Welcome Julianne, Lily, Renae, and Joe!

Lily Malone

Sales & Marketing Coordinator 

Before joining YC&E, Lily worked in the Office of Conference & Event Management at Fairfield University where she handled external events, marketing, student staffing, and more. Lily was also a Program Assistant (intern) at YC&E in 2022!

Favorite New Haven Restaurant: Zeneli

Favorite Pastime: Hiking, kayaking, and reading

Lily is looking forward to contributing new ideas to the team and loves the level of collaboration between colleagues at YC&E.

Joe Smeraglino

Venue Manager

Before joining YC&E, Joe worked for the Purchase College Association at SUNY Purchase in Purchase, NY. The PCA is the campus auxiliary service provider that operated the campus card office, parking and transportation office, and the on-campus convenience store, The More Store, amongst other operations. Joe managed The More Store and held the role of ordering student and faculty regalia for commencement including managing a two-day regalia distribution event. Joe worked closely with many on campus departments including Residential Life, the Registrar Office, Dining Services, and the Office of the President.

Growing up, Joe’s family owned an off-site catering business in Bridgeport, CT where he held every position from food prep to head waiter and on-site coordinator.

Favorite New Haven Restaurant: Looking forward to trying any Latin cuisine!

Favorite Pastime: Joe grew up playing baseball and has played most of his life. Now that his two boys play baseball, he enjoys coaching their teams and instilling the values and lessons he learned while playing

Joe is looking forward to the opportunities to immerse himself in the beauty of Yale’s campus. He is also excited to be a part of a team that has so much passion and excitement for what they do, while all having the same mission and goal.

Julianne Minuto 

Program Manager

Before joining YC&E, Jullianne has lived in Boston and New York where she gained multi-sectoral professional experience —from working for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts State Treasurer’s Office, to supporting C-suite executives at hedge funds in Boston and Manhattan, to her nine-year stint at Harvard Law School’s Alumni Center and Harvard Kennedy School of Government’s Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation, where she planned a wide variety of academic, VIP, alumni, student, and community events.

Favorite New Haven Restaurant: Modern Apizza, Gioia, Ordinary, and Lucibello’s

Favorite Pastime: Hosting dinner parties, traveling, dining out

Julianne is looking forward to working with a top-notch event planning team and hosting events in the gorgeous spaces on Yale’s campus and around New Haven.

Renae Giard

Program Operations Assistant 

Before joining YC&E in her current role as a Program Operations Assistant, Renae held the role as a Hospitality Coordinator in 2022 with our summer staff supporting our summer programs and events. This past summer, Renae had the opportunity to return as an Operations Lead, supporting the YC&E summer operations. Renae is excited to step into this new role with YC&E while leaning into her summer knowledge.

Favorite New Haven Restaurant: Olives & Oil

Favorite Pastime: Hiking at West Rock

Renae is looking forward to continuing to foster relationships with campus partners and stakeholders as well as the various groups that chose Yale as the backdrop to their programs, events, and conferences. She is excited to build upon her foundation with the team and to continue to grow as a young professional.