Karen Siciliano
BA 1983, Communication
President; Siciliano Landscape Company LLC
Long Branch, New Jersey
Karen Siciliano was born and raised in New Jersey. Her education took her to the Midwest, her first career to Manhattan, and her second career back home again. Throughout her life she has succeeded in areas few women have gone before.
A graduate of Purdue University, Karen was the first female in the school’s history ever elected President of the 35,000-member student body. She was a dynamic lobbyist of the state legislature for land grant institution funds, an innovative creator of academic and social services for students, and a popular representative of the university within the Big Ten.
Karen’s career on Wall Street as a mortgage-backed security bond broker began when the trading of mortgage bonds was in its infancy and continued for nearly two decades in a market that, for much of that time, experienced frenetic growth. As a Vice President of JP Morgan and Chase Manhattan Bank, she created regional dealer sales desks for the national distribution of all mortgage securities traded. Karen’s extensive knowledge of mortgage products and players was instrumental in her success as a broker of fixed and adjustable rate bonds on the trading floors of several private brokerage firms.
Karen left Wall Street shortly after 9/11 to begin her second career. She is the owner and President of Siciliano Landscape Company, a third generation family business that has been serving the shore area for 75 years. Siciliano Landscape Company specializes in landscape design, installation, and maintenance for commercial and residential properties. In her nine years at the helm, Karen has quadrupled the size of a business founded by her grandfather and built by her father on a reputation for providing exceptional service to a well-heeled clientele.
In addition to expanding an already thriving business, Karen has elevated the social conscience of the company that bears her name. She is a leader in her industry for providing opportunities for visas, citizenship, benefits, and housing to the immigrants in her extensive workforce whose dreams mirror those of her ancestors. Karen is an executive officer on the board of trustees for the Monmouth Medical Center Foundation. Siciliano Landscape Company is a financial sponsor of The Jacqueline Wilentz Breast Center and The Valerie Center – facilities at Monmouth Medical working to further the research and treatment of cancer, a disease that took the life of her mother.
“My mother instilled in me the message of Disraeli who said, ‘The secret of success is constancy to purpose.’ She taught me by her own example that nothing great was ever achieved without passion. As I watch my life come full circle, I feel compelled to honor the memory of loved ones who’ve given me so much by working to advance the causes they held so dear.”
Karen resides at Rivergate in Long Branch, loves everything about the beach, and is an avid golfer and boater.