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By MICHELLE KERR, who writes on risk management and safety issues

Outside the workplace, there are other ways that young brokers are making an impact on their professional environments. They first heard President Bill Clinton's call to national service in the early 1990s, and theirs was the first generation to see many high schools and colleges establish community service as a graduation requirement.

Mary Pontillo, for example, has become involved with New York City's Sanctuary for Families, a nonprofit serving battered women and their children. Pontillo, a Power BrokerŪ Under 40 designee and vice president and director of business development for Dewitt Stern Group, gives generously of her time and talents coordinating projects such as a holiday gift drive, a Thanksgiving food drive and a fall backpack and school supply drive for the center's children.

"So many high schools and colleges are now focused on community service. I think it's just a natural part of life and of doing business for younger people," she said. "When you have that instilled in you as part of what you need to do, it becomes more a part of what you want to do."

Pontillo, who donates her time to numerous other organizations as well, said she's grateful that her industry hasn't been rocked by the economy as hard as many other industries.

"We're all really lucky," she tells her peers as she enlists their help for various projects, "and we need to acknowledge that and we need to give back." She's proud of the way her team has always been willing to pitch in at a moment's notice, she said.

"It's really easy to get caught up in your own life," she said. "But I feel like I need to give back. That's why I do it."

February 17, 2011

Copyright 2011© LRP Publications