On Thursday, September 29, the Long Beach Post hosted an event to honor young people from around the city who are doing great things to better their community and beyond. Out of hundreds of nominations from our readers, judges chose 40 winners, representing a range of professions and activism. The Post will be profiling each honoree in the coming days.

This 30-year-old 40 Under 40 winner is an analyst at Sunwest Bank in Irvine, a volunteer on the Board of Directors for Beach Hillel, a nonprofit organization supporting Cal State Long Beach (CSULB) students, and the founder of Long Beach-based Lincoln Maids, a business with above average paying positions in the industry that practices fair employment.

Described as “passionate” by his nominator, Deni Volkoff overcame growing up in a poor home, as well as homelessness in high school. When he turned 19 he joined the Navy and served for five years, during which he was honored multiple times for his exemplary hard work and dedication.

“Having spent a lot of my younger years fairly poor and sometimes homeless, I truly understand how important it is to help those in need during the holiday season and that is why I’m currently looking to find a great organization to volunteer at during the holidays – something that I haven’t done before but I’m very excited about,” Volkoff said of his future goals.

Volkoff said his current goals include growing business development in Long Beach through his position at Sunwest Bank, growing Lincoln Maids to accept more commercial contracts and also running for office.

“After leaving the Navy, I’ve found I’m lacking the sense of pride and joy I found within myself to continue giving back to our wonderful country,” Volkoff said. “And that has reinforced my desire to pursue my passions of one day working in a political role within our government; whether it be on the local level or at a larger role, I feel that there is still a large obligation within myself to work in a political office to help those in need.”