10 for Tomorrow
Yesterday is a memory; tomorrow is a dream; all we have is right now. Or so the saying goes. For many of Akron’s young professionals, however, tomorrow is more than a dream. It’s a promise, a possibility, a powerful gift of potential.
Ten of the Akron area’s most promising up-and-comers have much to say about our community. They are starting new businesses and fostering creativity here. They are inspired by the community’s past and hopeful for its future.
Other than all being members of the Torchbearers 2016 class, these 10 people have little in common other than their focus on leading the way to a bright, exciting tomorrow for The 330.
James Hardy
Many people dream of changing society, but James Hardy works daily to actually make changes. “I decided that if I wanted to make change in my community, I should put myself out there and put my ideas out there,” says Hardy, the Deputy Mayor for Administration and Chief of Staff for the City of Akron.
Hardy first got the political bug as a teenager and connected with his city councilman, Dan Horrigan. “I’ve had the privilege of knowing Mayor Horrigan since I was 15 or 16 years old.” Horrigan has been a mentor to him throughout his life, leading to his current position in the Mayor’s office. “It really is an honor and privilege to come to work every day at the Mayor’s office. You have the ability to impact so many things in the city and I’ve only scratched the surface.”
His desire to drive change led him to run for the Akron Public School Board at age 20. When he won, he became the youngest person to do so. “I like to tell people I have two degrees from Akron Public: a high school diploma and then a degree from the school of hard knocks of serving on that board for six years, but I absolutely loved it.”
Hardy is very involved in the Community AIDS Network Akron Pride Initiative (CANAPI), which helps those living with HIV/AIDS in the Akron area, an organization close to his heart—Hardy’s uncle suffered from AIDS. “That has impacted me for the rest of my life to always be a supporter of LGBTQ equality, and make sure folks living with HIV/AIDS get what they need so they can live a wonderful life,” says Hardy.
When not working in the community, the 31-year-old is home with his young family. Every now and again, he even finds time to sing or pick up a bass guitar to play with friends—an old hobby from his days at Firestone High School.
Laura Merklin
The need for family is a vital one. Laura Merklin herself says that missing her family drew her back to the Akron area after four years working in York, Penn. After finishing her master’s degree in social work, she started down a path unrelated to her current destination. “I actually went to school thinking I would be a Jewish Communal Professional,” she says. “While working in York, I realized that though I am still passionate about the field, I wasn’t sure it was the right career path for me.”
Now 30, Merklin currently works for Caring for Kids Inc. as a Wendy's Wonderful Kids recruiter in Cuyahoga Falls, where she helps youth who are at risk of aging out of foster care find an adoptive or forever family.
She works with children of all ages throughout Cuyahoga County, even those over 18. She says that the need for a family isn’t restricted by age. “We do adult adoptions because who is going to walk someone down the aisle or be the first person they call to ask a question—you always need someone to call and talk to.”
Returning home, Merklin found her passion working with children. “I firmly believe that everything happens for a reason because I couldn’t be happier.”
The decision to return to the place she was born and raised couldn’t have been a better one for her, she says, as she is now discovering all the community has to offer. “I really love how everyone is so passionate about Akron and everyone works together so well to make this community great. I always just enjoy calling Akron home.”
Alesha Walker
Growing up the daughter of a factory worker father and a mother who never finished high school sounds like the back-story of a fictional politician from a movie. But it’s the real history of Alesha Walker, Akron native and aspiring legislator.
When Walker was young and watched episodes of “Law & Order” with her dad, he always said she would make a great lawyer. “I realized that legislation is the way to really affect change,” Walker says. At 26, she is poised to do exactly that with her non-profit organization, Reach Then Grow, designed to offer resources and services to ex-felons and the homeless. “I desire to speak on behalf of those who are not clearly heard,” she says, which is why she plans to run for City Council in Akron and, eventually, the state legislature.
Currently the director of communications at the Summit County Probate Court, Walker has worked on several local political campaigns and cannot see herself ever leaving this area. “Big cities can be overwhelming,” she says. “Akron is home; [it’s] big enough to accomplish my goals.”
When not campaigning or working, Walker enjoys singing in various local church groups and playing pool—a pastime for which she won a championship in college. It seems she never does things halfway, a quality necessary to support her lofty dreams. “My goal is to link everyone, the heard and the unheard, in unity,” she says. “That is the only way to make Akron even bigger than what it is.”
