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Celebrating the Women of Impact

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Opinion

Editorial

 

In 2019, BusinessWest created a new recognition program, one to recognize a large and significant constituency, and one whose accomplishments often went unrecognized.

We thought about calling it Women in Business, but then we decided this didn’t fit the bill, as we didn’t want to recognize only individuals’ accomplishments in the business world.

Rather, we wanted to celebrate women of achievement, women who stand out, women who go far beyond what’s in their job description, women who are making a difference. So a name came about naturally: Women of Impact.

The plan was to honor those who excel in their chosen field, or fields, as the case may be, but who are also giving back in the community, who inspire others around them, who serve as mentors to others and especially younger women, and who, as one of our honorees is fond of saying, ‘show up.’

We’ve done that, and this year’s class continues that tradition, as the stories that begin on page W4 clearly show. They are:

• Tara Brewster, vice president of Business Development and director of Philanthropy at Greenfield Savings Bank. Her passion for connecting the community and boosting nonprofits is reflected in both her career and her activities outside the bank as she asks, “what are we here for if not to make a difference?”

• Ayanna Crawford, president of AC Consulting and Media Services. Her work spans her consulting business, numerous nonprofit boards, serving the public as chief of staff to state Rep. Orlando Ramos, and a flourishing organization called Take the Mic, which gives both young people and adults the confidence they need to be public speakers.

• Tracy Friedenberg, executive director of Bacon Wilson, P.C. Early on, she decided that she wanted to serve in roles where she could help team members thrive and drive organizational success. She’s been described as “a visionary leader, compassionate mentor, and an extraordinary human being” who is actively involved in her community.

• Rania Kfuri, vice president of Philanthropy, Sales, and Marketing at Glenmeadow. Showing up has been her credo, and the continuation of a pattern set by several generations of her extended family. Showing up means excelling at work, giving back to the community, mentoring others, literally showing up at events, and convening others to help solve regional problems.

• Chelsea Kline, executive director of Cancer Connection. She understood the value of this “lean, scrappy” nonprofit when her mother accessed its services two decades ago, and today, she and her team successfully build community support for a wide array of programs that bring calm, courage, and even fun to people dealing with the harshest challenge of their lives.

• Angelina Ramirez, CEO of Stavros Center for Independent Living. For the past 35 years, she has been dedicated to this critical nonprofit that helps people with disabilities secure resources and equipment, stay in their homes, access education and job opportunities, and otherwise achieve the kind of live they desire to live.

• Amanda Sanderson, executive director of the Resilience Center of Franklin County. Inspired by her mother’s resiliency in overcoming physical and sexual abuse, she has dedicated her life to leading nonprofits, which she calls the ‘glue’ of our society, and constantly raising the bar when it comes to serving clients and acting as a convener and collaborator.

• Sarah Rose Stack, lecturer of Public Relations at UMass Amherst — just the latest chapter in a compelling story. Inspired by music teachers, she overcame poverty in childhood to excel in music and the arts, and they remain a big part of who she is. Another big part is being a mentor and the kind of teacher who can change a life, as her teachers changed hers.

We at BusinessWest congratulate the Women of Impact class of 2025 and are grateful for their powerful example and inspiring stories.

Meet the 2025 Alumni Achievement Award Finalists

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Alumni Achievement Award Cover Story

All AAAs

In 2015, BusinessWest, created a new recognition program. Well, let’s call it a spinoff of an existing initiative.

Indeed, the Alumni Achievement Award recognizes those individuals who have most expanded upon the résumés that earned them membership in the 40 Under Forty Club.

And while there is usually one winner each year (there have been two on a pair of occasions), we profile the finalists for the award each year, because … well, just being among the handful of top scorers is an achievement of note.

The five stories on the following pages certainly convey continued excellence in the professional world — usually with a step or two or three up the ladder — and continued commitment to giving back to the community. They also provide some looks into the personal lives of some outstanding individuals, each of them worthy of the award known as AAA.

The Five Finalists for 2025 are:

Click on the photos below to read their stories

Jeff Fialky

Managing shareholder at Bacon Wilson, P.C.

