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Nicole D. Baptiste, IOM
Vice President, Membership Acquisition & Financial Administration
African American Chamber of Commerce of NJ
Trenton, New Jersey
Nominated by John E. Harmon, Sr., IOM, President & CEO, African American Chamber of Commerce of NJ
Nicole has made significant contributions over the years while at the African American Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey (AACCNJ). She works to increase the membership of the AACCNJ at all levels and the penetration of the chamber’s mission throughout the state.
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Sarah Barden
Director of Community Initiatives
Tompkins County Chamber
Ithaca, New York
Nominated by Jennifer Tavares, CEcD, President & CEO, Tompkins County Chamber
Sarah has demonstrated growth, leadership, ingenuity and passion for chamber work and our community. Under their leadership, new members have continued to grow each year, member retention rates have been consistent and returning member investments have increased overall. Sarah has helped to plan and lead important peer mentor programs for our members, including a small business roundtable and a new LGBTQ+ roundtable. They are working on several key initiatives for our organization and community: a newly established housing task force, a community wayfinding initiative, a workforce development marketing and attraction initiative and more.
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Amber Batchelor, IOM
President & CEO
Sumter County Chamber of Commerce
Americus, Georgia
Nominated by Chamber Chair-Elect Andrew Cook of Gammage Print Shop
Amber is a fearless advocate for doing what is right and executing the strategic direction of our chamber. She has inspired us to take a lead role in workforce development by creating the Explore Sumter workforce concierge program, which supports employers in attracting and retaining regional talent. She also designed a historically successful local marketing campaign to reaffirm our Transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax to secure much needed transportation infrastructure funding.
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Lance Beck
President & CEO
Greater Spokane Valley Chamber of Commerce
Spokane Valley, Washington
Nominated by Chamber Chair Trent Maier of Trailbreaker Cider
I believe the chamber’s current relevance stems from the hiring of Lance Beck. Seeing the organization’s growth, and understanding more about its past struggles, it is even more impressive to me that the chamber has become as important in the big conversations throughout our community. We’re all really lucky to have people like Lance get involved and bring such passion around the issues that we all face together – constantly reminding us to lead by example and get involved as much as time allows.
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Jennifer Bronner
Vice President, Finance
Greater Macon Chamber of Commerce
Macon, Georgia
Nominated by Jessica Walden, President & CEO, Greater Macon Chamber of Commerce
The Greater Macon Chamber has been Jennifer’s first and only career since graduating Berry College and earning her MBA. She is dedicated to Macon, and Macon is better because of it. She is a cornerstone to many small businesses in our region and has navigated our chamber through nearly two decades of challenges and transitions. Many on our board will agree – and credit – Jennifer’s financial instinct, care and diligence to steering our organization through times of scarcity and abundance.
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Julia Cabrera
Community Engagement Director
Chino Valley Chamber of Commerce
Chino, California
Nominated by Zeb Welborn, ACE, President & CEO, Chino Valley Chamber of Commerce
We brought Julia on board to help us implement and execute our Upskill Chino Valley program, which included our first ever Chino Valley Chamber of Commerce Leadership Collaborative and our new roundtable program. Julia executed on these initiatives, bridging diverse businesses, fostering unity and amplifying collaboration. She is also developing our Next Gen program to attract more young professionals to the chamber and will lead our Legislative Action Committee this year to help impact and influence legislation that will affect businesses large and small.
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Sarah Cathey
Senior Director, Operations
Kentucky Chamber of Commerce
Frankfort, Kentucky
Nominated by Ashli Watts, CCE, IOM, President & CEO, Kentucky Chamber of Commerce
Sarah has worked for the Kentucky Chamber for 20 years. She embodies operational excellence by overseeing the chamber's events, membership, publications and annual board of director international trips. She is known as the go-to fixer at the chamber when complicated problems arise. With her calm demeanor, critical thinking skills and outside-the-box ideas, she has helped the chamber work through many difficult operational issues and continues to raise the bar of excellence.