Annal Vyas
“I’ve never been accused of being cool,” says Annal Vyas, professor of Clinical Law at The University of Akron and legal advisor for The Bit Factory, a software start-up accelerator in downtown.
“Who creates cool? Artists and entrepreneurs,” he says, emphasizing the importance of linking the arts with economic development. “Create cool, and you have a place where people want to be.”
That place is downtown Akron, the 35-year-old’s adopted home. Growing up in Stow, the younger of two children of Indian immigrants, Vyas didn’t worry too much about being cool, except for a brief association with some eighth-graders who coerced him into smashing pumpkins on neighbors’ porches. Since then, he has mostly made his parents proud, apart from not supplying them with grandchildren. “I’m in a relationship with Akron,” he says. “I’ve fallen in love!”
Vyas doesn’t deny the economic troubles our region has experienced, but he sees a parallel growth of culture here. And if you mention the term ‘rust belt,’ he goes into lawyer mode: “I categorically reject the foundational premise of that assertion,” he says. “We aren’t the rust belt; we’re the creativity belt, the arts belt, the inspiration belt, the innovation belt, the entrepreneur belt!”
To illustrate his point, Vyas refers to PechaKucha, a series of short presentations by artists, scientists, scholars and entrepreneurs in a festive atmosphere that the Bit Factory hosted in November and February. The interdisciplinary nature of the event is meant to spark innovation and collaboration, something Vyas feels is vital to Akron’s continuing evolution. “If you cultivate a culture of possibility,” he says, “it’s amazing what tremendous things can occur.”
Mary Hospodarsky
Mary Hospodarsky’s husband says that her motto should be “Oh, yeah?” because she is stubborn and loves a challenge. Rather than deny it, Hospodarsky embraces her stubbornness, adding, “If someone tells me I can’t do something, it will be my goal to prove them wrong.” What better quality is there for an entrepreneur?
Hospodarsky opened Sweet Mary’s Bakery on Mill St. in 2015, bringing her nine-year-old online business to brick-and-mortar fruition. Hospodarsky’s parents still live in the house near Buchtel High School where she and her sister learned to bake at an early age, and where their father home-schooled them. “We used to get out of school work if we told my dad we’d bake cookies,” she says.
But baking didn’t seem like a career option for Hospodarsky, who studied everything from ballet and Russian to microbiology and military intelligence in college, until her husband challenged her to take business courses through SCORE, a nonprofit small business support network.
Now 35, Hospodarsky hopes her success will help dispel the myths about downtown Akron that keep some people away. “Everyone has such [an] ‘80s-‘90s view of how Akron was,” she says. “And that is not how [it] is anymore.” The tremendous traffic at her shop on Saturdays and during events like First Night is proving her right.
Hospodarsky gets choked up talking about the help she’s had in getting on her feet, and she returns the favor whenever possible, featuring local products like Bent Tree Coffee and Not Yo’ Daddy’s Hot Sauce in her shop. “I just really love this city,” she says.
Lisa Davala
People often have a hard time seeing the potential in a thing or place. They can’t peal back the layers to see the gem underneath. Whether it is literally stripping the paint off of an old piece of furniture or uncovering a great local restaurant, Lisa Davala is working to rejuvenate The 330.
Originally from North Canton, the 27-year-old is currently the marketing coordinator at Akron-Canton Airport. The ability to share information is vital in her profession, and Davala fully embraced it when she started doing more online marketing. “I saw that it had so many opportunities, so I stuck with that as my career path.”
The ability to adapt within her industry is one that Davala says has been helpful in her current position. “In the airline industry, everything is so fluid,” she says. “Since I’ve been here, there have been mergers of airlines, new airlines, new air routes and a lot of community involvement. It’s always exciting, and it’s always something new.”
When not in the office, Davala is still online, working on the blog she co-authors. “We find new places to go to or little-known places that we really enjoy, and we share them with people,” she says. By informing her digital readers about what Akron and Canton have to offer, she hopes to retain young professionals. “It’s always sad when you see people leave for Cleveland because in their eyes it’s bigger and better. [I try] to show people how great our community is and why they should stay.”
Amanda Parker
For most people, insurance law sounds like an excellent cure for insomnia. But for Amanda Parker, 27-year-old associate litigator with Brouse McDowell, it’s an opportunity to link the past to the future.