Amelia Holstrom

Partner at Skoler, Abbott & Presser, P.C.

James Krupienski

Partner at Meyers Brothers Kalicka, P.C

Ryan McCollum

Owner of RMC Strategies

Orlando Ramos

State Rep. 9th Hampden District

The winner will be announced at the start of the 19th annual 40 Under Forty gala on Thursday, June 19 at the MassMutual Center. Once again, the presenting sponsor of the AAA program is Health New England.

Meet the 2025 Alumni Achievement Award Judges:

Ashley Bogle is assistant general counsel and director of Legal Services for Health New England, where she manages the day-to-day operations of HNE’s Legal Department, from reviewing contracts to providing regulatory guidance and maintaining licenses and accreditation. A 40 Under Forty honoree in 2021 and a founding member of HNE’s diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging committee, she was recognized by the Urban League of Springfield this year as its Health & Wellness Hero for her commitment to health equity, legal advocacy, and community enrichment.

A 27-year veteran of Monson Savings Bank, Dan Moriarty has been the institution’s president since 2020 and added the title of CEO in 2021. Earlier this year, BusinessWest named him one of its 2025 Difference Makers, largely for his commitment to the community — he volunteers about 200 hours a year — but also his stewardship of a philanthropic culture at Monson Savings, which has given about $1 million to 420 organizations over the past five years, with employees donating about 1,700 hours in the community each year.

Meghan Rothschild, a member of the 40 Under Forty class of 2011 and the recipient of the 2024 Alumni Achievement Award, is president and owner of the marketing and public relations firm Chikmedia, which puts an emphasis on female-run organizations and women business owners, offering strategic marketing planning and creative public relations. Increasingly in demand as a public speaker on topics ranging from enterpreneurship to social media training to women’s health, she is also a melanoma survivor and a fierce advocate for skin cancer awareness and prevention.

Celebrating the Difference Makers

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Opinion

Editorial

The name came naturally.

Indeed, as the leadership team at BusinessWest was finalizing plans to create a new recognition program back in 2009, all that remained was a name. And as they talked about the individuals, nonprofits, and institutions that could, and would, be honored in the years to come, Difference Makers was the logical fit.

It says it all, and it describes, efficiently and succinctly, the dozens of honorees recognized since we launched this endeavor 16 years ago. It’s the same with the eight honorees for 2025, all of whom are making a difference in their own way, as is made clear in the stories in the special center section of this issue. They are:

• Jennie Adamczyk, executive director of Providence Ministries for the Needy (PMN). She oversees programs that include a soup kitchen, a pantry, sober homes for men, and a warming shelter. But it’s not what she does that makes her a Difference Maker, but show she does it, with determination and imagination that mirrors that of PMN founder Sr. Margaret McCleary: if she sees a need, she works aggressively to meet it.

• Sheryl Blancato, CEO of Second Chance Animal Services. She’s a true believer that all animals deserve a second chance, and from humble beginnings 26 years ago, she and her team have created a wide-ranging nonprofit, including four veterinary hospitals, that helps more than 56,000 animals each year. Her goal has always been to help not just pets, but their families, in an effort to keep them together.

• Andrea Bordenca, CEO of DESCO Service. Yes, she’s the leader of a successful healthcare emergency field-service response organization, but she’s a Difference Maker because of her many initiatives to bring people together, create dialogue, build community, and help young people, women, and other constituencies become the best versions of themselves.

• Mychal Connolly, owner of Stand Out Truck. He’s a serial entrepreneur and the successful owner of a unique marketing business, but he’s a Difference Maker because of the way he’s become a mentor, role model, and true inspiration to aspiring entrepreneurs, particularly young people, and for the way he’s helped many of them overcome challenges and get off the ground or to the next level.

• John Delaney, director of Ride to Remember. When a fellow Springfield police officer, Kevin Ambrose, died in the line of duty, Delaney helped create what has become one of the region’s premier bicycling events — not a competitive ride, but a communal one that has raised awareness of fallen heroes and money for a host of important charitable causes across the region.

