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40 Under 40
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ACCE is dedicated to recognizing and supporting the most talented professionals in the chamber industry. This annual recognition program showcases 40 of the industry’s top emerging leaders who have demonstrated success in their careers and made significant contributions to the communities they serve. The list includes CEOs and staff professionals from a wide variety of roles and chamber sizes. Their creativity, dedication and commitment to identifying innovative solutions will help shape the future of the chamber profession.
Kim Baker
CEO
Gallatin Area Chamber of Commerce
Gallatin, Tenn.
Nominated by Chamber Board Chair Kit Sinyard, Director, Sumner County Anti-Drug Coalition
Kim has put together a passionate team of eight ranging from part-time to full-time and spanning the ages of 18 to 67. She is able to find the strengths of her employees, allowing her to build a team that works and thrives together. She has grown membership 46% during her time as CEO. Our COVID response, spearheaded by Kim, shows her strengths and true love of community. From launching Pandemic Pals, which connected at-risk individuals with folks who were able to assist them, to the S.E.E. Show, which showcased local businesses, educated viewers on the situations we all had to navigate, and engaged with the community. The chamber moved its events online and even launched several new programs, making it our goal to keep our members engaged and do whatever we could to support them.
Dani Barger
Vice President, Marketing & Communications
Colorado Springs Chamber & EDC
Colorado Springs, Colo.
Nominated by Dirk Draper, President & CEO, Colorado Springs Chamber & EDC
Dani has been instrumental to the success of the chamber & EDC by heightening the visibility of our business community since her arrival in 2018. She leads our efforts to tell the stories of local businesses in regional and national media. Dani has led the placement of nearly 70 stories over the past three years in publications including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Money, Conde Nast Traveler, Smithsonian, Military Times, Colorado Public Radio, Colorado Springs Gazette, Denver Post and more.
Alex Breault
Director, Talent Initiatives
The Greater Naples Chamber of Commerce
Naples, Fla.
Nominated by Michael Dalby, CCE, IOM, President & CEO, Greater Naples Chamber of Commerce
Alex has quickly established herself as the connector and convener for innovative workforce solutions in our region – connecting emerging talent from our area schools, colleges and universities to employers, and helping employers better understand talent challenges and implement impactful solutions. She’s connected over 6,000 students to employers through various work-related experiences to improve their employability skills and create awareness of local career opportunities. She’s brought together industry heads and nonprofit agencies serving youth to help employers understand the barriers youths and transitioning adults face in finding employment, and helps job seekers better understand what employers expect.
Dan Brooks
Director, Business Advocacy
Billings Chamber of Commerce
Billings, Mont.
Nominated by John Brewer, CAE, President/CEO, Billings Chamber of Commerce
Dan is recognized by business leaders, elected representatives and the community as a trusted, authoritative and calm presence in an often politically divisive environment. Dan maintains the sane center on tough issues, which tends to gravitate solutions-oriented decision-makers to his side. Dan has made extraordinary advances to his chamber and the community by serving as legislative liaison to the country’s COVID-19 Economic Recovery Response Team, creating the award-winning “Elections Matter” and “A Safer Billings” campaigns, supporting regional business and tourism throughout Eastern Montana and developing a standard for recruiting and endorsing business-friendly candidates.
Eric L. Brown
President and CEO
Salina Area Chamber of Commerce
Salina, Kan.
Nominated by Board Chair Jeff Maes, Owner/Operator, ComPro Realty, LLC
Eric has positively impacted our organization and community because of his leadership, skills, knowledge, willingness to help others and dedication to our mission. His experience and leadership with both long-term and short-term community development efforts, chamber-specific programming, advocacy and business development has had a truly positive impact on the future of Salina and our region of Kansas as a whole.
Kyla Bryant
Associate Director, Metro Business Center, a program hosted by the Sacramento Metro Chamber
Sacramento, Calif.
Nominated by Amanda Blackwood, President & CEO, Sacramento Metro Chamber
Over the course of the past year, Kyla has worked tirelessly to provide invaluable technical assistance for businesses throughout the greater Sacramento region during an incredibly challenging time of transition. In fact, her department infused $24 million in capital to small businesses during that critically important timeframe. She leads her team with empathy while finding opportunities in every challenge. Her determination, calm demeanor and ability to multi-task masterfully make her a natural leader, one who is a role model, problem solver and valued team player.
Maren Cerimele
Director of Membership
Vail Valley Partnership
Edwards, Colo.
