Joel Acie
Jessica Ferragonio Danielle White Phil Laboon
After earning a bachelor of arts in communication rhetoric from the University of Pittsburgh, Jessica Ferragonio worked for consumer and pharmaceutical advertising agencies in both Pittsburgh and Northern New Jersey. Yearning for a different kind of fulfillment, Jessica followed her passion to pursue a career inspiring the youth of our future and made the decision to return to graduate school. Jessica obtained a master of education in health and physical education at Indiana University of Pennsylvania while simultaneously maintaining full-time employment in her previous field. Upon completing her masters, Jessica accepted a full-time teaching position in the Leechburg Area School District. As a devoted educator, Jessica serves as a member of Leechburg’s Core Team in the Student Assistance Program (SAP) and is also a certified instructor in Automatic Critical Incident Response Tactics (ACIRT), where she helps to educate school districts on how to maintain a safe environment for students during a time of potential threat. Jessica coaches several sports, including basketball, soccer, and swimming. Outside of the classroom Jessica remains extremely active. This year, she completed her second UPMC Health Plan Pittsburgh Half Marathon and enjoys spending her free time running at the Schenley Park Oval. Top Supporters: L.S. Sadler Inc., Circolo Woodfired, Sampson Family YMCA, Family and Friends As the owner and founder of Eyeflow Internet Marketing, entrepreneur Phil Laboon managed to transform the company that started from his basement into a digital marketing agency. Over its 14 years of existence, Eyeflow Internet Marketing has continued to assert itself into the industry with its approach to helping businesses of all shapes grow their online footprint and strengthen their digital brands, creating strategies and software to help clients build their brand into an authority both on and off the web. Despite continually being named one of the fastest growing companies in Pittsburgh, Phil always seeks out ways to expand business and offer his clients well-rounded services, while playing an active role as both a leader and mentor in the bustling tech startup community. Currently, Phil serves as president of the Pittsburgh Chapter of the Young Entrepreneur Council, putting his knowledge and years of experience in the startup industry to good use by helping open new doors of opportunity for his peers. Top Supporters: Chris Weck, Sinful Sweets, Cyndi Nace
Danielle White is a local entrepreneur and founder of Dnwhite Enterprises, owning Fox’s Pizza locations in Robinson, Carnegie, and Bridgeville. Alongside her many business ventures, Danielle is also the co-founder of FitPrints screenprinting. She showcases her love of fundraising and giving back through every 74
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Gretchen Dimeling
professional outlet. A few times a month, Danielle supports any charity she can by donating a total of 500 pizzas from each location in support of those raising awareness locally. As a group fitness instructor at LA Fitness, Danielle knows how to bring the fun along with getting classmates involved. Allowing participants to donate by choosing a song during spin class and having the class sing during exercise were just some of the unique ways Danielle raised money for an event for those battling cancer. After 11 years of contributions to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, this is the year she hopes to give the most back to the Foundation. Danielle is excited to make many more connections through CF events, as well as encourage her friends and family to become involved. Top Supporters: Downey’s House, Fox’s Pizza Born and raised in the Steel City, Gretchen Dimeling has a passion for improving patient care and access to medication through technology and innovation. After pursuing her degree at the University of Miami and studying for a year in Mexico City, Gretchen went to work for the Pittsburgh AIDS Task Force, where she implemented strategic initiatives to enhance patient care. Her work with in-patient programs lead to the opportunity to manage commercial access to care programs at Genentech. This role was incredibly rewarding, as Gretchen was able to drive commercial value through the support of patients, families, and health care professionals battling serious illnesses. Upon the acquisition of Genentech by Roche Pharmaceutical, Gretchen moved to Switzerland to work in the global corporate headquarters. After a tremendous experience living abroad, Gretchen returned to Pittsburgh in 2013. She enjoys working for Mylan, spending time with her family and friends, and serving as the head of new membership for the Pittsburgh Young Professionals organization. Gretchen looks forward to developing and sustaining a young professional community in the Pittsburgh area. Top Supporters: Dimeling & Company, Circolo Woodfired, Doc Mendelson, Fuhrer Distributing, DiBella’s Subs, Family and Friends
Joel Acie demonstrated his strong leadership through higher education
by being the first of nine siblings to earn a degree. His time at Robert Morris University and most recently at Carnegie Mellon University inspired his other siblings to earn degrees through the same hard work, dedication, and faith he upheld while pursuing a career in supplier diversity. This has led to his career as the MWDBE Projects Manager at UPMC. As an active participant with the Eastern Minority Supplier Development Council (EMSDC), he aims to ensure that the local minority-owned businesses within the tri-state area utilize the Council to become certified, so that organizations like UPMC may provide access to purchasing opportunities to fulfill strategic business needs. Joel’s commitment to helping