Darlene Mancini-Brown Receives Outstanding Woman of the Year Award
Darlene Mancini-Brown, director of facilities management and planning, recently received the Outstanding Woman of the Year Award from the MCC Women’s Caucus. The award is given annually to a female faculty or staff member (alternating years between the two groups) who has made an important contribution to the achievements of women at the college, exemplifies leadership qualities and acts as a role model and mentor through her activities on campus.
Mancini-Brown manages the daily operations of the 160-acre MCC campus and about 300,000 square feet of campus buildings, as well as overseeing the implementation of a 10-year $100 million master plan. She is a graduate of Wentworth Institution of Technology and also holds a master’s degree in organizational management from Eastern Connecticut State University. During the past year, she served as interim vice president of facilities at the Connecticut Board of Regents, while continuing her duties simultaneously at MCC.
As written in the award’s nomination letter, Mancini-Brown has acknowledged her “still-somewhat-unique role” as a woman in her field as she worked to effect change. For the past several years, she has mentored a female employee in her department and supported that individual in the pursuit of a career in construction. Mancini-Brown provided this mentee with valuable on-the-job experience and then helped her identify and move on to new opportunities.
In addition, she has identified thousands of dollars of savings for the college and is credited with being a “big picture” thinker who can easily synthesize a diversity of viewpoints and goals.
About the MCC Women’s Caucus
Since the 1970s, the MCC Women’s Caucus has recognized the value of a social experience and helping female faculty and staff develop a network in which they could work toward common goals. A mark of the effectiveness of the caucus can be seen in the permanent committees that have become part of the mainstream of the college.
Each year the caucus brings members together to lunch and to learn from a colleague. The highlight of the Women’s Caucus season is the annual spring luncheon at which the Outstanding Woman of the Year Award is conferred on a woman who has supported and promoted the professional development of women on campus. The annual luncheon also recognizes the collegiality of women on campus and the contributions made by many.
