MassLive’s 2025 young leaders 30 and under who are shaping our future

Massachusetts is brimming with young people who are doing good, making change and forging their own paths.

MassLive is spotlighting these eight young people ages 30 and under — who hail from cities and towns across the state — as ones to watch in 2025 and beyond. They represent public health, entrepreneurship, real estate, marketing, sports, politics and more.

The leaders were chosen through nominations from readers and young professional organizations.

Read about them here:

Nana Younge, 30, Worcester

When Nana Younge accepted an internship with a global medical supplier while studying at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, it seemed like a dream opportunity. But quickly, one of her initial observations ended up dominating much of the experience: “There were no women around me,” especially Black women.

Bothered that mostly white men were “representing the voices of the masses and the people,” a seed was born for Get Girls Going, a nonprofit founded by Younge that will celebrate 10 years in 2026. Offering after-school and summer programming, Get Girls Going empowers Black and brown teen girls, primarily in Boston, to pursue entrepreneurship.

The participating high school students, ages 14-18, explore problems experienced in their own lives and communities, while adopting an entrepreneurial mindset to design unique solutions. Playing significant roles in the programming are the ideals of mentorship and sisterhood.

“They are creating something that is a social enterprise,” Younge said. “They’re not just concerned about profit, but how it impacts their community.”

Examples of business ideas from past cohorts of Get Girls Going include a natural skin care line for individuals with hyperpigmentation; a monthly subscription box for expectant mothers; an all-women’s gym; and training for teachers around student mental illness. The six-week summer incubator is housed at Simmons University.

Younge feels most rewarded when she hears of “mindset shifts” in former participants because of the work they did with her nonprofit.

“Hearing how they took the skills they learned in the program and applied them in other spaces,” she said. “One of the things I love hearing the most is how the program made them feel like they had purpose. And for me, that’s one of the biggest things. I want you to explore all of the things that you care about, all of your ideas, and to feel like you have agency to make change.”

Younge herself knows the power of mentorship. She arrived in Worcester during her elementary school years as an immigrant from Ghana. She credits mentors who were beside her “every step of the way” as the reason she was able to graduate from UMass Lowell and go on to achieve her master’s degree from Merrimack College.

“As a Black woman, as an immigrant woman and as an African woman, there have been tons of barriers along the way,” Younge said.

In addition to leading Get Girls Going, Younge also works as an adjunct faculty member at Boston University and program director at Innovate@BU.

Youge strives to see programming like Get Girls Going more regularly embedded in schools and after-school programs. She’s also interested in further exploring the synergy between her faith in God and entrepreneurship — making decisions rooted in her values.

Ultimately, Younge sees resilience, creativity and collaboration as some of the key skills she hopes girls in her programming walk away with.

“Those are some of the things I want us paying attention to, us as a society,” she said, “and how we embed some of those things into schools so students don’t have to wait to enroll in a program like Get Girls Going.”

Jake Ross, 23, Sharon

Jake Ross’ road to CEO started in his dorm room at Babson College when he was a sophomore.

He had been creating sports trading card content on YouTube for years — gathering 11,500 subscribers — when he made the decision to go full throttle on launching a marketing agency, long before most of his classmates had any idea where the future would take them.

What followed was sacrifice, Ross said; missed classes and time with friends because his company — just an idea at that point — became his “No. 1 priority.”

The investment paid off.

Just over a year out of Babson, Ross leads a team of five at Build You Marketing as its founder and CEO. The full-service agency creates “luxury” LinkedIn content and media opportunities for founders, executives and companies to expand their networks and enhance visibility in their industries.

The mission is to “tell company stories and share expertise to connect firms with people who need a solution that will solve their problems.”

Build You has nearly 100 clients in Massachusetts, across the U.S. and abroad, representing law firms, e-commerce, professional services, nonprofits, big tech companies and certified public accountants.

“This is my life,” Ross said. “Setting a goal and reaching that goal, my goal for so long, when I got to Babson, was to run my own company out of college. And there was a time I didn’t actually think it was going to happen. I took a big risk to really focus on the business, and I’m proud of myself for taking a chance.”