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Sarah Chapman Hutchinson
Senior Director, IT & Graphic Design
Bristol TN/VA Chamber of Commerce
Bristol, Tennessee
Nominated by Beth D. Rhinehart, CCE, IOM, President & CEO, Bristol TN/VA Chamber of Commerce
Sarah is an emerging leader within our community and has been an integral part of the chamber’s long-standing five-star accreditation recognition from the U.S. Chamber. She has led our chamber in developing a vision for a progressive and forward-thinking organization. On most days you will find Sarah building webpages, designing creative logos and branding concepts for our many programs. But she also shares these skills as a volunteer for many community-based non-profits. Sarah’s passion for DEI work shines. She provides guidance and an innovative approach to our regional DEI Alliance work and promotes the Minority Enterprise Development events as well.
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Michelle Ciudad Real
Senior Director, Leadership Programs
Tampa Bay Chamber
Tampa, Florida
Nominated by Bob Rohrlack, DBA, CCE, President & CEO, Tampa Bay Chamber
Michelle is a focused professional. She leads four different leadership programs, over 206 scheduled events and works with 115 volunteers to execute the programs that develop leaders in the Tampa Bay region. Within Leadership Tampa, Michelle’s visionary leadership led to an 18 percent growth in the presence and caliber of executive-level individuals, particularly with a focus on diversity, between the 2018 and 2024 classes.
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Brittani Colburn
Deputy Executive Director
Chamber of Commerce of West Alabama
Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Nominated by Donny Jones, CCE, IOM, AACE, Executive Vice President & Chief Workforce Officer, Chamber of Commerce of West Alabama
Brittani’s ability to lead staff and volunteers demonstrates her dedication to helping build a highly skilled workforce and connecting people with jobs. Among her other accomplishments, Brittani was instrumental in the creation and success of the West AlabamaWorks! Educator Workforce Academy. This academy connects K-12 education leaders with the business community to eliminate the disconnection between industry and education, preparing our students for success.
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Ashleigh Dubois
Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce
Fort Mitchell, Kentucky
Nominated by Brent Cooper, President & CEO, Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce
Ashleigh focuses on regional talent strategies. She works with employers to identify their current and future workforce needs, concerns relative to human resource outcomes and potential barriers that might impact their ability to attract/retain diverse talent. She designs DEI learning solutions with a focus on policies/practices that improve human resource outcomes, promote best practices and foster inclusive cultures. Growing, attracting and retaining world-class talent and building an inclusive business community is a top priority for the chamber. Ashleigh’s experience, energy and dynamic personality has helped lay that foundation.
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Tonnisha Ellis
Senior Manager of Education and Workforce Policy
Baton Rouge Area Chamber
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Nominated by Trey Godfrey, Senior Vice President of Policy, Baton Rouge Area Chamber
Tonnisha is an exceptional professional who has made extraordinary advances in the chamber's work. Her unwavering commitment and tireless dedication have brought about transformative changes in our talent development initiatives. By spearheading the Talent Action Collaborative task force, she led our education and business leaders in creating a crucial alignment between education and the workforce, a pivotal step in ensuring businesses have access to skilled and qualified talent.
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Leslie Esqueda
Director of Events
Pearland Chamber of Commerce
Pearland, Texas
Nominated by Jim Johnson, CCE, IOM, President/CEO, Pearland Chamber of Commerce
Under Leslie's leadership, our events have seen a significant surge in attendance, with luncheons witnessing a 14 percent increase. Even more impressive, she played a vital role in boosting our special event revenue by an astounding 78 percent in just one year. Demonstrating her versatility and commitment to leadership development, she also successfully reintroduced and managed our Leadership Pearland program, after it was put on hold during the pandemic. I believe the programs she runs were a pivotal part of our organization winning ACCE’s Chamber of the Year.
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Kelly Eustis
Executive Director
Greater Greenwich Chamber of Commerce
Greenwich, New York
Nominated by Chamber Co-Chair Evelyn Costello of Lakestyle
Kelly has proven to be an effective leader and advocate for our members and local businesses. He has his finger on the pulse of the community and is constantly working on ways to support and advocate for our members. His ability to manage, organize and represent our members at the local and state levels is one reason our chamber is so successful. He is constantly looking for creative and innovative ways for our members to grow their businesses and bring them together as a cohesive community.
