4. Victor and Doreen Ciappa

Admittedly, Victor and Doreen Ciappa never wanted to be on the Power List. Their position is born of the ultimate grief. In June of 2008, their daughter Natalie—a beautiful, smart and talented teenager just beginning her adult life—became the unwitting poster child for the heroin scourge that is besieging LI when she died of an overdose after a local party. Not willing to let their child be forgotten, the Ciappas formed the Not My Child foundation, working with Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice to educate young people, schools and parents about the very real dangers that heroin has brought to suburbia. Out of their devastating loss, the Ciappas seek the chance to save another family from the same pain, and will undoubtedly do everything they can to accomplish that goal.