Nominated by Chris Romer, ACE, IOM, President & CEO, Vail Valley Partnership
Maren has been a key staff member of Vail Valley Partnership (VVP) and her efforts have helped the Partnership be recognized as ACCE’s Chamber of the Year in both 2016 and 2020. She has initiative and leads numerous efforts at VVP, including our business retention and expansion program, our new VVP connect online network for our membership, our Vail Valley Works comprehensive workforce and professional development program and our Nonprofit Network educational series for nonprofit leaders. In addition, she has led our membership and events team to great success, including achieving member retention levels over 92% every year as director of membership. She has revamped our ambassador committee into a program advisory council and has led member engagement efforts for the organization.
Dewan Clayborn
CEO and President
League City Regional Chamber of Commerce
League City, Texas
Nominated by Pat Hallisey, Mayor, League City, Texas
When Dewan became president of the League City Regional Chamber, he brought with him his professionalism, his knowledge, his leadership and his energy to help the chamber grow and expand, bringing in more businesses to the chamber and helping those businesses flourish so they can succeed. In addition to his business and leadership skills, his personality truly connects in positive ways with everyone that he meets, making him stand out amongst others.
Elizabeth Cleary
Director of Operations and Community Programs
The Chamber of St. Matthews
Louisville, Ky.
Nominated by Chamber Board Vice President Steve Hoak, Hoak Insurance Services
During a year of uncertainty, pain and struggle, Elizabeth rose to the occasion and led our team to brighter days. She spent countless hours researching and networking to find the latest information on the pandemic. Leveraging state and federal resources along with other chamber professionals, she developed safety protocols for the staff and members of the chamber. In a time when businesses struggled, she fought to help the chamber and our members excel. Brainstorming to implement COVID-safe activities, we developed new programming with Elizabeth’s ideas and helped bring our members together to both network and heal.
Molly Crouser
Special Events Manager
Lancaster Chamber
Lancaster, Pa.
Nominated by Thomas T. Baldrige, CCE, President & CEO, Lancaster Chamber
During her time with us, Molly has developed a regional reputation for excellence in events. She’s hosted past presidents, Fortune 500 CEOs and a prime minister at events that were attended by thousands. And she’s always done so with an eye toward excellence that has strengthened the entire chamber brand due to the high-profile nature of the programs.
Kate Daniels
President and Executive Director
Wayne County Chamber of Commerce
Goldsboro, N.C.
Nominated by Chamber Board Chair Kevin Johnson, County Extension Director, Wayne County Cooperative Extension
Kate is an outstanding leader with the ability to bring our community partners together to enhance and promote Wayne County. She is a true leader with a vision to grow the Wayne County Chamber using both traditional and non-traditional programming. She was a beacon in our community when COVID-19 hit. She led her team through creative channels to reach businesses and find ways to provide timely resources and opportunities. For example, she created Wayne County Eats & Drinks Facebook page, which has over 9,200 followers. Restaurant owners referred to it as a “lifeline” through COVID-19, as it was a way to share hours, take-out/delivery options and highlight unique finds throughout the county for dining.
Carolyn Davis
Manager, Events & Outreach
Tennessee Chamber of Commerce & Industry
Nashville, Tenn.
Nominated by Suzie Lusk, Vice President, Events & External Affairs, Tennessee Chamber of Commerce & Industry
Our events grew from 60 to 112 during the past year and Carolyn’s professional approach to each one was impressive. Many offerings were specific to the COVID-19 pandemic, but many others were organized because she saw an opportunity to bring in speakers and topics that were relevant during this time. She not only embraced the shift to virtual and hybrid offerings, she taught member companies all the advancements in this “new normal” including details to make each offering successful. Whether working with internal or external groups, Carolyn looks to find the best outcome for all involved and truly exemplifies the core values of our chamber.
Taylor Davis
Director, Wichita Falls Talent Partnership, Military Liaison to Sheppard Air Force Base
Wichita Falls Chamber of Commerce
Wichita Falls, Texas
Nominated by Henry Florsheim, IOM, CEO, Wichita Falls Chamber of Commerce
Taylor joined the chamber just as we were beginning to implement an ambitious community-wide strategy to grow Wichita Falls, and she’s become a vital part of the effort. She’s taken a struggling young professionals group, brought it under the chamber’s umbrella and rebuilt it into an effective, vibrant new organization called The Circuit. A military spouse herself, Taylor has developed an entire suite of programs aimed at creating stronger connections between the military and our business community. She’s been responsible for helping dozens of military spouses find meaningful employment in Wichita Falls. She’s also developed an internship program that will create easier pathways for college students to find their first real employment opportunity in their field of study.
Josh Driskell
President
Jenks Chamber of Commerce
Jenks, Okla.