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Maddie Finn
Director of Marketing & Events
Grand Rapids Chamber
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Nominated by Andy Johnston, CCE, IOM, Senior Vice President of Advocacy & Strategic Engagement, Grand Rapids Chamber
Maddie leads the team dedicated to providing exceptional experiences for members, whether that’s through our 160 events and programs or while browsing the chamber’s website. With an eye for design and a passion for storytelling, Maddie enjoys finding creative ways to share how the chamber is working to serve our business community. This year’s accomplishments include a redesign of the chamber’s website, launching the chamber’s new print publication and branding and marketing the chamber’s expanded collaborative office space.
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Aimee Herrick
Director of Events & Emerging Talent
Fox Cities Chamber
Appleton, Wisconsin
Nominated by Laura Wiegert, Executive Vice President, Marketing & Events, Fox Cities Chamber
Aimee, a former high school teacher, brought a great skill set to help us succeed, including an eye for detail, planning, communication and a working knowledge of schools. In the midst of planning our largest community event that attracts over 200,000 people, we had a staff change. Aimee jumped in to manage it after just one month on the job. This year, she continued to run with it and made changes that vastly improved the event and saw greater success. It's not only her skills and talents that have contributed to our success. Her positive attitude makes it a pleasure for the team to work alongside her.
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Ashley Hilsman
Executive Vice President
New Orlean Chamber of Commerce
New Orleans, Louisiana
Nominated by Sandra Lombana Lindquist, CCE, President & CEO, New Orleans Chamber of Commerce
Ashley has been a driving force in the New Orleans Chamber since her arrival in 2014. She swiftly climbed the ranks, moving from events director to now second-in-command. Ashley provides leadership, guides staff on chamber initiatives, advises on budgets and finance and identifies mission-focused special projects. She organized the chamber’s regional Women's Leadership Conference, which quickly became a premier gathering of female professionals in the region. She also facilitated the chamber’s first Washington Mardi Gras Welcome Reception, bringing together government officials and chamber stakeholders at this iconic annual gathering in Washington, D.C.
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Molly Howey
GO Topeka President
Greater Topeka Partnership
Topeka, Kansas
Nominated by Matt Pivarnik, CCE, President & CEO, Greater Topeka Partnership
Molly has been a devout leader in our equity and opportunity activities and actively leads our equity advisory board. You will always find Molly at the center of good things in our organization and community. She is on the board of the International Economic Development Council and knows her way around government affairs, membership development, resource development and all verticals within the chamber industry.
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David Key
Director of Business Development
Tempe Chamber of Commerce
Tempe, Arizona
Nominated by Colin Diaz, IOM, ACE, President & CEO, Tempe Chamber of Commerce
In his time with the chamber, David has shown incredible flexibility, a passion for the work and a deep understanding of the important role we play in the lives of our business community. David is someone who is always thinking of the organization, our membership and how to elevate both. He routinely proposes innovative programming and solutions to a myriad of challenges our business community faces.
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Ruth Lawson
President
Jefferson Chamber of Commerce
Metairie, Louisiana
Nominated by Chamber Chair Al Galindo of Entergy Louisiana
Ruth has devoted her efforts to elevating member experiences through signature events, spearheading committee involvement, augmenting communications and advocating for the future of business. She provides leadership to the Industrial Zoning Alliance and the Louisiana House Speaker appointed her to the Early Childhood Care & Education Commission. Each of these endeavors fostered a stronger bond between the chamber, elected officials and the business community. This was evidenced when, for the first time in the organization's 26-year history, the chamber eclipsed 950 members.
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Matt Lofy
President & CEO
Worthington Area Chamber of Commerce
Worthington, Ohio
Nominated by Chamber Chair Derek Voytovich, CFP, of Edward Jones
Matt is a leading voice for businesses in our community. His primary focus is to make sure our local businesses have a voice and are heard when discussing community matters. He is a strategic thinker who works to encourage residents to support the businesses in the chamber and to develop stronger leaders in the community.
