Most lawyers are hired to say no. Miya Nazzaro '04 has built her career doing the opposite, using legal strategy as an engine for growth. As Managing Attorney at Nazzaro Law, she serves as a business legal strategist for high-growth startups, nonprofits, and small businesses, guiding them from inception through scale and exit. The results speak for themselves: she helped grow a global pro bono law firm's revenue by more than 60x, overseeing operations across nine international offices, and has managed and negotiated over $100 million in international contracts with both foreign and U.S. governments.

That track record was built on a conviction she has held since long before law school: that creativity belongs in serious institutions. It's a philosophy she first tested as an undergraduate, when she co-founded a company marketing uniquely flavored Jell-O shots.

“I’ve known Miya Nazzaro for more than twenty years, and from the very beginning she stood out for her entrepreneurial mindset and creative approach to problem-solving,” said Professor Paul Williams. Even as a law student, she was connecting ideas from the business world to mission-driven work in ways that were both practical and forward-looking. That same instinct now defines her work advising founders and organizations as a strategic legal partner.”

Every role since is the same: find the unconventional approach that works. As Vice President of Finance & Development and In-House Legal Counsel at PILPG, she combined legal judgment with creative strategic planning to strengthen the organization's long-term sustainability, developing global financial policies that underpinned more than 15 successful audits.

Today, her practice spans corporate governance, strategic planning, and risk management, including documented best practices for the highly regulated commercial cannabis industry. For Nazzaro, those goals have never been in conflict. Mitigating legal exposure and driving revenue, she argues, are two sides of the same strategic coin.