Nominated by Chamber Board Chair Rob Loeber, Director of Communications, Jenks Public Schools
Because of his leadership capacity, attention to detail and his continuous efforts to form productive relationships with key stakeholders, Josh has been able to expand the chamber’s reach and enhance the quality of life for Jenks residents. Thanks to his fiscal responsibility and vision, the Jenks Chamber remained stable and open through COVID challenges, helping local businesses navigate through the uncertainty of the pandemic. Not a single employee of the Jenks Chamber was furloughed or cut. Josh balances the day-to-day operations of the chamber while considering the future of his community and how he can improve the life of its citizens.
Lyndsay Ferguson
Vice President of Workforce
Huntsville/Madison County Chamber
Huntsville, Ala.
Nominated by Lucia Cape, CCE, IOM, Senior Vice President, Economic Development, Huntsville/Madison County Chamber
Lyndsay first joined us as our workforce director in 2015. After reviewing our members’ needs, she established a career awareness program that we still operate and are presenting to a statewide group later this year. She also advanced our relationships with our K-12, post-secondary and adult education partners to increase our reach and impact. Not surprisingly, within two years she was recruited to another community organization as its executive director. As our members’ workforce demands increased, we determined that we needed a Vice President level position to address our challenges, and her commitment to the community helped us recruit her back to the chamber, and we are already benefitting from her expertise, professionalism and relationships among our partners.
Jack Feria
Membership & Events Manager
Wisconsin LGBT Chamber of Commerce
Milwaukee, Wis.
Nominated by Jason Rae, President & CEO, Wisconsin LGBT Chamber of Commerce
Jack leads our entire membership process, from solicitation of business members, to closing the sale, to onboarding and renewal. Right before COVID hit, Jack helped led us through our first dues increase since we launched in 2012. He worked to communicate the change to members, and because of his work, after the increase was implemented, we didn’t lose a single member. During COVID, he has worked tirelessly to ensure the health and success of our membership by individually reaching out, sending notes, visiting shops and making sure that our businesses are bouncing back. While many chambers may be losing members, during COVID, we actually gained new members and saw our retention rates increase. He is so passionate about the work of the chamber and supporting LGBTQ and allied businesses.
Jessica Linder Gallo
President & CEO
Aurora Regional Chamber of Commerce
Aurora, Ill.
Nominated by Jamal Scott, Vice President of Strategic Development, Waubonsee Community College and incoming chamber board chair
Jessica is intelligent, deliberate and thoughtful and is an outstanding leader of people. She has an uncanny ability to balance direct leadership and decisiveness with organizational leadership and personality management. She has brought so much strategy and direction to the Aurora Regional Chamber of Commerce. Her presence and intentionality has raised the bar for not just the employees but for the board members as well. One of the first things that she did was tell us that she needed our help to be successful, and she has held us accountable to that.
Nelly Hocke
Director of Membership Services
Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce
Miami, Fla.
Nominated by Alfred Sanchez, President & CEO, Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce
Just weeks before the pandemic closed the world, Nelly’s VP left the chamber to care for his mother. Nelly, the most senior person of the team with only a year, was asked to step up to lead the department despite never having managed a team before. She not only stepped up, but she rallied her team through a difficult period keeping their spirits high. Having built a great esprit de corps, she directed the team to call all our members individually checking on them, surveying their needs and helping connect them to services, customers and resources to stay open and keep their employees working. It’s easy to excel when things are going to plan. It’s an entirely different story when facing adversity. Yet despite all the head winds, Nelly and her team beat projections for retaining existing members and engaging new ones.
Kyle Jacobson
Vice President of Government Relations
Lubbock Chamber of Commerce
Lubbock, Texas
Nominated by Kay McDowell, President and CEO, Lubbock Chamber of Commerce
During his five years in the chamber industry, Kyle has adapted and grown in several different roles from programs and events to communications and his specialty area of government relations. Earlier this year, Kyle published “Advocacy Basics for Chambers of Commerce: The ABCs of Government Relations,” a guidebook for local chambers seeking to enhance their government affairs efforts. He was invited to speak at the Florida Association of Chamber Professionals annual conference and joined the Western Association of Chamber Executives Chamber Leadership Podcast to discuss the importance of the chamber industry engaging in the public policy process.
Jim Johnson, CCE, IOM
President/CEO
Pearland Chamber of Commerce
Pearland, Texas
Nominated by Chamber Board Chair Ann Strouhal, Owner/HR Consultant, Strouhal & Associates, LLC
Jim has done a phenomenal job of jumping right in as president/CEO of Pearland’s Chamber. He has met one-on-one with board members, engaged members of all levels and built relationships with our city and community leaders. He streamlined our reports for our board to gain a better understanding of our progression and has been fully transparent with all that he has implemented and proposed. He is passionate about his career in the chamber industry. He is the epitome of a successful, engaging, emerging leader, and we are truly blessed to have him.
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