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Christine McLear
Director, Workforce Development
Center for Economic Growth, an affiliate of Capital Region Chamber
Albany, New York
Nominated by Katie Newcombe, Chief Economic Development Officer, Center for Economic Growth
Christine’s leadership, passion and purpose inspire the entire team. She has broken down silos within the workforce development system to foster equity, inclusion and accessibility. She led a transformation of our regional workforce system by building/leading a consortium of community colleges, workforce development boards, community partners, unions, transportation providers, career and technical schools, community training providers and social service-related organizations. She also proactively secured grant funding to bring immigrant/refugee populations into the workforce.
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Calvin McRae
Vice President, Public Policy
Greater Winston-Salem, Inc.
Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Nominated by Mark Owens, CCE, IOM, President & CEO, Greater Winston-Salem, Inc.
Calvin has demonstrated exceptional leadership that has generated a positive impact within the community in countless ways. He has effectively advocated for public policies that favorably impact Winston-Salem and Forsyth County’s ability to attract economic investment and talent. He was influential in the process to secure ARPA funding for Forsyth County that benefits dozens of local institutions. He was also influential in working with elected representatives and the North Carolina Department of Transportation to advocate for critical infrastructure projects and to obtain funding for major infrastructure that’s essential to Forsyth County’s competitiveness.
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Emma Menchefski
Communications Manager
Halifax Chamber of Commerce
Halifax, Nova Scotia
Nominated by Becky Davison, CCE, Vice President, Marketing, Halifax Chamber of Commerce
Emma joined the chamber in 2017 as a recent undergrad. She quickly grasped the chamber world and dove right in. She became an integral part of our team, and within a year she was promoted. Emma has managed our printed publication, all speech writing for the leadership team, as well as social media and website content. Emma executed our first chamber cultural tour to China in 2018 and has since managed three additional trips for the chamber, generating tens of thousands of non-dues revenue.
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Jenna Mueller
Executive Director of The FMWF Chamber Foundation
Fargo Moorhead West Fargo Chamber of Commerce
Fargo, North Dakota
Nominated by Shannon Full, IOM, President & CEO, Fargo Moorhead West Fargo Chamber of Commerce
Jenna's first major achievement was revitalizing our dormant foundation, which now addresses pressing workforce challenges. She quickly co-created a strategic plan that has moved the foundation into a prominent leadership position regionally and statewide. Under her leadership, we launched the Ignite program, a systematic approach to workforce that brings together a diverse array of partners from business, education, non-profit and government to collaborate on workforce solutions. Her efforts also resulted in securing a $9.62 million Good Jobs Challenge Grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration.
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Emilie Nelsen
Director of Marketing & Events
Sherman Chamber of Commerce
Sherman, Texas
Nominated by Eddie Brown, President/CEO, Sherman Chamber of Commerce
Emilie has grown every event on our schedule, both in attendance and financially. Most importantly, our chamber members are happier than ever with her leadership, organizational skills and her passion to serve our community. She is also responsible for the successful relaunch of our Sherman Young Professionals program. We now have the largest and most active group of young professionals in the history of our chamber. Emilie collaborates closely with our board members, elected officials and the City of Sherman to ensure that our members are getting the service they deserve.
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Kari Nore
Director of External Affairs
Alaska Chamber
Anchorage, Alaska
Nominated by Kati Capozzi, President & CEO, Alaska Chamber
Kari consistently demonstrates exceptional leadership, dedication and an unwavering commitment to advancing the chamber’s mission of promoting a healthy business environment in Alaska. Her strength in forging strong partnerships, both with businesses and government entities, has significantly contributed to the positive impact we have had on Alaska's business landscape. Kari's leadership has enabled us to navigate a challenging political landscape, while elevating the reputation of the Alaska Chamber as the voice advancing business in Alaska.
