When the fourth annual Race For The Kids benefiting Big Brothers Big Sisters of New York City takes place at Riverside Park on Sept. 27, at least two very accomplished men will be there, marveling at the magic of mentoring in ways that are strikingly similar.

One is the brand new executive director of Big Brothers Big Sisters [BBBS], former New York State Supreme Court Judge Michael A. Corriero, and the other is the chair of the race, Richard J. Franchella, whose company RBC Wealth Management sponsors the event. If there’s any subject that fascinates the heck out of me, it’s why people choose to do what they do with their gifts and their time, so I set out to interview these men about why they chose to become involved with BBBS as opposed to any of the other numerous causes out there.

Corriero had just begun settling into his new office in the BBBS 30th St. headquarters when we met in early July. It was the intersection of two occurrences that had brought him to this fresh start.

“[Former executive director] Allan Luks decided to retire,” Corriero said. “And I really wanted a challenge.”

What he really meant was he wanted another challenge. There is something a little more than admirable about someone who manages to have several meaningful careers in one lifetime. Remember Dr. Bobby Brown? He played for the Yankees, was a cardiac surgeon and served as president of the American League – it would seem incredible to do any one of those things in a life, wouldn’t it? Corriero’s story evokes that kind of awe – Manhattan district attorney in the office of Frank S. Hogan, criminal defense attorney, Mayor Ed Koch appointee to the Criminal Court bench at the age of 37, assignment to the criminal term of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, and Governor Mario Cuomo appointee to the Court of Claims.

And those are just some of the highlights. In addition, since 1992 Corriero presided over Manhattan’s Youth Part, a court dealing exclusively with the cases of 13-15 year-olds being charged as adults. That became a passion for him and eventually provided a natural springboard to his current position at Big Brothers Big Sisters.

“It was judicial mentoring,” said Corriero, whose book Judging Children as Children: A Proposal for a Juvenile Justice System grew from this stint as well. “Would you want to be forever defined by what you did at 14? I certainly wouldn’t. I feel very fortunate in my own life.”

Corriero grew up in Little Italy “in the shadow of the criminal court building.” Like many Italian-Americans of that generation, his hardworking parents were not formally educated but understood the importance of education. When it came time for college, New York University was not an option because, as he was told, “you’ll lose your faith.” So it was off to Catholic St. John’s University instead, where his mind was opened and he saw possibility in law.

“I never knew a lawyer growing up,” Corriero said. “It’s not something I was exposed to.”

But it wasn’t long before he knew that was his thing. He liked it. He was good at it. He had found something he could succeed in. He set out to lose his street accent – “three” instead of “tree” and “all of you” instead of “all of youse” – and was invited to be on the Law Review. Once Corriero’s law career got rolling, there were indicators along the way hinting at what his specialty would become. “It was important to me our primary goal [at the Youth Council Bureau] was justice and not racking up convictions,” he recalled.

With his accumulated experience dealing with teens in the system, Corriero knows to his core that mentoring is key to helping kids stay out of trouble. “Imagine a city where every child had a benefactor -- what would the city look like?” he said. “That’s our goal, our mission. In one generation, I went from a three-room tenement to a judge – that’s the American dream. At Big Brothers Big Sisters, we are in the American dream business.”

Enter Rich Franchella, another American success story. Part Italian (Dad) and part Cuban (Mom), Franchella was exposed to the same rigorous work ethic Corriero had seen growing up. He lived in Port Chester, N.Y. and for nine summers, from ages 13 to 22, he worked at Century Country Club in Purchase, N.Y., performing tasks like parking cars and shining shoes.

“In mentoring I’ve been very fortunate,” Franchella said as we sat in his 33rd floor Midtown Manhattan office. “The folks [at the country club] really embraced me. They took me under their wing. They would stop everything they were doing and talk to me. They encouraged me to go to college and the fact that they had confidence in me helped.

“The summer I graduated from Iona, true to their word, two members from Wall Street encouraged me to apply for my first job. I thought of all those days when my buddies were at the beach and I was in a sweaty locker room. Maybe it was [the members’] need to give back. They were very affluent folks. I would always go the extra mile, even on a small scale. I’d like to think our conversations maybe struck a chord.”

Something certainly did.

And that’s the kind of connection Franchella gets to witness on race day between what Big Brothers Big Sisters calls the “Bigs” and the “Littles” in the mentoring partnership. “I’ve spent time with the Bigs and I see kids light up when they walk in a room. They talk warmly and respectfully to one another,” Franchella said.

He was introduced to BBBS by board member Rob Kelley when they worked at the same firm. Part of Franchella’s role was to decide where the firm could give back and once he connected to BBBS, it was a no-brainer to continue. A father of four, Franchella’s oldest three kids all worked at day camps this summer in Greenwich, Conn., and one became a Big without being coerced or asked by his father.

“All three are moving in directions of having an impact on children,” Franchella said with obvious pride. “I’m a big believer kids are born pure. Science might disagree. I think some kids are hardwired the wrong way. Environment makes a big difference.”

Franchella told me a story of being in Greenwich one day with two of his children and overhearing two girls in a conversation: “One said, ‘I want to marry me a drug dealer. They make a lot of money. Then I can have anything I want.’ That really hit me. This is what they see in the media. A mentor can help when they hit a fork in the road.”

Indeed. That’s why Franchella calls BBBS his pet charity, personally and professionally. That’s why Corriero took his new intern, a Little, with him to a recent golf outing that was also a BBBS fundraiser, to expose him to a day that might expand his horizons.

“When you find what you’re born to do, you’re very blessed,” said Corriero, who has been blessed several times over in this regard. Only this latest path comes with a twist.

“For 28 years I was the final word,” he said with a laugh. “Now I have no accoutrements of power – no gavel, no robe and I am not the final word.”

The knowledge that there is power in mentoring will have to be enough.

Nancy Colasurdo is a practicing life coach and freelance writer. Her Web site is www.nancola.com. Please direct all questions/comments to FOXGamePlan@gmail.com.