Home 2025 April 24 (Page 2)

Day: April 24, 2025

Paris Felogloy

By
Class of 2025

School-age Childcare Director and Camp Director, Franklin County YMCA: Age 28

Paris Felogloy

Paris Felogloy

Paris Felogloy grew up attending summer camp at a YMCA.

“I remember being surrounded by so many different kids. I could come here and learn stuff from older kids and also learn stuff from the younger kids and play different games with all of them,” he recalled.

Which makes it even more gratifying to impact children today as director of Camp Apex, one of his roles at the Franklin County YMCA, where he oversees both the before- and after-school youth programs and the summer camp.

“We get kids as early as 6 a.m., then you get them back after school until 6 p.m.,” he said. “Most of the kids love it so much, they go to camp with us as well, so we watch them grow throughout the entire year. It’s awesome.”

Felogloy manages a staff of around 55 — mostly high-school or early college-age students — overseeing these programs, which typically serve about 230 children from kindergarten through grade 8. Both programs have grown under his leadership, generating talk of expanding them to meet demand.

“It’s really cool. Kids might geek out an arts-and-crafts project and then go upstairs and kick home runs in kickball. We surround kids with so many activities — swimming lessons, nature activities … a little bit of everything, from scooters, skateboards, and BMX bikes to virtual-reality stuff. We keep every moment of every day pretty busy. I just love being in front of these kids all the time. The impact is really life-changing.”

And not just for the kids, said Franklin County YMCA CEO Grady Vigneau Jr., who nominated Felogloy for 40 Under Forty, and noted that many of his staff are taking on the first professional work role of their lives — and learning under a committed teacher, coach, and mentor.

“It is not a stretch to state that Paris — within a safe, supportive, family-like environment — has developed innumerable young people into trusted, future professionals while still in high school,” Vigneau wrote.

Active in the community, Felogloy is a community ambassador for a child sexual-abuse prevention initiative through the Children’s Advocacy Center, while volunteering over the years for a host of other nonprofits. In addition, he has worked to cultivate a side business in photography and videography, and also builds furniture.

“I just enjoy the process of learning and doing things,” he said — and helping hundreds of kids do the same.

—Joseph Bednar

Chelsea Depault

By
Class of 2025

Vice President, Commercial and Municipal Lending, Greenfield Cooperative Bank: Age 36

Chelsea Depault

Chelsea Depault

Chelsea Depault says she got into banking “by default.”

As she explains it, the mother of an old boyfriend took it upon herself to help her secure a better job by submitting an application for her at Greenfield Cooperative Bank to be a teller.

That was in 2007. She got the job and has been there ever since (except for a two-year stint with Community Action of Pioneer Valley), rising in the ranks and securing a progression of titles, from accounting clerk to credit analyst; commercial loan officer to vice president, Commercial Operations officer, assuming a wide range of duties along the way.

During COVID, for example, she played a key role in helping install a manual process to train internal staff in the handling of PPP loan applications.

Today, her role as vice president, Commercial and Municipal Lending involves everything from handling loans for commercial customers, most of them small-business owners, to staffing the bank’s booth at Frontier Regional High School’s Teen Reality Fair, providing lessons in financial literacy.

These and other assignments are quite rewarding, said Depault, who earned degrees at Greenfield Community College and then the Isenberg School of Management at UMass Amherst and has also completed the prestigious ABA Stonier Graduate School of Banking program at the University of Pennsylvania. She especially likes working with business owners and guiding them through what can be a difficult process.

“No two businesses are the same, and no two deals are the same,” she explained. “Being able to help small businesses and big businesses achieve their goals — and those goals are always changing — is my favorite part of this job.”

Active in the community, she serves Community Action Pioneer Valley, a nonprofit that assists low-income residents with everything from fuel assistance to SNAP benefits, as treasurer. She also serves on the Northfield Recreation Committee (as treasurer, but also soccer and basketball coach), the Franklin County Community Development Corp. loan committee, Franklin County Community Meals, the Greenfield Public Library Foundation, the Franklin Regional Council of Governments, and more.

While doing all that, she finds plenty of time for family — husband, Doug, three children, Mason, Brody, and Ellie, and two dogs — and a wide range of outdoor activities and sports.

“All that keeps me busy,” she said. “But it’s a good busy.”

