Page 70 - 914INC Q2 - 2016

Wunderkinds2016
Donvil Collins, 29 CEO, VeeKast & Debo Media Inc.
With a team of 20 and more than 70 clients —including such notables as YWCA, TD Bank, United Way, Girl Scouts, and Malibu Rum—29-year-old self-described “tech head” Donvil Collins already has more than a decade of entrepreneurship experience in the hospitality/entertainment field. His teenage days mentoring peers in video production eventually led to the formation of his two White Plains-based companies: Debo Media, founded in June 2006 to provide video production and website design and development for small businesses, and VeeKast, a fundraising-technology company founded in March 2013 under the Debo Media Inc. parent company. Nowadays, Collins is most proud of his ability to help nonprofit clients put on high- quality fundraising events on a tight budget. He says one key is to find sponsors to donate in as many ways as possible, noting that nonprofits often miss opportunities to raise money that people are willing to give. “They are just not asking or presenting their needs in a way that demands natural desires to want to help,” he says, “and VeeKast provides a unique tech service that does that really well.”
—MI
Nick Canzano, 29 Associate Director, PACT (Personalized Achievement Contract), Mercy College
Ask Nick Canzano about his accomplishments, and he’ll talk about the success of others. That is, he’ll tell of the Mercy College students he’s mentored who have gone on to achieve their academic goals despite considerable personal challenge. “I look forward to commencement every year, because I get to see my students walk across the stage and see the pride in their faces,” he says. Canzano is associate director of Mercy’s PACT (or Personalized Achievement Contract) program, which provides each student with a personal mentor experienced in academic advising, student life, career preparation, financial services, and leadership training. As head of the largest of the program’s four teams, Canzano manages two assistant directors and eight counselors, and carries a caseload of up to 105 students per year. One of the original mentors for PACT, he began with the program in 2009 and is credited with being one of the reasons for its success. From 2014 to 2015, for instance, student retention at Mercy College increased a “phenomenal” 10 percent, he says. And last year, Canzano was voted PACT Advisor of the Year from among more than 25. —KV
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