ELYSTA’s CEO Kimberly Brown did not choose Mary, Mary chose her. High School friends, it was Mary's kindness, generosity and spiritual connection that afforded Kimberly the opportunity to apply and graduate from the University of Pittsburgh with a Bachelor of Science degree and The University of Phoenix with a Master of Health Administration degree.

Now, Kim wants to help other students as they pursue their dreams of higher education. If you are a High School Junior or Senior, complete and submit the form to be considered for the MCN Scholarship. 

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One day in the hallway of their High School, Mary Campbell (then) gave Kimberly Brown (CEO of ELYSTA) money for her college applications. Kim recalls the experience:

I can’t talk about this without tearing up. Thanks to Mary, I had enough money to apply to colleges, I’ll never forget the day in high school in the hall way Mary handed me an envelope and said: “Kim, I got into my top school, so I want you to have the rest of the money I have left from what I saved for college applications”. I tried to decline, but she wasn’t having any part of it. I tried to walk away from her and she said “if you don’t take it, I will just put it in your mail box” (students had hallway mail boxes). I knew that if she put it in that mailbox, it could get lost or taken. I said “no, Mary, really”. She said, “I insist” and began to walk towards the mailboxes. I laughed and she laughed as we battled about this envelop. Despite my efforts, she actually made it to my mailbox, leaving me no other choice but to take the envelope out. I said, “I am going to get you Mary”- as she walked down the hall way looking over her shoulder with a smile of victory. I smiled and looked at the envelope in disbelief, shaking my head with a smile, I was in awe. It didn’t matter if it was $20.00 in there, this was the nicest thing and display of love without strings that I had ever experienced. I just continued to shake my head all day. Only Mary and I knew about what transpired. What I appreciated even more was that she never treated me any differently, never looked down on the person who was in need of financial assistance, she was her same sweet self with every interaction we continued to have.

At our High School graduation, I gave Mary a thank you gift for that day in the hall way, it was a necklace with a cross, just a small token of my appreciation. She was my angel then and she is my angel now. I promised her in 1997 that I would never forget her generosity and I haven’t and I will not. Now I get the honor to pay it forward and allow her spirit of generosity to carry on! Truly a pure heart of gold, a genuinely kind person!

Unfortunately, Mary passed away December 16, 2014 of natural causes. She was only 35 years old. Thankfully I was able to say Thank you again a few months prior. At Mary’s request I never told this story to anyone except my mom up until her death. Mary may be gone from the world, but she will never be forgotten. Mary was a quiet storm, whose presence made a mighty impact.  She looked beyond my faults and saw my need. It was Mary’s kind eyes that saw the best in me! Her one kind gesture opened up a multitude of opportunities for me, allowing me to go on to complete college and graduate school.

Found as a baby in a church, Mary came from humble beginnings and remained humble as she catapulted her way into success. Mary and Kimberly started together at the most prestigious school in Northeast Ohio. From High School Mary attended that first choice she told Kimberly about, Harvard University. Mary went on to graduate cum laude from both Harvard College and Georgetown Law Center, ultimately serving simultaneously as General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer of Gracie Asset Management and Senior Vice President of Moelis Asset Management.  Upon graduation she settled into New York as her home, she embraced life with every fiber of her being—mastering Taekwondo, volunteering in elder care, reading hundreds of books annually, practicing archery, learning how to trapeze, playing board games, hosting fabulous dinner parties, performing in musical theater, star gazing, completing countless tough mudders and obstacle races, and giggling at pictures of rabbits.

She even found time to record an album featuring the lyrics of some of her favorite artists.

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