Meaningful Connections at Retail Orphan Initiative's 2025 SuperSaturday in NYC
This year marked Thrive in Joy’s 11th year participating in Retail Orphan Initiative’s (RetailROI) SuperSaturday event in New York City on January 11th. Representing our team were Mary Fagnano, Executive Director and Co-Founder; Amy Godinez, C11 Program Coordinator; and Elizabeth Rojas, Board Chair. Together, we made numerous meaningful connections with event attendees, many of whom have been instrumental in spreading Thrive in Joy’s programming to more youth throughout L.A. as well as globally.
Celebrating its 14th year, RetailROI brings together leaders in the retail industry with tech companies who are the primary event sponsors. Held at Microsoft’s NYC offices in Times Square on the Saturday before the National Retail Federation trade show, SuperSaturday has impacted the lives of tens of thousands of youth in underserved communities around the world as well as supported education, adoption, and foster parenting initiatives here in the U.S.
A Partnership Rooted in Purpose
“If it wasn’t for RetailROI and Greg Buzek’s intuition to reach out shortly after we lost Nick, it’s highly doubtful Jay and I would have ever made that first service trip to the Dominican Republic, let alone establish a nonprofit in Nick’s memory,” stated Mary Fagnano. Since 2014, RetailROI has become a key partner for Thrive in Joy, providing grants that have supported quality of life improvements for at-risk youth in the DR as well as the expansion of Thrive in Joy’s C11 Program to schools in Los Angeles, the Dominican Republic, South Africa, and, most recently, India.
Co-Hosting a Summit for Future Leaders
This year, our team co-hosted RetailROI’s Youth Summit. The young adults who participated inspired us with their commitment to pursue their career goals while also making service to others a priority. We shared Nick’s story and how Mary and Jay turned loss into service that brings hope to others. Our co-host and moderator, April Sabral, shared valuable professional development insights while Channon Essex added a depth of inspiration from an educational perspective. We’re ecstatic about this collaboration with April and Channon and its potential for future expansion of C11 into new communities of youth here in the U.S.
Looking Ahead with Gratitude
As always, we’re humbled by the volunteers who support our mission. This spring we look forward to seeing our C11 students experience fulfillment upon completion of their Entrepreneurial Social Impact Projects. We’re looking forward to finalizing our volunteer team for Thrive in Joy’s March 15-21 DR trip which is open to college students, their friends, and family members. At SuperSaturday we also started taking signups for our October 22-28 DR trip which is open to all.
As we reflect on another inspirational and emotional SuperSaturday (Greg Buzek likes to call the event “Tech and Tears”), we are immensely grateful to all the RetailROI volunteers, the other nonprofits with whom we’ve been able to collaborate, and the sponsors who make this day possible. A special shout-out to Greg and his team who work tirelessly to plan and host this event. We also are indebted to Mark MacLaren and Dan Grady, who have been instrumental in the global expansion of C11. We’re honored and humbled that the Thrive in Joy Nick Fagnano Foundation has continued to be part of this dynamic community of change makers.