Skanska trailblazer turning loss into driving force to help families with sick children
Mendy Mazzo created charity to honor her daughter that helps pay expenses for families with sick children.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - You could say Mendy Mazzo’s leadership style comes with some heroic inspiration.
“I love the strong female role model Wonder Woman is,” said Mendy Mazzo, a top executive at Skanska, the large project development company behind Nashville’s JW Marriot and Fifth and Broadway.
An active community volunteer with Habitat for Humanity, the YWCA, and Advancing Women in Nashville, Mazzo has collected memorabilia of the superhero since friends and colleagues threw a promotion party with the super hero theme.
But even Wonder Woman faces circumstances that are out of her control.
For years Mazzo watched her daughter Josie suffer from seizures, G.I. problems, and physical delays.
She was diagnosed with mitochondrial disease, a family of disorders, most of which have no cure.
“She was not diagnosed until three months before she passed,” Mazzo explained. “Most children don’t live past the age of 5. I would not wish it on my worst enemy.”
Out of that tragedy, the Josie Mazzo Children’s Charities was born.
The annual golf tournament at Greystone Country Club in Dickson, Tennessee, raises money for research and helps pay medical expenses, and sometimes funerals, for families with sick children.
Dozens of little red wagons that transport young patients at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt have been donated in her daughter’s name.
“Josie loved the wagons,” said Mazzo. “It was a nice break to leave the hospital room when we were there.”
This year, Josie would be 22 and graduating college.
“She’s always going to be 4 years old in our eyes,” said Mazzo. “She’s always going to have curls, big brown eyes.”
It’s why Mazzo believes in two golden rules: parents and cherish every moment.
“It can be chaotic, the day-to-day, backpacks, getting the kids out the door, going to sporting events,” said Mazzo. “But you get to do that.”
And always, always use your power for good.
“For me and my family, we try to focus on the good, and for us, that revolves around the memory of my sweet little Josie,” Mazzo said.
The 18th Annual Josie Mazzo Children’s Charities Golf Tournament sponsored by Skanska teed off Friday at Greystone Golf Club in Dickson and raised $45,000.
Mazzo says the non-profit has raised almost $1 million so far.
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