• John Doleva, president and CEO of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. When he took this job, he expected to stay a few years and then return to the sporting-goods world from which he came. Instead, he’s stayed more than 20 years, leading the Hall through myriad challenges while also becoming greatly involved in the Western Mass. community, especially with programs involving young people and sports.

• The Michael J. Dias Foundation. From the crushing loss of her son to drug addiction, Grace Dias created a supportive community of fellow grieving parents — and then created something more: an organization that operates three (soon to be four) sober homes where individuals in recovery can develop resilience, responsibility, accountability, and a chance to move on to a successful life of independence.

• Dan Moriarty, president and CEO of Monson Savings Bank. A star athlete in high school and college, and a participant in marathons and Ironman competitions today, he makes frequent use of sports phrases and metaphors, especially those involving the importance of teamwork. He practices what he preaches and leads by example, and has built a strong team that is committed to getting involved and giving back.

Celebrating the Women of Impact

By
Opinion

Editorial

 

In 2018, BusinessWest created a new recognition program, one to recognize the contributions of women. We did this … well, because we needed to.

Indeed, while we have other programs that certainly recognize women — 40 Under Forty, Difference Makers, and Healthcare Heroes — a separate program focused exclusively on women and the many contributions they are making to quality of life in this region was clearly necessary.

The reason is that so many of the stories we’ve told since 2018 might not have been told otherwise, and some women worthy of recognition might not have been duly recognized.

We could have called this program ‘Women in Business’ — other business publications have done just that. But we believed this was too limiting. We wanted to recognize all the many ways women can excel and make an impact. Thus, the name Women of Impact was chosen.

And the program has lived up to that title. This tradition of honoring women from across a wide spectrum of professions, pathways, and methods for making an impact continues with the class of 2023.

This class includes business leaders, nonprofit managers, a healthcare provider, an author and public speaker, and even a flight instructor — who is also a business owner.

The stories are all different, but there are many common threads. These women are leaders, they are inspiring, they are mentors to others, and they give back in many different ways.

And there is something else as well. These women all recognize what one of our honorees, Dawn Forbes DiStefano, called the “power of one woman,” especially when it comes to influencing the lives and careers of other women.

And they demonstrate that power, in myriad ways.

Indeed, our honorees have all made it a priority to help empower women and enable them to rise higher, quite literally when it comes to flight instructor and flight-school owner Rika Ballard; or by helping them get into the still-male-dominated auto industry, in the case of Carla Cosenzi; or help them enter (and then persevere in) the financial-advisor industry, in the case of Amy Jamrog; or help them overcome postpartum depression or the trauma of child abuse, as Arlyana Dalce-Bowie and Lisa Zarcone, respectively, are doing; or, in the case of Michelle Theroux, help young people with disabilities thrive in music and in life.

In many ways, our Women of Impact program has become a vehicle for displaying the awesome power of a single woman. Since 2018, our honorees, including those in the class of 2023, have demonstrated the power to lead, inspire, and generate positive change in the lives of not only women, but all those they impact.

It’s a striking, impressive class, and we’re excited to share their stories with you.

Healthcare Heroes Are Everywhere

By
Opinion

Editorial

There’s no set timeframe to be a hero. It’s more about taking advantage of opportunities that emerge. And that can happen quickly, or over a lifetime.

One of the goals of the Healthcare Heroes recognition program, now in its third year, was to create a vehicle for relaying some of the many amazing stories taking place within the region’s healthcare industry, stories that convey energy, compassion, innovation, forward thinking, and, above all, passion — for finding ways to improve quality of life for those that these people and organizations touch every day.

And, as noted, this heroism takes a lot of different forms.

Take Katherine Wilson, who has spent the past three decades building and shaping Behavioral Health Network into a $115 million network that continues to expand and find new ways to provide care and support to those in need. This honor goes far beyond the vast portfolio of programs her agency offers. It’s also about a lifetime spent advocating for those with mental illness, substance-abuse issues, or development disabilities, anticipating and then meeting their needs.

