Jessica Fasanella
28, Program Manager, Pile Driving Contractors Association
Jacksonville
It all started when Fasanella’s parents allowed her to plan a family summer vacation to Canada. “Cities, hotels, activities… I was in charge of it all. Only one trip and I was hooked,” she recalls. Many years later, her career is going places. From May 2013 to May 2014, Fasanella received two promotions, the most recent to her current position as program manager for the Pile Driving Contractors Association, a group advocating for the increased use of driven piles for deep foundations and earth retention systems. It’s her job to dig deep and come up with ways for the organization to position itself better in today’s economy through conferences and events. “I think of myself as the almighty circus leader,” she says. She’s moved up the ranks in an organization looking deep into the earth through steady time management and fiscal responsibility, the hallmarks of any top-notch planner. The association’s events are growing under her watch: The 16th Annual Design and Installation of Cost-Efficient Piles Conference in Newark, New Jersey, is expanding and will include 12 general sessions this year. “We’ve received an excellent response to the conference and have sold out the exhibit hall two times over. I’ve recently created a waitlist with five additional companies that have asked to be contacted if any exhibitor is unable to attend,” says Fasanella.
