In the News

Emmett Soldati embarked on his entrepreneurial quest at age 6 with a neighborhood lemonade stand in Somersworth. The police quickly shut it down for improper permitting.

On Wednesday, Soldati, 35, was honored with the New Hampshire Union Leader’s “40 Under Forty” award, which recognizes community leaders throughout the state for their outstanding work and volunteer efforts.

Soldati owns the Teatotaller, an inclusive, recovery-friendly tea and coffee shop with locations in Somersworth, Dover and Concord.

“We’re in an epidemic of loneliness, and our work as community leaders has to be about the community. We are young people retaining young people,” Soldati said. “Connection is powerful, and New Hampshire is not geared toward young people.”

Honorees shared the same mentality: a responsibility to the growing community of young professionals in New Hampshire and pride, humility and awe at their recognition.

“Leadership comes from directly impacted people,” said Grace Kaseke Kindeke, 36, program coordinator at the American Friends Service Committee, where she organizes community programs for youth who are Black, Indigenous, or other people of color and adults, and fights for immigration policy and the rights of incarcerated individuals. “People are impacted (by social issues) in a variety of ways statewide. I help them know what’s going on.”

The reception at Capitol Center for the Arts, co-hosted by the New Hampshire Union Leader and the New Hampshire Department of Insurance, drew award winners and their friends and families — from as far as Florida, where Nicholas Gray, owner of Gray Property Group, lives part time with his family — to as close as Concord, where 18-year-old Riyah Patel, a student at Phillips Exeter Academy, founded New American Scholars.

“This event always reminds me that in New Hampshire, young people are a renewable resource,” said Brendan McQuaid, president and publisher of the New Hampshire Union Leader. The program, which is in its 23rd year, has honored 920 young professionals in the state of New Hampshire.

Shaylen Roberts, 38, is the Assistant County Attorney at the Merrimack County Attorney’s Office where she works with victims of crime and prosecutes an array of felony offenses, she said.

“In general, law is a male- dominant industry, but it’s changing daily,” she said. “I’m surprised, excited, grateful and honored, and I’m so impressed by the other recipients. We are all important spokes in the wheel.”

Lauren McGinley, 39, has worked in the public health sector in the capital area for many years. She is now the executive director of the NH Harm Reduction Coalition in Concord, which provides safe syringe exchange services, resources and education about substance use disorder and intravenous infections.

“There are some people that aren’t yet ready for treatment and recovery,” McGinley said. “I’m really proud, but I’m even more proud that harm reduction has been included in this. With kindness, we can take up space.”

Other recipients included Alexa Firman, 27, owner and head baker at Simply Delicious Baking Co.; Katherine Kolios, 33, executive director for Rain for the Sahel and Sahara; Fisto Ndayishimiye, 26, lead organizer for change for Concord; Michael Constance, 39, director of Camp Allen, a summer camp inspired by his autistic son that provides programs for children and adults with developmental and/or physical disabilities; and Hashira Rodriguez, 37, director of development for the Boys & Girls Club of Manchester, where she once received the Boys & Girls Youth of the Year award.

“Small businesses make our state so special, and I want to inspire other young people. No matter how old you are and what obstacles you may face, perseverance and grit will always pay off,” Firman said.

Ndayishimiye, from the Democratic Republic of Congo, said, “I come from a war-torn country. I left my family behind to escape the war. In this community, I can do and become whatever I want. My purpose is to lead and to contribute to the community. I’m here to make sure the community feels safe for others like me.”

The event was sponsored by the New Hampshire Department of Insurance, the Community College System of New Hampshire, Granite Edvance and Montagne Powers.