Meet Mark Pacilio, MPA

Why I do this work

I grew up in Utica, the son of a police detective, and I started my career in criminal justice reform in Delaware. There I built a victim-offender mediation program for young offenders that is still part of Delaware’s system today, and I testified before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on alternatives to incarceration. That work taught me something I’ve carried ever since: when people or places are neglected, it’s usually because a system stopped working for them. Systems can be fixed.

That’s been the thread through every role since. As Executive Director of the American Red Cross of Northern New York, I led disaster response across the region. As a Chief of Staff in the New York State Assembly, I learned exactly how state government works, and where it gets stuck. At The Neighborhood Center in Utica, I directed operations for a $14 million multi-county organization. As Executive Director of the Tug Hill Tomorrow Land Trust, I led conservation work across one of New York’s most rural regions. And as Deputy Mayor of Sackets Harbor, I designed a new village budgeting process and pushed our board into real strategic planning.

I also taught for about ten years at Jefferson Community College, including soldiers and their families at Fort Drum, and I’ve trained police officers, teachers, and school administrators throughout my career.

MAP Strategic Partners brings all of that to your project. My approach is simple: policy, knowing how the system works; planning, building a roadmap people can follow; and passion, bringing people along. I work alongside your leadership as a fractional partner, exactly when and how you need me.

Beyond the boardroom

I’m deeply invested in Sackets Harbor and the North Country. I serve as President of the Sackets Harbor Battlefield Alliance, a volunteer friends group that works with State Parks to protect our historic assets, and as Vice President of the Thompson Park Conservancy, which manages Zoo New York in Watertown. I’m a strong advocate for historic preservation and the “Modern Chautauqua” idea: turning our villages into lively cultural and intellectual hubs. Off the clock, you’ll find me with an American history audiobook, tracking Bruce Springsteen setlists, or working on my Italian.