Cases like one her firm worked on recently involving EPA laws from the 1970s “are helping to create the law that will impact not only my son’s life, but his kids, and his kids’ kids,” Parker says. The future is a main focus for Parker, single mom of an 18-month-old and life-long resident of the Akron area.
She sees a very bright future for herself and her son here, and for the city itself, with new residents, restaurants and businesses, like The Bit Factory, re-energizing the downtown area. “I’m so happy that I’m able to stay here and raise my son in the community that I know he can flourish in.” Parker says that “he’ll have the same opportunities I had and even more.”
The oldest of three sisters, Parker was born and raised on the West Side and now lives in Goodyear Heights, walking distance from the church her close-knit family has always been active in.
“I have passion for my job, but I never expected to find fulfillment in my job only,” she says, reflecting on the volunteer and pro bono legal work she does. Whether it’s through litigation, mentoring, or raising her son, Parker keeps her life facing forward. “I love to be able to dig deeper,” she says, “and always find something new.”
Neil Nagy
Take a risk and follow your dream. Create your own place in the world.
This advice comes from Neil Nagy, the 31-year-old graphic designer with Val Mark Securities, Inc. And it’s not just empty talk. After completing a Bachelor’s degree in Finance and Economics and working as an investment analyst, Nagy decided to embrace his creative side and return to school for another degree, this time in Graphic Design. “It was kind of a scary thing,” he says, because he wasn’t sure it would pay off.
As it turns out, he found his niche, largely by marketing himself and believing that creativity and business were not mutually exclusive fields. Now, having work that integrates his right and left brains feels more balanced for Nagy, who grew up in Green with a crafty, creative mother. “That creativity has really shaped how I’m involved in the community,” he says, like his design work with the Akron Civic Theater’s Mask of the Red Death Halloween celebration.
“My love for Akron continues to grow every year,” he says, reflecting on why he and his wife stay here rather than relocating to a larger city. “You can pursue any ideas, and there’s opportunity,” he says. And if you haven’t yet found your niche, keep looking because, as Nagy believes, “everything needs a catalyst, and rather than sit around and wait for it, you can be that catalyst.”
Cristina Gonzalez Alcala
Golfer, scholar, research assistant, hot sauce entrepreneur—Cristina Gonzalez Alcala traveled many paths so far in her life. The smiling, energetic woman says the journey has been worth it so far. “I wouldn’t change it for the world either. Where I’m at right now is pretty awesome.”
Originally from Durango, Mexico, Alcala left at age 17 for a golf scholarship at the University of Louisville. Upon graduation, she was drawn to The University of Akron by a graduate assistant coaching position with the women’s golf team. While at UA, she completed not only one masters, but two, and began a Ph.D. in Urban Studies and Public Affairs that is currently in progress. Hunting for a full-time job was made even more challenging because of her international status—leading her to take a position three hours away for several months—but she eventually landed at the Summit Education Initiative as a research associate.
After attending a Better Block event, she says it really hit her that they had a business. “My wife and I started pursuing that. We did another event and were selling out of the product.” The hot sauce is her father’s recipe, inspiring the name. “It’s Not Yo’ Daddy’s Hot Sauce, because it’s my daddy, not yours,” says Alcala.
In her early thirties, Alcala lives in North Hill with her wife, where she says they are truly comfortable. “Being able to actually stay here in Akron so we can see the impact of what we’re doing—if we get involved enough, there are things you can do where you see results right away. That’s just pretty priceless.”
Jonathan Houk
Jonathan Houk has always had a personal motto when it comes to his career. “[I want to] be able to say that I had a significant positive impact on the lives of those I served.” The 30-year-old director of retirement services at PRLKW & Co. isn’t only referring to his work inside the office, but also in the greater community.
Away from the work his firm is doing to secure their clients’ financial futures, Houk is a member of the Knights of Columbus at St. Hilary Church in Fairlawn. The Knights of Columbus is a fraternal organization of Catholic men who work in the community for its betterment. Through them, Houk has become involved in working with Valor Home and Habitat for Humanity. The men in KOC might be older than Houk and his peers, but he finds that to be an asset. “Spending time with men who are older than me, but have walked the path for 20 and 30 years, [allows me] to learn from them,” says Houk.
Born and raised in Akron, Houk married his high school sweetheart and the two now live in Medina. “We’re two young professionals that really can have an impact in a community that’s right on a knife’s edge—you keep positive momentum going forward, and Akron is going to do great things. You take some of that positive momentum away, and it could revert to the last 20 years.”