Linda Uguccioni, on the other hand, has been with executive director at Linda Manor Assisted Living in Northampton for only four years. But in that time, she’s put it on the fast track when it comes to growth, vibrancy, and recognition, doubling occupancy from 40 to more than 80, with a waiting list. She does so with a lead-by-example style and an ability to make each and every team member feel not only valued but a key contributor to the health and well-being of all residents.

Frank Robinson, like Wilson, has been working for a healthier community for much of the past four decades, developing and growing initiatives in realms ranging from children’s oral health to asthma; from food insecurity to sexual health; from health education to overall population health. As he turns 70 this month, he has no plans to slow down, citing both a passion for his work and the fact that so much of that work remains to be done.

Meanwhile, it’s been less than two years since Tara Ferrante, director of the Holyoke Outpatient Clinic at ServiceNet, launched the agency’s OCD and Hoarding Disorder Program, leading a team of clinicians who are seeing progress every day in helping people escape the shackles of these often-debilitating conditions — and overcoming the social stigma that accompanies them.

The fact is, a Healthcare Hero can emerge quickly, or he or she can become part of the fabric of the community for a very long time. The common thread is how they make a positive, palpable impact on lives in Western Mass.

BusinessWest has other recognition programs — 40 Under Forty, Difference Makers, and Women of Impact — but it became clear through the years that something distinct for the healthcare sector was needed, and that there was no shortage of stories to tell — stories that are just beginning, or gaining mid-career momentum, or starting to wind down after setting the stage for others to continue the fight for this region’s health and well-being.

We were right — as this year’s class of Healthcare Heroes continues to make clear. Enjoy their stories, be inspired, and realize that we could honor far, far more heroes if we had the time and space. They’re all around you — and we have a lot more stories to write in the coming years.

Announcing the Women of Impact for 2018

By
Cover Story Women of Impact

Women of Impact to Be Saluted on Dec. 6

Leader. Inspiration. Pioneer. Mentor. Innovator.

You will read those words countless times over the next 8 profiles as BusinessWest introduces its first Women of Impact.

In fact, you might read all or most of those words in each of the stories because each member of this inaugural Class of 2018 are, as you’ll see, worthy of those adjectives.

These are compelling stories about remarkable women, and as you read them, you’ll quickly understand why BusinessWest added Women of Impact to its growing list of annual recognition programs. In short, these stories need to be told.

Some have been told in part before, but not in this context. Not in the context of a celebration of women achieving great things, standing out in their chosen field, and doing impactful work in the community.

BusinessWest chose to create this setting, this stage, if you will, because, while there have always been women of impact, many of these individuals and many of their accomplishments have not been given their proper due.

We’ll rectify that first with these stories on these pages, which detail not what these women do for a living, but what they’ve done with their lives. Specifically, they’ve become leaders in their fields, leaders within the community, and, most importantly, inspirations to all those around them.

The stories are all different, but there are many common denominators: these are women and leaders who have vision, passion, drive to excel, and a desire to put their considerable talents to work mentoring and helping others.

Individually and especially together, they’re made this a much better place to live, work, raise a family, and run a business.

They will be celebrated on Dec. 6 at the Sheraton in Springfield, starting at 11:30 a.m.. We invite you to come and applaud true Women of Impact.

The Women of Impact for 2018 are:

• Jean Canosa Albano, assistant director of Public Services, Springfield City Library;

• Kerry Dietz, principal, Dietz Architects;

• Denise Jordan, executive director, Springfield Housing Authority;

• Gina Kos, executive director, Sunshine Village;

• Carol Leary, president, Bay Path University;

• Colleen Loveless, president and CEO, Revitalize Community Development Corp.;

• Janis Santos, executive director, HCS Head Start; and

• Katie Allan Zobel, president and CEO, Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts.

 

Purchase tickets here.

