Lives of Consequence
Mary Ellen Toscani ’11
For Mary Ellen Toscani ’11, who has been a volunteer firefighter since the age of 16, giving up her undying passion to “get out there and get dirty helping people” in exchange for a nine-to-five desk job was not an option. Unable to resist her passion for serving those in need, Toscani left her first “real job” in media sales to pursue a full-time position as director of fire department relations with The First Twenty, a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the physical health and mental wellness of American firefighters.
Toscani joined The First Twenty in 2014 after spending two years as a volunteer for the organization. As director of fire department relations, Toscani is responsible for the organization’s social media, outreach, customer service and program management, and has been instrumental in the creation of The First Twenty’s fitness and wellness program designed specifically to help firefighters “from the neck up and the neck down.”
“We really wanted to create a program that helps firefighters create good physical fitness habits, good nutrition habits and good mental wellness habits,” she explains. The program, which firefighters can access through a mobile or online app, recently went through a National Institutes of Health (NIH) health trial that will set up the program akin to a prescription – if a firefighter does not perform well on a physical exam, they are “prescribed” The First Twenty program.
Toscani first heard about the organization while interning for the Philadelphia Emergency Management Agency’s office of external relations. She began volunteering for the organization in 2012 but soon after took a full-time job at Harmelin Media, an advertising, media planning and buying agency.
“It was a great job and I really loved it, but it wasn’t completely fulfilling for me,” Toscani explains. “I was still volunteering with The First Twenty and still volunteer firefighting, but I had an urge to go out and still help people.”
Since joining The First Twenty, Toscani has helped the organization expand its reach and secure funding opportunities with major donors, ranging from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to Under Armour. She also helped launch health and wellness programs for police officers and military personnel.
Toscani, who studied media and society at HWS, says the internship experiences she had as a student were instrumental in helping her define her and launch a career that combines her passion for firefighting and serving others with her background in media. “My internships and my courses at HWS gave me direction and the skills to figure out where I was headed,” she says. “The firefighter part, mixed in with everything I learned at HWS, has helped me excel in my line of work right now.”
Toscani is also a volunteer with Team Rubicon and with Team Red, White and Blue, which both help U.S. Veterans reintegrate into society.