Ross credited his teammates at Build You for being just as passionate as he is, making it all the more rewarding when their clients see results. They’re all young people who grew up in the digital age and view LinkedIn as a powerhouse connector for business and relationships when used in an engaging, creative manner.

Ross is most fulfilled when a client celebrates a highly engaging LinkedIn post that sparked conversation, or a dinner they were invited to because of it.

“The impact at the end of the day is what got me into this,” he said.

Asked what advice he has for other young people working on their own startups, Ross said, “You need to have a knack for action. You can’t just talk about the idea or think about the idea. You just need to do and be OK with failing and being rejected.”

Cailin Young, 24, Northampton

In Western Massachusetts, Cailin Young works on the frontlines of the state’s ever-evolving drug crisis, providing non-judgmental, compassionate care and education to people who use drugs and the greater community at large.

As a harm reduction program coordinator at Tapestry Health with a focus on drug-checking, Young, who uses she/they pronouns, processes illicit drug samples submitted by individuals in Franklin and Hampshire counties who want to know more about what’s in their supply.

Community drug-checking programs like Tapestry’s are located across the state, supported by Brandeis University’s Opioid Policy Research Collaborative.

In the latest wave of the opioid scourge, drug traffickers are increasingly contaminating the drug supply with new chemicals and adulterants that aren’t responsive to the opioid reversal medication naloxone and can cause adverse or unwanted effects.

Young believes an informed community is an empowered, safer community.

“It’s about sharing information about the changes in the drug supply because it’s so frequently turning over,” she said. “We’re seeing this wack-a-mole game, and so it’s really helpful to just keep folks informed about what we’re recognizing in the supply both locally and at large.”

Young’s interest in harm reduction as a public health approach started at Smith College, where she was part of a group that created the first harm reduction program on campus. They installed naloxone boxes in locations that were accessible to students 24/7.

They also implemented a take-home bag project, allowing students to anonymously request harm reduction supplies and collect them at their convenience. The bags included safer sex supplies, COVID tests and masks, self-harm safe kits, naloxone and fentanyl test strips.

“That program is still running,” Young said. “It’s really exciting to get to follow. We were involved in really investing in drug and alcohol-related education content being shared to students.”

Young’s work at Tapestry is built on relationships and connecting with others. And that can take many forms, they said, based on an individual’s unique needs — not just distributing fentanyl test strips or naloxone.

“The roots of harm reduction and our goal is to support folks where they are,” Young said. “I really am invested in activism when it comes to fighting for the liberation of people who use drugs, and making sure I am as invested in the community at large as possible.”

Outside of her role at Tapestry, Young works as a circus coach at SHOW Circus Studio in Easthampton, where she has trained since middle school.

Daniel Darris-O’Connor, 18, Billerica

During their senior year of high school, most teenagers are worried about college applications, prom dates and homework. But as if that wasn’t enough, Daniel Darris-O’Connor decided to take on another big responsibility: Running for local office. And winning.

Darris-O’Connor, now the youngest member of the Billerica Select Board, said in an interview that he started getting more interested and involved in local government a few years ago. He began by watching meetings online, then going in person, and volunteered for local political campaigns.

He was elected to the Student Council and then chosen as the student representative on the town’s School Committee.

Just a couple of weeks after he turned 18 in January, he saw there were two open seats on the Select Board, with elections coming up in April.

“The direction of that board wasn’t quite how I thought it should be going. I thought it could have been better,” he said. “And I kind of thought, you know, I think I can do it better.”

Though he expected his age to be an obstacle in the campaign, Darris-O’Connor said it turned out not to be as big an issue as he thought. Rather than fixating on his inexperience, many voters simply listened to what he had to say.

“I do think a lot of people who rallied behind me kind of saw my candidacy as a candidacy for change,” he said. “They saw a lot of things stagnating in Billerica and thought that there could be a new look at things.”

