Kathy LeMay
Age 38: Owner and Founder, Raising Change
You might say that Kathy LeMay has written the book, both literally and figuratively, on philanthropy and how it is, or should be, defined.
Through the Florence-based company she created called Raising Change, LeMay says she builds bridges between philanthropists of all kinds and nonprofit agencies that can benefit from their generosity. She’s become quite accomplished at this bridge-building, raising more than $100 million in the fields of women’s human rights, hunger, and poverty relief, and also directing another $100 million in philanthropic dollars to organizations working to make a difference. Meanwhile, she just completed her first book, The Generosity Plan, which contains the stories of several dozen people, most of them non-millionaires, and their acts of charity.
“The subtitle of the book is Sharing Your Time, Treasure, and Talent to Shape the World, explained LeMay, the top scorer among this year’s 40 Under Forty nominees. “It’s based on the premise that philanthropy has nothing to do with million-dollar checks. Instead, at its core, philanthropy is giving of yourself and resources to benefit humankind.”
LeMay said the book, like her life’s work, has been a passionate pursuit, and an endeavor that reflects lessons and experiences from a career as what she calls a “professional social-change fund-raiser.”
“I enjoy what I do a ridiculous amount, and I’ve learned so much from everyone I’ve met in my 15-plus years of social-change work, and the chance to share their stories and show what regular people do every day to change the world is just a lot of fun for me.”
LeMay, who has appeared on Oprah Winfrey’s show, Oxygen TV, and a number of radio shows, and has been nominated for a Reebok Human Rights Award, says people can order advance copies of the book on Amazon.com, and she expects it to be on the bookstore shelves by next January, with a book tour to follow.
—George O’Brien
When Leutz arrived in Northampton fresh out of college, he pictured himself working for a nonprofit organization. “It turned out, I wasn’t qualified because the only positions available were administrative,” he said. “When I got to an office, I really didn’t know how to run a fax machine or the copier.” 
Indeed, as a young man, MacKenzie wasn’t sure whether he wanted to get boxed into the family business. After graduating from high school, he was itching to get out of Western Mass. He envisioned lights, cameras, and himself on stage, so he headed to California to take acting classes. 
To support his literary efforts, Maroulis took a job at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. “I started off as a security guard and wound up working in the Operations department as an exhibitions assistant,” he said. The job fueled a passion for art and introduced him to the woman he would later marry. The couple settled down in Pelham, where Maroulis continued to work on his novel while staying home to raise their first child (they now have two).
What happened next was sort of a happy accident in moonlighting.
The fuzzy friends are part of a program called Second Step, which Moore, a guidance counselor, uses to coach young children on how to deal with frustrating emotions that can occur in certain situations, such as two kids wanting to play with the same toy at once.
He should know, having spent four years in active service and another five in reserve duty. Earning the rank of major, Murphy knows something about leadership — a trait he employs as president of First American Insurance Agency in Chicopee, a job he grew into.
“I was standing on my couch screaming,” he said while describing his viewing experience of the championship game against Miami of Ohio, during which BU, his alma matter, stormed back from two goals down late and went on to win in overtime. “Coach [Jack] Parker pulled the goalie with three minutes left. There was a lot of time left to be doing that, but the strategy paid off — they came back and tied it.”
As it turned out, Ludlow-based Studio99Creative — which assists businesses with not only Web design but also total branding efforts — helped this client open up new opportunities in corporate and industrial photography. “So she came back to me to build a Web site for that side of the business, too.”
That’s the day his wife, Rebecca, is due to deliver a baby boy. “I’m hoping he arrives a little early,” joked Quenneville. “If he does, we might just bring him with us to the party.”
“I’m in the stock market, and the bull and bear are always going at it. The chips are not always stacked in your favor, so you have to work through adversity and go forward,” he said.
“They determined that I was the most effective match, better than either of his sisters,” said Reale when discussing how she was the chosen to be the donor, thus giving her another date to circle on the calendar.
When she finally took that bold step last fall with friend and now-partner Amy Griffin Munnings, she did so with nearly equal doses of confidence and trepidation.
“You could see all three states from the house where I grew up,” she said, adding, in a voice tinged with diplomacy, that people are “more neighborly” there than they are here in the Northeast.
It was Sadowsky’s grandfather who started the beer-distributing company 50 years ago. But make no mistake, the office and the title are no hand-me-downs. Sadowsky worked hard to earn his place in the family business. 
“I came back here after college because of the quality of life. Eveything is fantastic about this region, and I want to see it thrive and be the best place it can be,” he said.
Which is what made it so difficult to part with. When the time came to decide whether to preserve the land or sell it for development, her family was unable to reach an agreement. That’s when Seigchrist starting filming. 
The 38-year-old — who holds degrees in Psychology and Religion and is father to 3-year-old Julia, who speaks four languages, and 6-month-old Sofia — loves life and describes his own as a dream.
Stallman, who grew up in the Midwest, kicked his career off as a mechanical engineer. He wrote the Hummer book in 1990 as an engineer for GMP Metal Products in St. Louis. Later he switched over to Ford Motor Co. in Detroit, where he also met his wife, who happened to be from Chicopee. 
After all, she and her brother remembered the humble beginnings of J. Stolar Insurance Agency in Three Rivers — a business their father launched from his basement in 1980.
But she’s more proud of the feedback she’s getting for her work within the community, and how it seems to be generating momentum and more energy for causes and organizations ranging from Best Buddies to the Northampton Chamber of Commerce; from Clarke School for the Deaf to Northampton Area Young Professionals.
Chris Thompson has a large collection of hockey memorabilia in his office at the MassMutual Center, from assorted pucks and sticks to a framed copy of that famous photo of Bobby Orr flying through the air as he scored the winning goal to cap off the Boston Bruins’ dramatic charge to the Stanley Cup in 1970.
“I was beginning to research what I would get into,” said Tur, one of the youngest-ever 40 Under Forty honorees. “I knew I didn’t want a typical job coming out of college. I wanted to go out on my own. And I came across a great opportunity.”
For example, at Bay Path College earlier this decade, she developed the college’s Entrepreneurial Program, not only mentoring students in how to start their own businesses, but also forging educational partnerships between the college and area companies.
