Indy’s Best and Brightest Finalists Selected

Winners to be announced at awards program on Thursday, November 8th

[Indianapolis, IN] Junior Achievement of Central Indiana announces its finalists for the 15th annual Indy’s Best and Brightest event presented by KPMG LLP. The event honors 100 of central Indiana’s most outstanding young professionals, age 40 and under, in 10 different industries.

An awards program and reception to recognize these outstanding young professionals will take place on Thursday, November 8, 2018, at the Hilbert Circle Theatre downtown Indianapolis. All 100 finalists will receive an award and the winners in each category will be announced. Approximately 500 people are expected to attend.

"KPMG is proud to serve as the presenting sponsor for this noteworthy event for the 15th consecutive year. We understand the importance of honoring these young professionals, who also serve as outstanding role models and mentors for the youth of our community," said Mark Shaffer, Office Managing Partner of KPMG LLP.

The Best and Brightest event was created by Junior Achievement to recognize up and coming talent and the next generation of leaders in our community. Finalists in each category are judged on professional accomplishments, civic contributions, character, and leadership qualities. The finalists to be honored at the event are listed below, as well as on the Junior Achievement website: www.indysbestandbrightest.org.

The categories honored are: Accounting; Banking & Financial Services; Education & Nonprofit; Government; Health & Life Sciences; Law; Manufacturing, Retail & Services; Media, Entertainment & Sports; Real Estate, Development & Construction; and Technology. Sponsorship opportunites and seating packages are currently available; please contact Kacy Wendling at [email protected] or 252-5900 ext. 8. Proceeds from Indy’s Best and Brightest benefit Junior Achievement of Central Indiana, Inc.

About Junior Achievement of Central Indiana
Junior Achievement of Central Indiana, Inc. (JACI), in partnership with the business and education communities, empowers young people to own their future success. JA educates and inspires young people in the areas of career exploration, employability/life skills, entrepreneurship, financial literacy and philanthropy through hands-on, experiential learning opportunities for children in preschool through high school.

Accounting
Kayla Alexander, Ernst & Young
Chad Amos, KPMG
Doug Carpenter, TCC
Ashley Christie, Katz, Sapper & Miller
Shaun Heinzelman, Somerset CPAs and Advisors
Scott Herman, MCM CPAs & Advisors
Brendon Howell, PwC
Annmarie Novotney, Blue and Co.
Brian Schmidt, Archdiocese of Indianapolis
Dan Snyder, BKD CPAs & Advisors

Banking & Financial Services
Mary Azar Callahan, JPMorgan Chase
Jordan Coleman, Geico
Erin Dettwiler, First Merchants Bank
Stephanie Ewing, Key Bank
Ryan Hart, Lake City Bank
Ashley Hughes, Wells Fargo Bank
Jason King, Old National Bank
Josh Nicholson, The Huntington National Bank
Betsy Phillips Young, BMO Harris Bank, NA
Derrick Smith, The Firefly Group

Education & Nonprofit
Brandon Brown, The Mind Trust
George Giltner, TechPoint Foundation for Youth
Arvetta Jideonwo, Bosma Visionary Opportunities Foundation Ryan King, Indy Reads
Ashley Miser, IndyHub
Stephen Montgomery, Goodwill of Central & Southern Indiana Gregory Stowers Jr., Kiwanis International
Marla Taylor, Hedges
Alexis Thomas, Leadership for Educational Equity
Kimberly Vogt, Ph.D., Marian University

Government
Cynthia Carrasco, Office of General Counsel for the Governor Brittany Davis-Swinford, Indy Parks
Ryan Goodwin, Morgan County
Mackenzie Higgins, Office of Mayor Joe Hogsett, City of Indianapolis
Allison Karns, Allison Transmission
Stefanie Krevda, Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission
Henry Mestetsky, City of Carmel
Shannon Stahley, Citizens Energy Group
Molly Swigart, Indiana Senate
Micah Vincent, Office of Management and Budget, State of Indiana

Health & Life Sciences
Tiffany Fletcher, Eli Lilly and Company
Scott Gotshall, Roche Diagnostics
Terri Lee, Indiana State Department of Health
Chris Leeuw, Neurohope of Indiana
Allison Lewis Lodhi, Community Health Network
Alicia McKoy, The AE Experience & Lets Peak Co.
Jill Robbins, Elanco Animal Health
Sydney Rucker, Indiana University School of Medicine
Albert G. Singh, M.D., Suri Medical, LLC
Lindsay Weaver, Indiana University School of Medicine.

Law
Kiamesha-Sylvia Colom, Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP
William Dummett, Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, Inc. Brooke Dunn, Faegre Baker Daniels
Jacob German, Barnes & Thornburg LLP
Danielle Kaiser, North American Title Insurance Company
Adam Kline, Bose McKinney & Evans, LLP
Julie Mahomed, Calumet Specialty Products Partners, L.P.
Kristin McClellan, Ice Miller LLP
Amanda Mulroony, Hoover Hull Turner LLP
Katie Wiley, Round Room

Manufacturing, Retail & Services
Sara Abruzzo, Rolls-Royce Corporation
Leah Brown, AES US Utilities
Tamara Cypress, STANLEY Security
Philip Ham-Ying II, UPS
Erica Hendricks, ADESA
Bradley Houser, Eat Here Indy LLC
Kristen Lampkin, Finish Line Inc.
Scott Lavengood, DEFENDERS
Travis Lynch, BitLoft
Brian Willsey, Tinker House Events & Hotel Tango Artisan Distillery

Media, Entertainment & Sports
Meaghan Banks, Pacers Sports & Entertainment
Kate Guerra, INDYCAR
Ben Hill, WTHR-TV
Will Pfaffenberger, WZPL/Entercom Communications
Sherrell Robinson, Madam Walker Legacy Center
Tiffany Sauder, Element Three
Courtney Smallwood, Indy Chamber
Kim Stoebick, Indianapolis Indians
Kit Werbe, Gene B. Glick Company and Glick Philanthropies Tiffany Whisner, Coles Marketing

Real Estate, Development & Construction
Jay Bangert, The Hagerman Group
Ben Borcherding, American Structurepoint, Inc
Julia Ehret, Healthcare Trust of America
Rachel Ferguson, Teagen Development
Donna Grau, Premier Commercial Real Estate
Jordan Hollingsworth, Safety Management Group
Jennifer Osei-Abebrese-Heltsley, Shrewsberry & Associates Landon Paddock, ARCO Design/Build
Matt Waggoner, JLL
Will Zink, Strategic Capital Partners

Technology
Kortney Cartwright, BCforward
Sean Cook, Oracle
Aunshuman Ghosh, OneAmerica Financial Partners, Inc. Christopher Hicks, Kronos Incorporated
Kai Johnson, Salesforce
Blake Koriath, High Alpha
Rachel Pritz, Community Health Network
Stephanie Sponsel, netlogx
Chris Stowers, Corteva Agriscience
Aaron Williams, Wipro