Tatiana Arguello, Executive Director of Nonprofit Staten Island
By Dom Provenzano, Staten Island Chamber of Commerce
Tatiana Arguello, 30, is one of Staten Island’s most influential players in the nonprofit industry. Although not originally a native Staten Islander, Arguello quickly embraced the borough and found herself at home.
Tatiana Arguello, Executive Director of Nonprofit Staten Island
“I was born in Park Slope and lived there until gentrification forced us out. We were totally priced out,” said Arguello. “We relocated to St. George in Staten Island because of its ease of access to transportation. I didn’t know a soul when we moved here, but we really came to love Staten Island. It's the first place that feels like home.”
After graduating from Fordham University, Arguello began commuting to a brokerage firm in Manhattan. However, she found herself uninspired. “I learned a lot of skills, but it wasn’t fulfilling work. Maybe it’s because I’m a Millennial, but I needed to feel like I’m doing something more, creating something while being productive, and not just on a hamster wheel.”
Arguello found her escape at the Community Health Action of Staten Island, a nonprofit that provides behavioral health services. There, she found the challenge she was seeking.
“That was my entry point to the nonprofit sector. Even though I had never worked so hard, it was fulfilling, and it was the first time I was able to be compensated for doing something that really felt like doing good.”
In 2015, Arguello joined United Activities Unlimited (UAU), a local nonprofit that provides comprehensive social services, educational supports, enrichment activities, and workforce development training. Over her more than seven years at UAU, Arguello served as a Fiscal Analyst, Program Director of the Summer Youth Employment Program, and, ultimately, Director of Workforce Development. Throughout her tenure, Arguello also served on major projects including the 2020 Census and community-based programming in response to an increase in gun violence.
It was the COVID-19 pandemic that served as her greatest challenge. During a time of tremendous uncertainty, her role morphed into something entirely different. “I worked with a ton of hard-working nonprofit professionals day in and day out. I had to show confidence in leading them, even though I wasn’t feeling confident during all that chaos. Our jobs switched to essentials, like getting people food, distributing supplies, or doing whatever was necessary in the community.”
In many ways, the pandemic was a wake-up call for Arguello. “We spent a lot of time clapping for essential workers. And then, coming out of the pandemic, people were tossed to the side. There has to be other ways to clap. I started to feel like whether it’s fair pay, protection, or benefits, there was something more I wanted to do, and could do.”
Meanwhile, the Staten Island Not-for-Profit Association (SINFPA), was seeking a new Executive Director. Nonprofit Staten Island is a nonprofit membership organization that provides the tools, resources, and advocacy for meaningful collaboration and culturally responsive community building among and across Staten Island’s nonprofit sector. Arguello saw an opportunity to jump into a role where she could make real change on a more macro level. “I just threw my hat in the ring. For me, [my career] has always been just saying yes to things and allowing myself to stretch and grow.”
Arguello got the job. In the year since, she oversaw an extensive rebranding of the association – now called Nonprofit Staten Island – and strengthened its services. The refreshed organization studied their portfolio of services and has worked through a strategic revisioning plan to refine how they can best strengthen and support the organizations they serve.
“In a nonprofit, everyone has to wear a lot of different hats. My day-to-day is different every day, and that’s why I love it. There are days where I’m doing straight-up admin work, other days where I’m trying to navigating organizational compliance, and others where I’m working on a workshop or leading a site visit. But the best is when I’m working with others in the nonprofit sector and bringing people together.”
Despite her success, Arguello refuses to stand still. “Something that I really pride myself on is constant professional development. I need to constantly be learning, since there’s really no set rule book in this industry.”
Arguello credits a great deal of her success to the generation before her. “I’ve had people throughout my career that really shepherded me, that led the charge and set the way before us. Knowing who came before and how they handled certain challenges is very important to me.”
In turn, Arguello spends a lot of time ensuring her knowledge is spread to the next generation. Arguello is heavily involved in the Staten Island Chamber of Commerce’s Young Professionals Group (YPG), which provides professional development and networking opportunities for young business professionals. Part of her goal is ensuring that the YPG, and the business community, is inclusive of younger and more diverse voices.
“We have to embrace change and recognize the patterns in how things are changing. Millennials are stepping into leadership roles, and Gen Z is not far behind us, now entering the workforce. You’re seeing women and people of color taking on more leadership roles and giving voice to perspectives that had been missing, or silenced, in the workplace for a long time. The room looks totally different than it did even a decade ago. I feel like I’m the poster child for that.”
Arguello also sees her relationship – and Nonprofit Staten Island’s relationship – with the Staten Island Chamber of Commerce as essential. “The Chamber does a wonderful job of serving as a wealth of knowledge and expertise. As an organization, we must work collaboratively with the Chamber to ensure that, not only are nonprofits highlighted and represented, but that the business community at large is as well.”
In the end, Arguello’s mission always returns to serving the borough that first felt like home, and has given so much to her since. “That’s what is at the core for me, why I try to build community. At the end of the day, it comes back to the core vision of wanting to serve this Island, and working toward prosperity, profitability, and equality for us all.”