The few months he’s been on the board thus far have been rewarding, he said, and he has high hopes for his tenure.

He aims to boost economic development to make Billerica more competitive for businesses and believes many town facilities, such as the schools and police station, need improvement.

He’s looking forward to the annual town meeting in the fall, when he plans to bring up measures to protect green space in town.

Fall will also bring another significant change in his life, as he starts college at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, where he plans to study international relations. Since school will be close by — only about a 10-minute drive — Darris-O’Connor plans to stay active in his role in town government.

He said he’s interested to see if the position turns into a career in politics down the road, but he’s keeping his options open. He’s also currently working on getting his pilot’s license.

“I’m always interested in being part of the civic process, doing my part and doing what I think would be best for my constituents,” Darris-O’Connor said.

Samantha Savoie, 29, Springfield

Samantha Savoie didn’t always know she wanted to go into marketing, but now, her work is shaping downtown Springfield.

Savoie is the marketing and creative services director for the Springfield Business Improvement District, an organization that promotes and works to improve the city’s downtown and the businesses that call it home. She said that since the pandemic, it has been even more critical to get people coming downtown, and she loves seeing the effects of her work on the community each day.

“Even the smallest ideas, whether it’s a pop-up activation, a farmers’ market or public art, it can spark big momentum,” Savoie said.

The Westfield State University graduate got her degree in liberal studies, with concentrations in public relations, marketing and writing, but wasn’t sure what to do next once she finished. In her first job, she did marketing for a construction company, getting a taste for all of the tasks involved, from taking photos to creating content for social media to sales.

Though she knew she didn’t have a passion for construction, the five years she spent in the role were enough for her to see that she loved the work.

At the BID, she designs marketing campaigns to support the nonprofit’s programming and works on outreach for sponsorships. That’s been even more critical since the pandemic, just as downtowns of other cities, Springfield struggles to attract foot traffic in the current work-from-home era.

Recently, she worked on a program that subsidized retail spaces for new businesses on the Main Street corridor, as a way to bring more people to downtown. She said getting to help those businesses — restaurants, a gift shop, a med spa — was “exciting” and “groundbreaking,” and she hopes to continue that work to improve her city.

“I want to respond to the challenges and changes within the community and the city and build a place where people truly feel connected and inspired,” Savoie said.

Jose Castro, 25, Worcester

For many people looking to start a business in the Worcester area, the first person to ask is Jose Castro.

Castro is the executive director of the Greater Worcester branch of Entrepreneurship For All (EforAll), a national nonprofit that provides business training, mentorship and professional support to entrepreneurs from diverse backgrounds.

As he was working on his bachelor’s degree in business management and entrepreneurship at Clark University, Castro also provided support to fellow students starting their own businesses through the university’s student-led Entrepreneurship and Innovation program. After graduating in 2022 and starting his job search, his mentor connected him with EforAll.

While researching the nonprofit, he found a promotional video that featured an entrepreneur who had opened her own store with EforAll’s help. Castro, a native of Puerto Rico, said the woman looked just like his grandmother, and he was inspired to help others who looked like him find success.

“It was a perfect fit,” he said. “I didn’t know organizations like EforAll existed.”

He spent just seven months as a bilingual program coordinator before being promoted to executive director, a role he has held for two years.

The Greater Worcester chapter of EforAll was established in 2020, so Castro has been able to watch the group grow and thrive almost from the beginning. Under his leadership, they recently moved into a physical office space for the first time, providing entrepreneurs with a dedicated space to find help.

“Every resource that they need, they can go there and ask,” Castro said. “If they need legal assistance, if they need financial support, if they’re looking to buy their home, whatever it might be, we have it there.”

Since 2020, EforAll of Greater Worcester has supported more than 135 businesses that have generated more than $2.8 million in revenue and created 228 jobs, according to Castro. Of those businesses, 78% are women-owned, 83% are owned by people of color and 70% are still open after the first three years.