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Ali Rauch
President & CEO
Opelika Chamber of Commerce
Opelika, Alabama
Nominated by Chamber Chair Jason C. Bryant, Ph.D., of Auburn University
As the chamber’s board chair, I have witnessed firsthand the positive impact that Ali has made since taking the helm. That impact was recently recognized when we received the first five-star chamber accreditation since 1986. During her three years, Ali has successfully executed a brand turnaround and assembled one of the best teams possible. She also successfully led a $2.8 million strategic economic and development funding initiative that will provide the chamber with a new facility to better meet the needs of our community and help the chamber execute its strategic plan to success.
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Brianna Scott
Director of Member Services and Marketing
Washington County Chamber of Commerce
Hagerstown, Maryland
Nominated by Paul Frey, IOM, President & CEO, Washington County Chamber of Commerce
Brianna is responsible for directing the chamber’s marketing and communications, as well as supporting our members to ensure they achieve their chamber goals. We are a team-oriented organization, but Brianna’s work has helped our 104-year-old chamber achieve big results, including an 11 percent increase in annual revenue, a 17 percent increase in membership and a membership retention rate of 90 percent for accounts and 88 percent for revenue.
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Jeff Seymour
Executive Vice President, Economic Development
Greater Oklahoma City Chamber
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Nominated by Christy Gillenwater, CCE, IOM, President & CEO, Greater Oklahoma City Chamber
For more than 16 years, Jeff has shown the highest degree of expertise in a variety of economic development disciplines. During his tenure at the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber, Jeff has helped 26 companies expand, creating 6,600+ jobs in the region. In support of the community’s bioscience cluster, Jeff spearheaded Oklahoma’s Build Back Better Regional Challenge coalition, bringing together more than 50 cross-sector stakeholders. As a result of his leadership, Oklahoma City was awarded $35 million in federal funds to invest in growing our region’s bioscience cluster.
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Kendra Shaw
Economic Development Manager
Berwyn Development Corporation
Berwyn, Illinois
Nominated by David Hulseberg, Executive Director/CEO, Berwyn Development Corporation
Kendra's impact on the Berwyn business community is nothing short of remarkable. She has led some of the BDC's most successful projects, focused on assisting entrepreneurs in Berwyn and the surrounding areas in taking their businesses to the next level. One of her standout achievements is the Berwyn Shops retail incubator, which provides a supportive environment for local businesses to thrive.
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Shelby Somervell
Vice President of Government Affairs and Communications
Greater Louisville Inc.
Louisville, Kentucky
Nominated by Sarah Davasher-Wisdom, CCE, IOM, MPA, President & CEO, Greater Louisville Inc.
Shelby is a hard-working and dedicated leader who leverages her strong relationships and tact to advocate for the Greater Louisville business community’s top priorities. During her tenure with GLI, she has helped lead a coalition to pass state tax reform, in addition to leading local reforms to help quell a growing shortage of child care. She gracefully builds bridges between investors and government officials across party lines, increasing collaboration and as a result, policy wins for the chamber.
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Torri A. Staton, Ph.D.
Vice President of Diversity, Equity & Inclusivity/Director of Equitable Economic Development
Raleigh Chamber/Wake County Economic Development
Raleigh, North Carolina
Nominated by Adrienne Cole, President & CEO, Raleigh Chamber
Because of Torri's depth of knowledge in diversity, equity and inclusivity theory and practice, she is uniquely positioned to carry out the work of the Triangle DEI Alliance. The Alliance is a regional initiative founded and operated by the Raleigh Chamber, with a mission to make the Triangle region the most diverse, equitable and inclusive business environment in the country. Under her leadership, our annual DEI conference has grown to become the chamber’s largest event, selling out two years in a row. She is also pioneering the A Better Wake initiative, which seeks to galvanize the community around efforts to address systemic racism.
