Columbus Young Professionals are asking the community to help them choose their NextGen Leader of the Year.
Online voting begins today to choose one winner among nominees identified as community leaders who were profiled monthly through the year in The Republic.
Only one vote per person is allowed through Jan. 9, and the voting link is live on the Columbus Young Professionals website at columbusyp.org.
Dubbed the Next Generation Leadership Series or NextGen for short, the very first NextGen Leader of the Year will be announced in an awards ceremony at 11:30 a.m. Jan. 31 at The Commons, 300 Washington St. in Columbus, said Liz Worthington, the liaison from the Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce for the Columbus Young Professionals.
Fifteen nominees are being honored in the categories of work, life and community, including three who were the launch nominees for the series.
At the Jan. 31 event, three community leaders will introduce each nominee by category, with Aida Ramirez, executive director of the Columbus Human Rights Commission, introducing the work nominees; Rick Weinheimer, teacher, coach and author, introducing the life nominees; and Bartholomew Circuit Court Judge Kelly Benjamin introducing the community nominees.
Columbus Mayor Jim Lienhoop will present the award.
Tickets to the luncheon are $25 for Columbus Young Professionals members and $30 for non-members. The event will be catered by Blackerby’s First Class Catering. Tickets are available at the Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce or by calling 812-379-4457.
Tickets are also available online at columbusyp.org/nextgen.
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To cast your vote for the NextGen Leader of the Year, visit columbusyp.org/nextgen.
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Nominees for NextGen Leader of the Year are:
Dr. Brandon Gumbiner, Indiana Podiatry Group
Curtis Hartwell, Bartholomew County Public Library
Elaine Wagner, Cummins, Inc.
Amber Porter, Strand Associates, Inc.
Joshua Sefchek, Toyota Material Handling USA
Dr. Mandy Wyant, Family Chiropractic and Wellness
Mark Schneider, Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp.
Cassandra Kuczmanski, Cummins, Inc.
Roy Ice, Kemper CPA Group
Joel Philippsen, Columbus Regional Health
Eric Robbins, Edward Jones
Danielle Nickerson, National Youth Advocate Program
Josh Burnett, The Ridge
Leslie Martinez, Trine University
Tyshaun Allen, Taylor Bros. Construction
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