Castro hopes that in the next few years, EforAll can continue to grow, creating connections between communities both in Worcester and across Massachusetts.

“A lot of people who don’t have the opportunities, when they’re given those opportunities, they’re able to thrive and succeed,” he said. “That’s the work that we do every day.”

Eric Doroski, 28, Boston

The Greater Boston real estate development scene’s youngest major player may be Eric Doroski.

Doroski is co-founder and managing partner of Zanzibar Capital, the company he started with his business partner and former college roommate, Nitzan Mokady, seven years ago while the pair were students at Northeastern University.

They started out by purchasing a small duplex in the Midwest, renovating it, and renting it out. From there, they grew to opening their first development earlier this year: a 32-unit condo complex in South Boston.

Doroski studied math and economics in college, but said real estate appealed to him because of its “tangible” impacts.

“I felt there was a hands-on approach,” he said. “You had a delivered project that’s a real asset and can make a meaningful change to the neighborhood you’re building in.”

Zanzibar — named after a Billy Joel song — has grown its portfolio to almost 200 apartments and condos in Boston, on the North Shore and in MetroWest. Another 32-unit condo development in Allston is already in the pipeline.

Despite their start in the Midwest, Doroski and Mokady sold their properties there after deciding they wanted to stick to the market they knew best.

The South Boston project, known as Vesta, was completed in April. It includes a ground-floor retail space that will soon be occupied by Bell’s Market, a popular grocery store that had operated on the site since the early 1900s, until the previous building was demolished.

Doroski said it was “surreal” to see the property come to life after years of planning and design decisions. When he’s visited for business meetings, he loves to see residents working or hanging out on the roof deck.

“That’s the most rewarding part,” he said.

When not working on the business, Doroski is a member of the Greater Boston Real Estate Board’s Government Affairs Committee and Northeastern’s Young Global Leaders group, where he both offers advice to current students and gets the chance to learn from more experienced alumni.

Despite his age, Doroski said it hasn’t held him back. He recalled early on in the business, when he and Mokady were looking for initial investors, worrying that they might not be considered serious entrepreneurs.

“There were probably people who didn’t take us as seriously, but there’s also more people that are more intrigued and provide us more time of day,” he said. “It’s just finding the right people that believe in you.”

Aerin Frankel, 26, Watertown

Aerin Frankel is considered one of the best women’s ice hockey goaltenders in NCAA history — and generally across the game today. And much of her career has played out in Massachusetts.

Frankel played for the Northeastern University Huskies for five years beginning in 2017. Today, she starts in net for the Boston Fleet of the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL). She’s also a member of the women’s national ice hockey team and recently coached part-time at Stonehill College.

She’s been an essential piece of building the Boston Fleet brand in Massachusetts since its founding in 2023.

“Playing in this professional league has given a lot of us a platform and an opportunity to be a role model to so many people,” Frankel said. “Not only little girls, but people of all ages who look up to us.”

Though the Fleet is a younger team, Frankel said, her two years of professional playing time plus experience abroad have given her the opportunities to “learn from so many people who came before me.”

Both on the ice and in the locker room, she prides herself on connecting with her teammates and building relationships.

Relationships with her fans are important, too. Frankel is excited by the amount of attention the PWHL has begun to receive, particularly as interest in women’s sports grows nationally.

“It means so much to the fans and the next generation of young girls and hockey players to see a league they can look up to and dream of playing in,” she said.

Playing for the Fleet, Frankel strives for “a great product on the ice” while also connecting with the community.

This summer, while running her own youth hockey camp for goalies, she was touched by the unique gifts kids came to camp with, showing they knew more about her than just her title.

Though originally from New York, Frankel said her time at Northeastern, followed by the start of her professional career here, has made Massachusetts her “second home, if not my home.”

She’ll be sticking around for the foreseeable future, as the Fleet just signed Frankel to a two-year contract extension.

When she’s not blocking shots on goal, Frankel — a self-proclaimed “foodie” — runs an Instagram account called @painbyromaine, where she reviews Caesar salads.