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Angie Stepsis
Chief of Staff
Greater Des Moines Partnership
Des Moines, Iowa
Nominated by Tiffany Tauscheck, CCE, IOM, CDME, President & CEO, Greater Des Moines Partnership
Angie’s leadership and can-do attitude made an immediate impact on our organization, so much so that she was elevated to a senior team role in 2022. In this role, she leads our events team and focuses more on investor relations work, the lifeblood of our organization. She finds creative solutions to complex challenges on a daily basis and consistently goes above and beyond to get the job done. Under Angie's leadership, the investor relations team wrapped up its five-year investor campaign which broke records, and the events team saw downtown foot traffic increase by more than 10 percent from the same period in 2022.
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Cassie Stoner
Director of Membership
Eugene Area Chamber of Commerce
Eugene, Oregon
Nominated by Brittany Quick-Warner, President & CEO, Eugene Area Chamber of Commerce
Cassie quickly took over several of our good events and made them great. She has an incredible knack for creating sustainable processes and finding efficiencies that helped our events not only become more profitable but helped us engage our volunteers and attendees more effectively. Her organization and commitment to excellence led us to promote her several times. When our organization was making the transition to a freemium membership model and transforming our membership department, I knew I needed a strong, dedicated leader to manage that transition and take our membership support to the next level. Cassie has excelled in this role.
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Sara Teel
Director of Marketing and Membership Development
Glenwood Springs Chamber Resort Association
Glenwood Springs, Colorado
Nominated by Angie Anderson, IOM, President & CEO, Glenwood Springs Chamber Resort Association
A seasoned chamber professional prior to joining our community, Sara has significantly grown membership, improved marketing efforts and revamped several of our committees. She has brought new and enthusiastic energy to our organization. She is passionate about achieving our mission of helping business thrive, and she is eager to continuously learn and grow professionally.
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David Tollette
TYPROS Executive Director
Tulsa Regional Chamber
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Nominated by Michael S. Neal, CCE, CCD, HLM, President & CEO, Tulsa Regional Chamber
David possesses an innate ability to inspire and motivate his colleagues, fostering collaboration and bringing out the best in others. He consistently demonstrates empathy and compassion, making him a highly respected and approachable leader among his peers. His dedication to TYPROS (Tulsa’s Young Professionals), our chamber’s renowned young professionals' group, has been exceptional. He pioneered communications and branding updates while keeping all events and operations running smoothly during the time of transition.
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Paige Walters
Director, Economic Development and Advocacy
Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce
Springfield, Oregon
Nominated by Vonnie Mikkelsen, President & CEO, Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce
Paige rapidly advanced from entry-level coordinator to a high-level director and “second-in-command” by taking initiative, accepting hard challenges and enthusiastically enrolling in chamber professional development opportunities. Paige’s expertise and impact in the realm of workforce and talent development is unmatched among our local, regional and state chamber communities. She has assisted dozens of employers and educators in their targeted pre-apprenticeships, internships, job shadows and more. Most recently, she developed a new 21st century essential skills, management training module to respond to local industry middle and executive management needs.
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Meghan Kelley Wehner
Senior Vice President of Membership & Revenue Growth
Dallas Regional Chamber
Dallas, Texas
Nominated by Dale Petroskey, President & CEO, Dallas Regional Chamber
Meghan has been with the chamber for nearly a decade, in which time she’s risen from membership specialist to senior vice president. Her incredible ability to connect people with the world of possibilities opened up by a chamber membership has contributed greatly to the chamber’s strong financial position and our reputation in the community. She sets a strong example for our staff of what it means to be a champion of chambers and the work we do here at the Dallas Regional Chamber.
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Neal Zygarlicke
CEO
La Crosse Area Chamber of Commerce
La Crosse, Wisconsin
Nominated by Chamber Chair Brian J. Koopman of Trust Point, Inc.
During his tenure, Neal has shown leadership, vision and a dedication to the La Crosse community, chamber members and staff. Neal saw the need for workforce development and attraction and worked diligently to launch the Talent Attraction Campaign. The campaign showcases the beauty of La Crosse and all it has to offer, while allowing local employers access to candidate resumes from outside the area. In addition, his commitment to building out the concierge program, which is unique across the state and country, has been pivotal to attracting new hires to the La Crosse area.
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