Name: Tori Troncone
Graduation Year: 2017
Major: Nonprofit Business
Current Position: Email Marketing Specialist
City and State: Erie, PA
Tell us about your career and what you do now.
I have been working in the nonprofit sector since my graduation in December 2016. For nearly five years, I worked for my local food bank in the Fundraising and Marketing Department. During that time, I did a little bit of all things fundraising including special events, volunteer management, social media and website management, direct mail writing and management, grant writing and management, and I even became forklift certified so I could work in the warehouse. Nonprofit employees are always wearing multiple hats!
In October of 2021, I joined the Brand and Digital Media team at the Christian Broadcasting Network as an Email Marketing Specialist. My daily tasks now look like building, testing, analyzing, and optimizing CBN’s email communications.
In addition to my new role at CBN, I am on the board of my local PRC and am a freelance grant writer for local nonprofits.
What is your favorite memory from Evangel?
It’s hard to pinpoint a single memory as a favorite. If I’m forced to choose, my missions trip to Birmingham, England was something I’ll never forget. Our team (Dr. Jeremy Harris and so many other great students) got to meet a community of truly amazing people and I feel so privileged to have been even just a small part of the work God is doing through Sheldon Community Church!
How did Evangel help you identify/develop your calling?
When I graduated high school, I had no idea what I wanted to do with my future. So, the fact that the Nonprofit Business program even existed at Evangel played a huge part in both identifying and developing my calling. It turns out I had “a head for business and a heart for service.” My business professors (Bernie Dana, Dr. Dennis Wubbena, Julie Horner, and so many more) did such a great job helping me cultivate both my skills and my passions and helped me to see how they could work together to create a meaningful professional career.
How did your experience at Evangel prepare you for life after graduation?
Evangel prepared me for life after graduation both professionally and spiritually. I was confident that my education had prepared me to excel in my field. I truly believed that I would be an asset to the nonprofit sector thanks to how well I had been prepared at Evangel. But beyond that, my relationship with Christ was also strengthened during my time at Evangel. Through my Biblical studies classes and the Crosswalk Ministry events on campus, I experienced Christ in a new, personal way and developed a better, stronger understanding of why I believed what I believed. Life after graduation is not always easy, but having Christ as my foundation was the best preparation I could have been given.
What advice would you give a current student preparing for the workforce?
Make a conscious effort to remind yourself whom you are ultimately working for. It’s unlikely that you’ll be surrounded by fellow believers in your workplace. But if you make Colossians 3:17 a priority, if you “do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him,” it will make ALL that you do, even on difficult days, rewarding and fulfilling. We serve a faithful God who has called you and equipped you for such a time as this, no matter your job or what your workplace looks like.
What would you look for if you were in a position to hire new graduates from Evangel?
I think one of the most valuable mindsets that someone can bring to any workplace is the willingness to learn. If you’re asked a question by a superior or coworker, do you just say, “Sorry, I don’t know,” or do you say, “Let me see what I can find out”? You are never going to know everything when you’re starting a new position but being willing to jump in and learn opens doors, builds your skillset, and makes you more and more valuable to your team. Make yourself irreplaceable!