He brings nearly 40 years of leadership in finance, philanthropy and technology to Alvernia, the university said in a press release.<\/p>\n
Before joining Ben Franklin Northeast, Valletta held several executive leadership roles, including at FISGlobal, one of the largest financial technology corporations in the world.<\/p>\n
He also served as\u00a0senior vice president and chief bank operations and information officer at Sun National Bank, and Philadelphia market chief information officer at PNCBank, according to Ben Franklin Northeast.<\/p>\n
Alvernia\u2019s executive-in-residence program provides students with the opportunity to engage with prominent leaders in business and industry.<\/p>\n
![\"Angelo](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1762278427_480_Valetta-and-Fitzgerald.jpg\")
Angelo J. Valletta, Alvernia\u2019s 2025-26 executive-in-residence, and Alvernia President Dr. Glynis A. Fitzgerald meet with students. (Courtesy of Alvernia University)<\/p>\n
Each year, the selected executive offers mentorship and guidance, connecting academic learning with real-world experiences, officials said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAngelo\u2019s career intersects banking, fintech, philanthropy and venture development, which gives our students a clear window into how leadership principles translate across industries,\u201d said Dr. David S. Shoup, dean of the College of Innovation, Discovery, and Enterprise. \u201cHis fireside format invites real dialogue about the current state of business and the practical habits that help teams thrive.\u201d<\/p>\n
Last week, Valletta held a \u201cfireside-style\u201d chat at the McGlinn Conference Center. The conversation centered on lessons from his book, \u201cThe Seven R\u2019s of Leadership and Life,\u201d and his extensive industry experience<\/p>\n
The visit began with brief introductions and transitioned into a question and answer session moderated by MBA candidate Nicholas King, class of 2024.<\/p>\n
In addition to the chat session, Valletta will visit individual classes for smaller, practice-focused discussions, Alvernia said.<\/p>\n
\u201cMentorship has been one of the most rewarding aspects of my career,\u201d Valletta said in a statement. \u201cI am honored to serve as executive-in-residence at Alvernia, and I look forward to helping students bridge classroom learning with real-world leadership experiences. My goal is to encourage them to think creatively, act with integrity, and develop the confidence to lead in whatever path they choose.\u201d<\/p>\n
Beyond the residency, Ben Franklin Northeast and Alvernia have developed an ongoing partnership in the regional startup ecosystem.<\/p>\n
Through Alvernia\u2019s O\u2019Pake Institute for Economic Development and Entrepreneurship\u2019s student-powered SPARK Business Incubator, several ventures received support with venture investment readiness before engaging with Ben Franklin, Alvernia said.<\/p>\n
Those businesses include Cemboo, Ocoa, KissUX, Catapallo VR, and Agent23AI.<\/p>\n
\u201cThrough joint coaching, due diligence and venture capital-readiness work, we help founders move from the early stages to an investable business,\u201d said Alvernia University Vice President of Research, Innovation and Economic Development Dr. Rodney S. Ridley Sr., chief operating officer of the O\u2019Pake Institute. \u201cThe engine of this transformation is the Alvernia students. By aligning our SPARK Business Incubator with Ben Franklin Northeast\u2019s network and resources, we\u2019re building a shared pipeline that grows companies and talent in eastern Pennsylvania.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Angelo](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1762278428_970_Valetta-and-Ridley.jpg\")
Angelo J. Valletta, Alvernia\u2019s 2025-26 executive-in-residence and Alvernia Vice President of Research, Innovation and Economic Development and Chief Operating Officer of the O\u2019Pake Institute Dr. Rodney S. Ridley Sr. (Courtesy of Alvernia University)<\/p>\n
Ben Franklin Northeast is an economic development organization that provides investment capital and business support to startups, manufacturers, and business incubators across Northeastern Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n
Alvernia\u2019s executive-in-residence program was launched in 2017.<\/p>\n
Last year\u2019s executive-in-chief was Greg Header, an entrepreneur who holds over 50 patents and is the namesake of the university\u2019s Header School of Business.<\/p>\n
Header is the chief executive officer and owner of fishing reel manufacturer IRT Reels, and is the co-founder of Solar Innovations, an architectural glazing system company acquired in 2022 by Fortune Brands, a Fortune 500 company.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Alvernia has named Angelo J. Valletta as the 2025-26 executive-in-residence at the university\u2019s School of Business. Valletta has…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":24208,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[349,60,182,139,28,128,130,129,3801],"class_list":["post-24527","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-reading","tag-berks-county","tag-business","tag-local-news","tag-news","tag-pennsylvania","tag-reading-city","tag-reading-city-headlines","tag-reading-city-news","tag-top-stories-dln"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24527","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24527"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24527\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24208"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24527"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24527"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24527"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}