Campaign Director and Major Gifts
William G. Hancock, a former business lawyer at Troutman Sanders and former two time President of the Richmond Ballet Board of Trustees, re-joined Richmond Ballet in February 2014. Mr. Hancock serves as Campaign Director and Major Gifts, managing campaigns designed to promote the organization’s long-term financial sustainability. Mr. Hancock played a leadership role in both the Ballet’s ‘Raising the Roof’ and ‘Anniversary’ campaigns.
Throughout his 40+ year relationship with The State Ballet of Virginia, Mr. Hancock has led a variety of the Ballet’s outreach and development initiatives, including the Fundraising Committee the Corps of the Richmond Ballet (an all male engagement group) and the Encore Society, while also serving on the Building Committee which oversaw the design and construction of our headquarters. Mr. Hancock and Ms. Leslie Strickler co-chaired the Marketing Committee which set the tone for the company’s inaugural trip to the Joyce Theatre in 2005.
Mr. Hancock returned to Richmond Ballet after serving in a variety of roles for several businesses, which followed a 34-year law career at Troutman Sanders, LLP, and its predecessor, Mays and Valentine. Both a Partner and the Chair of the firm’s Marketing Committee, Mr. Hancock practiced law at Mays and Valentine for 25 years before becoming Counsel for Troutman Sanders in 2000. Mr. Hancock’s areas of practice at Troutman Sanders included commercial real estate development and finance, insurance legislative and regulatory matters and issues affecting early stage companies, including strategy, corporate structure, capital formation and financing.
Having previously worked on campaigns for St. Christopher’s School, the YMCA, United Way, and the American Heart Association, Mr. Hancock brings considerable non-profit fundraising experience to the Ballet, In addition, he has served on numerous boards, including that of a publicly traded Fortune 1000 company, as well as of small businesses and not-for-profit arts and educational organizations such as Richmond Ballet, The Carpenter Center, St. Christopher’s School, the Richmond Ronald McDonald House, and the Richmond Tennis Patrons. He has also served on the Executive Committee of the Virginia Bar Association and as President of the St. Christopher’s School Alumni Association.
Mr. Hancock holds a B.A. in Economics from the University of Virginia, attended Tulane University Law School, and received his Doctor of Jurisprudence from the University of Richmond Law School, where he sat on The Moot Court and the Editorial Board of the Law Review.
He and his wife, Austin Cary Hancock, have two children, Robert and Charles, ages thirteen and ten, and three grown children, Claiborne Hancock, a publisher, James Hancock, a filmmaker and Carter Johnston, a fashion designer.
