Ithaca College
04/24/2025 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 04/24/2025 14:18
Monica Digilio, Distinguished Alumna and CEO of Compass Advisors LLC, to Deliver Commencement Address
Monica Digilio, Distinguished Alumna and CEO of Compass Advisors LLC, to Deliver Commencement Address
By Dave Maley, April 24, 2025
Ceremony scheduled for Sunday, May 18.
Ithaca College proudly announces that Monica Digilio, accomplished alumna and CEO of Compass Advisors LLC, will return to South Hill on Sunday, May 18, as the keynote speaker for the college's 130th Commencement ceremony.
Digilio holds a B.S. in Cinema and Photography (1985) and an M.S. in Communications (1986) from IC's Roy H. Park School of Communications. She is an esteemed executive who has led human resources for some of the most well-known global brands in hospitality and entertainment, including Atlantis Resorts, One&Only, Caesars Entertainment, and Montage International.
In those roles, she served as a trusted advisor and collaborator to the C-Suite, successfully leading large-scale transformation and growth initiatives, executing complex financial/organizational restructuring, and implementing strategies to enhance workplace culture and employee experience while creating growth and development opportunities.
"Monica Digilio is a dynamic alumna whom this year's graduates will find inspiring," said Ithaca College President La Jerne Terry Cornish. "A first-generation college student, her educational grounding in the liberal arts tradition, when combined with her majors, prepared her for a successful career as one of the nation's leading HR executives and corporate strategists. Like Monica, our graduating students will find that they are well-prepared to take on anything that comes their way, no matter their major or intended career path."
Compass Advisors, founded in 2021, provides strategic advisory support to senior-level executives, private equity investors, and boards of directors, with a focus on human capital strategy and management, business leadership, talent development, and organizational planning.
I am honored and excited to return to celebrate the 2025 graduates and deliver their Commencement address. I hope to inspire this incredible class to remain open to all the possibilities around them, even the ones they may not see.
Monica Digilio '85, M.S. '86
"I vividly remember my graduation from Ithaca and all the mixed emotions I had about what was to come as I journeyed into the real world, leaving the safe cocoon of South Hill," said Digilio. "Candidly, everything I thought and hoped it would be is so incredibly different from what it actually is, but in the best possible way. Forty years later, I am honored and excited to return to celebrate the 2025 graduates and deliver their Commencement address. I hope to inspire this incredible class to remain open to all the possibilities around them, even the ones they may not see."
Prior to Compass, Digilio served as executive vice president and chief human resources officer for Caesars Entertainment Corporation, a global gaming, hospitality, and entertainment company. There, she led the human resources and corporate social responsibility functions and supported a global workforce of 65,000 team members.
Previous positions included chief human resources officer at Montage International, owner and manager of the Montage and Pendry luxury hospitality brands; executive vice president of global human resources and administration for Kerzner International, parent company of the Atlantis and One&Only integrated resorts and luxury hotel brands; and vice president of human resources for the North America and Franchise Divisions of ITT Sheraton Corporation/ Starwood Hotels & Resorts.
While a student at Ithaca College, Digilio was elected to the Phi Kappa Phi national honor society. Her alumni service has included membership on the Park School Board of Advocates. She currently serves on the boards of directors of Seaport Entertainment Group, The Venetian Resort Las Vegas, CopperPoint Insurance Companies, and Sunstone Hotel Investors Inc. She is also on the advisory board for Cornell University's Leland C. and Mary M. Pillsbury Institute for Hospitality Entrepreneurship and is a member of the National Association of Corporate Directors and the Women Corporate Directors Foundation.
Ithaca College 2025 Commencement
The 130th Ithaca College Commencement ceremony will take place on Sunday, May 18, at 10 a.m. in Glazer Arena of the Athletics and Events Center on the Ithaca College campus.
For more information, visit ithaca.edu/commencement.