Fifty-seven leaders from across the state have accepted invitations to participate in the 2018 Class of Leadership West Virginia. Candidates were selected from a pool of applicants submitted in late 2017.
Welcome incoming class members:
- Elizabeth Amandus, Jackson Kelly PLLC (Charleston)
- Craig Baker, The Thrasher Group (Bridgeport)
- Bill Bissett, Huntington Regional Chamber of Commerce (Huntington)
- Elaine Bobo, Berkeley County Schools (Martinsburg)
- Katrina Bowers, Babst Calland P.C. (Charleston)
- Brett Brewer, American Electric Power (Hurricane)
- Brian Bruce, West Virginia American Water Company (Charleston)
- Tina Combs, Martinsburg-Berkeley County Chamber of Commerce (Martinsburg)
- Russell Crane, WV Army National Guard (Charleston)
- Ryan Deaderick, Greylock Energy (Charleston)
- Gary Dinzeo, Monongahela Power Company (Haywood)
- Lisa Dye, Quality Insights, Inc. (Charleston)
- Rachel Dyer, Soles Enterprises, LLC (Fairmont)
- Amber Evans, Orion Strategies (Buckhannon)
- Thomas Evans, WV Robotic Technology Center (Fairmont)
- Steven Flaughers, Proforma 3rd Degree Marketing (Chloe)
- Heather Foster, Volunteer West Virginia (Charleston)
- Eric Gates, State Farm Insurance (Martinsburg)
- Breanna George, Mountain State Forest Festival (Elkins)
- Kirk Gerdes, National Energy Technology Laboratory (Morgantown)
- Amanda Gianola, BrickStreet Insurance (Charleston)
- Stefan Goff, Alcon (Huntington)
- Bradley Gritt, Gritt’s Farm (Buffalo)
- Kelli Hawkins, Dominion Energy (Bridgeport)
- Jeffrey Jenkins, Citizens Bank of Weston (Weston)
- Steven Keith, Miles Partnership (Charleston)
- Jeffrey Knight, The Health Plan (Wheeling)
- William Kuhn, Generation West Virginia (Huntington)
- Olivia Litman, Visit Wheeling (Wheeling)
- George Manahan, The Manahan Group (Charleston)
- Tara Martinez, Manna Meal, Inc. (Charleston)
- Heather McIntyre, Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce (Charles Town)
- James Meadows, Mountaineer Gas Company (Alkol)
- Julie Moore, Steptoe-Johnson PLLC (Morgantown)
- Chad Morrison, Mountaineer Food Bank (Gassaway)
- Margaret O’Neal, United Way of Central West Virginia (Charleston)
- Heather Ouimette, The Resort at Glade Springs (Daniels)
- Nicholas Oxley, Arnett Carbis Toothman Wealth Advisors LLC (Charleston)
- Franki Parsons, Dinsmore & Shohl LLP (Charleston)
- Gabriel Pena, Fayette County Commission (Fayetteville)
- Lindsey Piersol, Wood County Economic Development (Parkersburg)
- Rachel Roberts, The Dow Chemical Company (South Charleston)
- Megan Roskovensky, West Virginia Health Care Association (Charleston)
- Bethany Ross, Toyota Motor North America (Buffalo)
- Randy Saunders, Nelson Mullins (Huntington)
- Kelly Shafer, Suttle & Stalnaker, PLLC (Charleston)
- Chris Signorelli, Security America, Inc. (Charleston)
- Kristi Snyder, CAMC (Charleston)
- Ryan Sperlazza, Eagle Manufacturing Company (Wellsburg)
- Frank Sutton, MVB Bank (Bridgeport)
- Nicholas Taylor, WesBanco (Morgantown)
- Kristie Vandevander, Scott and Nypl, CPAs, A.C. (Elkins)
- Joseph Ward, Frost Brown Todd, LLC (Charleston)
- Barbara Wessels, UniCare Health Plan of WV (Charleston)
- Aimee White, AlignHR (Charleston)
- Jennifer Willits, BB&T (Charleston)
- Beth Zarate, Catholic Charities (Wheeling)
Throughout this year members of the class will travel to eight different communities in West Virginia to receive broad-based education on critical topics and, at the same time, have opportunities to hone their leadership skills. The locations and topics for the training program for the Class of 2018 include:
March 15 – 16, Charleston -Welcome to Leadership;
April 12 – 13, Morgantown – Education Session;
May 10 – 11, Eastern Panhandle – Economic Development Session;
June 21 – 22, New River Gorge – Tourism Session;
June 21 – 22, New River Gorge – Tourism Session;
July 26 – 27, Wheeling – The Justice System Session;
September 20 – 21, Huntington – Energy Session;
October 25 – 26, White Sulphur Springs – Health Care Session;
November 15 – 16, Charleston – Government & Commencement Session.
Leadership West Virginia is an innovative program that grows, engages and mobilizes leaders to ignite a lifelong passion to move West Virginia forward.