Photography by Dani Fine Photography

Thank you to our sponsors:


Sponsors:

Bay Path University; Comcast Business; Country Bank; Granite State Development

Exclusive Media Sponsor:

Springfield 22 News The CW

Speaker Sponsor:

 

 

 

 

Event Keynote Speaker

Lei Wang
The first Asian woman to complete the Explorers Grand Slam. Lei Wang’s journey redefined success in her own terms, and today, she is challenging individuals around the world to do the same.

In 2004, Lei, who grew up as a Beijing city girl who had no athletic training, set out to climb Mount Everest. She was on a promising career trek in finance with an MBA from Wharton. But she was excited about proving that an ordinary person could climb Everest. That excitement empowered her to not only climb Everest, but to become the first Asian woman to complete a journey to the summits of the highest mountains on each of the 7 continents and to the north and south pole, a feat called the Explorer’s Grand Slam. As she endured outstanding hardships and overcame seemingly insurmountable obstacles, she made an astonishing  discovery. She discovered that excitement is the driving force motivates and empowers every one of us and the secret to innovation, peak performance and extraordinary achievement. Today as a speaker, author and adventurer she travels the world to ascend new summits and empower individuals and organizations to dream big, take a leap of faith and to tap into the power of excitement to realize their potential and reach the heights of success. Read more about Lei here.

Meet the Judges

Samalid Hogan
Samalid Hogan is the regional director for the Massachusetts Small Business Development Center Network’s Western Regional Office. In that role, she has built partnerships across public, private, and civic sectors to achieve economic-development goals for the Pioneer Valley region. In 2014, Hogan founded CoWork Springfield, the city’s first co-working space, which focuses on serving women and minority-owned businesses. In addition, she was appointed to the Governor’s Latino Advisory Commission in 2017, and serves on the boards of several organizations, including Common Capital, the New England Public Radio Foundation, the Minority Business Alliance, and National Junior Tennis and Learning of Greater Springfield. A BusinessWest 40 Under Forty honoree in 2013 and winner of the Continued Excellence Award in 2018, she was also awarded the Grinspoon Entrepreneurial Spirit Award in 2017 and was recognized as a Woman Trailblazer and Trendsetter by the Massachusetts Latino Chamber of Commerce in 2016.

Susan Jaye-Kaplan
Susan Jaye-Kaplan is the founder of the Pioneer Valley Women’s Running Club and Go FIT Inc., and co-founder of Link to Libraries Inc., an organization whose mission is to collect and distribute books to public elementary schools and nonprofit organizations in Western Mass. and Connecticut. She is also the co-founder of the Women’s Leadership Network and founder of the Pioneer Valley Women’s Running Club of Western Mass., as well as an advisory board member and fundraiser for Square One. She has received one of the nation’s Daily Point of Light Awards, the President’s Citation Award at Western New England College, Elms College’s Step Forward/Step Ahead Woman of Vision Award, Reminder Publications’ Hometown Hero Award, the Mass. Commission on the Status of Women Unsung Heroines Award, the New England Patriots’ International Charitable Foundation Community MVP Award (the only person to receive this award two times), and the Girl Scouts of Pioneer Valley’s Women of Distinction Award. She was chosen one of BusinessWest’s Difference Makers in 2009. She has also received the National Conference on Community Justice Award, the Springfield Pynchon Award, and the Holyoke Rotary’s Paul Harris Award.

Dora Robinson
Dora Robinson has served as a nonprofit leader and practitioner for more than 35 years. She recently retired from the United Way of Pioneer Valley (UWPV) after serving for more than eight years as president and CEO. Previously, she served as the first full-time president and CEO of Martin Luther King Jr. Family Services for 19 years. The foundation for these leadership roles is based on previous experiences as corporate director and vice president for the Center for Human Development and vice president of Education at the Urban League of Springfield. Her earlier professional experiences included social work with adolescents and families, community outreach, and program planning and management. She is currently an adjunct professor at Springfield College School for Social Work and the School for Professional Studies. Dora has received much recognition for her work as a nonprofit executive leader and her work in social justice. Most recently, she was elected to serve on the board of directors for the Women’s Fund of Western Massachusetts and is serving as a steering committee member to establish a neighborhood-based library in East Forest Park.