1. Michael Giunta, 39
Creative writer

He's a relative newcomer to copywriting, but Michael Giunta has a pile of local and national awards that attest to the quality of his work. He swapped his accounting career for advertising five years ago and is a writer for Garrison Hughes Advertising. He's penned ads for the Sen. John Heinz History Center, the Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum, Reed Smith, Children's Hospital, Pittsburgh Passion and a number of other local clients. He also writes fake headlines and funny stories for a satirical local news Web site, the Carbolic Smoke Ball.

"I try to champion the creative," he says. "I'm involved with the Pittsburgh Advertising Federation Addy awards show, so I get to see all the work [submitted by local agencies]. When I lay all the work out on the floor, I have a lot of pride in it... I don't think a lot of people realize how much good work is being produced in this town."

2. Andy Ai, 32
Asian community activist

"When you look at the Asian population in the Pittsburgh region, it's very fragmented. There's a very strong Asian population in the universities, but once the students finish, they leave," says Andy Ai. The problem: Other cities have a much stronger infrastructure of support for Asian communities.

"When you look at the Pittsburgh region, there's over 60 Asian-American organizations," Ai says. "What I'm trying to do...is link all the different groups together and make Pittsburgh a better region for Asian-Americans." Through his work with the Pittsburgh Asian American Young Professional Association (PAAYPA), Silk Screen Asian-American Film Festival and others, Ai connects members and missions together to create a more cohesive network of Asian-focused organizations. He also has represented PAAYPA as a member of the New Pittsburgh Collaborative, an umbrella organization for Pittsburgh's civic-minded organizations, which fosters sharing and cooperation.

3. Emmai Alaquiva, 31
Music producer, mentor

"I feel I have a gift," says Emmai Alaquiva. "And it's time to share that gift with youth." Alaquiva is WAMO Radio's production director, and he also runs a recording studio, Ya Momz House, based in East Liberty. There, he engineers music for local and national artists, including 50 Cent, Kanye West and Slum Village. Local clients include the August Wilson Center for African American Culture and WQED. The soundtracks he has composed for documentaries garnered several awards and an Emmy nomination.

Alaquiva credits his mentors with helping him get his studio off the ground. He now mentors others through an outreach project called Hip Hop on Lock. Youth 15 to 21 years of age learn leadership and teamwork skills as they staff a mock record label to produce a record. "Using hip-hop, we want to educate these youths," Alaquiva says. "[We're] teaching these kids how to create and how to express themselves, using music to do it... You really see these kids transform over the process."

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