept the aquarium's 7,000 animals safe and healthy, but also allowed the aquarium to continue to serve the community by funding a new suite of virtual education programs, which ultimately won national recognition and reached a global audience, Sigworth said.

Aquarium president Jason Patlis spoke highly Tranzillo and her fundraising efforts during this time period.

"Joining as head of development in the midst of the pandemic," Patlis said in a news release, "when we had no earned revenues coming in, Danielle has met every conceivable challenge in fundraising and exceeded every goal – ahead of schedule, I might add – along the way."

Tranzillo now will lead a new department that combines the development and marketing and communications departments, as well as a new team dedicated to the aquarium's in-house and external creative assets.

"We learned two big lessons through the pandemic," Patlis said. "The first is the importance of creatively connecting to our audiences in a multitude of ways, with innovative, online, digital engagement for audiences around the world, and exciting programs and exhibits for our audiences who come to visit us in-person...the second is the fluid nature of these connections, in which online followers can donate or come and visit, visitors can become members and members can become donors."

Patlis also noted the combination of marketing and development represents an exciting change in bringing two important departments together to work in a more leveraged, coordinated fashion to reach the full spectrum of audiences on behalf of the aquarium.

Tranzillo said she is thrilled by this new opportunity.

"I look forward to using my experience to lead the aquarium's marketing and fundraising efforts into the future," Tranzillo said in a news release. "I plan to strengthen our engagement with our donors, members and guests, and expand our reach on social media so that we all can enjoy this incredible institution for years to come."

Tranzillo came to the aquarium from the global not-for-profit Save the Children, where she worked for 17 years in a variety of capacities, including fund-raising and communications leadership positions. Most recently, she served as the associate vice president leading the organization's three-year, $100 million capital campaign.

Prior to that, she served as: senior director and head of global improvement; director of in-kind gifts, associate director for international programs process integration and implementation and communications and planning manager for children in emergencies and crisis.

Before joining Save the Children in 2002, she held marketing positions with Fox News Channel and CNBC.

A Southbury resident, she also volunteers her time to other causes, notably leading the marketing and development efforts of The Iris Fund since its founding in 2017. The nonprofit organization's mission is to help mothers and babies realize healthy, safe pregnancies and labors by understanding what causes labor and preterm birth.

Further information about the aquarium's exhibits, programs and conservation efforts can be found at www.maritimeaquarium.org.