—George O’Brien

Sherleen Crespo

By
Class of 2025

Vice President, Branch Manager, and Mortgage Specialist, Westfield Bank: Age 36

Sherleen Crespo

Sherleen Crespo

Banking was a surprise career for Sherleen Crespo — but, as it turned out, a pleasant surprise. “Fresh out of high school, I was a waitress, but I needed a career, and someone told me about banking,” she recalled. “I started part-time while going to night school — and I loved it. I had a great mentor, and I went full-time from there.” Since starting that journey 17 years ago, she’s advanced through a series of supervisory roles and joined Westfield Bank as a branch manager in 2017. These days, she manages a branch of eight employees in Westfield, with responsibilities including overseeing customer service; retail and business product sales, including mortgage origination; business development and community outreach; and employee development. “My main passion in banking is financial literacy,” she added. “That’s what drew me into banking: to help people, whether they’re kids with a small bank account, middle- and high-school students, or adults. I really enjoy being able to help them financially, teach them about about credit, and keep them on a plan, whether they want to buy a home or whatever their passion is.” In the community, Crespo mentors youth on job-readiness skills; volunteered with the We Care Initiative, which provided care packages for older adults during the pandemic; and has been a board member and #GreenNFit house captain at Revitalize Community Development Corp. for the past six years, helping renovate local homes and make them safer and healthier for their residents. “We help a lot of people, and it makes a really big impact,” she said. “When you see the events, how many people get together, how many houses, it makes such a difference. It’s really touching when you work with these families from beginning to end, to see how emotional they are because it’s something they may not have been able to afford or they can’t do physically.” But Crespo’s financial-efforts in the community may be closest to her heart, whether by facilitating educational sessions in local schools and businesses or serving on the local Credit for Life committee, which sets up day-long fairs for high-school seniors, where they choose a virtual career path and make decisions about saving, budgeting, and spending. Such efforts earned her the 2019 Business Investment Award from Parent Villages. “That’s something I’m really passionate about,” she said. “I’m able to be there for the kids, and it ties into what I do at work. It’s amazing.” —Joseph Bednar

Tatiana Cole

By
Class of 2025

Business Connector and Coach, Free to Flourish, LLC: Age 38

Tatiana Cole

Tatiana Cole

Tatiana Cole said she was inspired to become an entrepreneurial coach by several family members, including her father, who had a side business cleaning commercial and residential buildings, and her mother, who sold quilts and sewing items.

She also earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in psychology from Central Connecticut State University and Springfield College, respectively, and built a background in event planning in higher education, from campus-wide events to professional conferences.

Marrying those aptitudes and inspirations, in 2017, Cole launched Free to Flourish, LLC, which aims to empower women entrepreneurs through coaching, strategic business planning, and networking opportunities.

As part of those efforts, she has curated large-scale Flourish Conferences in Massachusetts and North Carolina, as well as Flourish Connections networking events across Western Mass. and Connecticut.

“Free to Flourish focuses on the professional-development side of entrepreneurship,” she explained. The conferences feature the stories of real women who have overcome difficult personal struggles — from a pair of heart attacks by age 36 to ending an engagement — while running and growing their business.

“They give hope to other women that you’re not alone, that you can make it through to the other side,” she said. “As entrepreneurs, they show how they navigated that space and what lessons they had to learn.”

The networking events, typically held at women-owned businesses, also feature business owners speaking about overcoming challenges. Cole does one-on-one coaching and consulting as well and is looking to add new events to her offerings.

“I enjoy seeing the growth, a seed planted in an interaction that turns into an action plan — and I’m all about the action plan,” she said. “I’m their biggest cheerleader. They just need someone to see them, to help them walk a little taller and hold their head high because they know at least one person is on their side.”

Cole is also active in the community, serving on the board of Dress for Success Western Massachusetts, where she mentors women on career development and financial independence, and as a mentor for EforAll/EparaTodos Pioneer Valley, helping minority and immigrant entrepreneurs build sustainable businesses.

All of this is summed up by one of her nominators, Mydalis Vera, owner of Guerrera Writer, LLC, another of this year’s 40 Under Forty class, who appreciates how Cole empowers others. “Whether through her entrepreneurial initiatives, academic leadership, or civic engagement, she continues to make a meaningful impact in the lives of students, professionals, and business owners.”

—Joseph Bednar

Olivia Calcasola

By
Class of 2025

Tax Supervisor, Meyers Brothers Kalicka, P.C.: Age 27

Olivia Calcasola

Olivia Calcasola

Olivia Calcasola started her career in accounting at the Boston-based firm RSM US.

That was in November 2019. Just a few months later, COVID hit, and, like almost everyone else at the firm, she was sent home to work, and did so for the next two years.

This was a difficult, trying stretch, she said, adding that she, like other young accountants, missed out on the mentoring and camaraderie that comes with being in an office every day.

But she believes that, ultimately, that experience has made her a better accountant and worker.

“You had to sink or swim — I pretty much had to teach myself everything that I would have learned in person or learned with a mentor,” she said. “I didn’t have what I have now — the ability to go talk to someone and knock on their door.”

Those experiences have made Calcasola even more determined to be a mentor and foster professional development.

And she does this in her role as tax supervisor at Meyers Brothers Kalicka, P.C. (MBK), where her day job involves everything from overseeing the preparation and review of complex individual, corporate, and partnership returns to managing client relationships; from conducting tax research to staying current on changes in tax laws, regulations, and rulings.

“We all have designated mentors here, but we all try to mentor each other,” she said, adding that this is one of the reasons why she enjoys what she does and loves going to work every day — even at the height of tax season.

Calcasola, a graduate of UMass Amherst’s Isenberg School of Management and one of two young professionals from MBK named to the 40 Under Forty class of 2025, is also actively involved in many of the firm’s efforts to give back, especially through its community-service events and initiatives.

She has spearheaded an event for HCS Head Start — a drive to collect winter coats for children — while also working on the United Way of Pioneer Valley’s Stuff the Bus program, which collects school supplies, among other efforts.

Through the firm’s Community Outreach Program, she has participated in events to support groups ranging from the Springfield Boys and Girls Club to the Gray House; from Girl Scouts of Western Massachusetts to Better Together Dog Rescue.

While doing that, she finds plenty of time for her fiancé, Jon, and Siberian husky, Gunner.

 

—George O’Brien