The 26th Annual 10 Under 40 Leadership Recognition Award Recipients
By 20 Under 40 Toledo
Special to The Truth
Celebrating the 26th year of the 20 Under 40 Leadership Recognition Awards program, sponsors recognized 20 young leaders in a virtual event on October 28. This year’s recipients were selected from 209 candidates and joined 500 alumni bringing the total to 520 awardees over 26 years.
The 20 Under 40 program focuses on the accomplishments of individuals under the age of 40 who have distinguished themselves in their career and/or as a volunteer in the community. It is intended that the program will further motivate young leaders in our area.
The 2021 20 Under 40 Recipients:
- Ramsey Aljahmi Director of Operational Excellence of North America, Whirlpool Corp.
- Sinan Alo Co-founder & Vice President, Halim Clinic
- Quinton Babcock Mayor, Village of Oak Harbor
- Kristal Barham Center Director, Health Partners of Western Ohio
- Zahra Aprili Collins Program Manager, Toledo Urban Credit Union
- Anthony Goodwin Business Innovation Director at National Co+op Grocers
- Jim Herrick Partner, TDC Investment Advisory
- Elijah Jones Manager of Treatment Services, Mental Health & Recovery Services
- Erin McPartland Development & Engagement Dir., Maumee Valley Habitat for Humanity
- McKenna Reitz Teacher, Springfield High School
- Breanne Rubin Attorney, Eastman & Smith Ltd.
- Matthew Rubin Principle/Real Estate Developer, Crane Development
- Carlos Ruiz Director of Finance, Zepf Center
- Meyling Ruiz Program Assistant, Local Initiative Support Corporation (LISC)
- Carly Salamone Director, NW Ohio Pathways HUB, Hospital Council of Northwest Ohio
- Alexandria Thomas Wellness & Recovery Center Manager, Neighborhood Properties
- Kathy Tucker Vice President of Operations, Historic South Initiative
- Jennifer Van Horn Vice President of Construction and Planning, Toledo Zoo
- Jason White Posthumously, CEO & Founder, Witness Riches
- Daniel Woodcock CEO, Peacock Social & Drone Works Toledo
An independent panel of judges selected the 20 candidates for recognition. Judges for 2021 program were Erin Baker, Director of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, Toledo Lucas County Public Library; Jay Black, Chief Executive Officer, Pathway, Inc.; Tyran Boyd, Managing Director, Boyd & Associates Consulting, LLC.; Eugenio Mollo, Managing Attorney, Advocates for Basic Legal Equality, Inc.; Rita Mansour, Senior Managing Director, Mansour Wealth Management; Suzanne Sobel-Poage, President & CEO, Sylvania Graphics, Inc.; Mark Urrutia, General Agent, Catholic Order of Foresters. Four of the judges were past recipients.
Individuals are nominated via an on-line nomination form at 20under40Toledo.com. Nominees who were under 40 through June 30 became candidates by completing their profile which was then reviewed by the judges.
The sponsors extend their sincere appreciation to BCAN for their support of the virtual program.
Program sponsors include Eastman & Smith LTD., Fifth Third Bank, Plante Moran, The Andersons, University of Toledo and Dana Incorporated. Leadership Toledo and the Toledo Business Journal are Community and Media Partners respectively. Buckeye Broadband serves as Broadcast Sponsor; Thread and UlrichPinciotti serve as Creative Partners. Community support is provided by EPIC Toledo, Imagination Station, The Toledo Repertoire Theatre, The Toledo-Lucas County Public Library, Toledo Alliance for the Performing Arts, Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo Opera, Toledo Zoo, and Valentine Theatre.
The following are some of this year’s recipients:
ALEXANDRIA THOMAS, The Wellness and Recovery Center
Alexandria Thomas has directed operations of The Wellness and Recovery Center (WRC) since its debut in 2018. Currently, the WRC is the only peer run mental health respite care center in the state of Ohio and one of only 40 in the country. WRC received the 2019 Innovation and Excellence Award from the Greater Toledo Community Foundation. In response to the COVID pandemic, Thomas created The Lucas County Emotional Support Line, the only free non-crisis mental health support line available to anyone in need.
An advocate for mental health, Thomas sits on the Board of Directors for the Lucas County Suicide Prevention coalition, The Warren AME Senior Resource Center and the National Crisis Residential Association. She is also a member of The Mental Health Liaison Group, The Lucas County Community Psychiatric Emergency Service Subcommittee and the local Recovery Council.
Thomas is a regular co-host of the Eric Chase Daily Podcast and she recently acted as consultant for Back Packs for Humans, where she shared the importance of volunteering.
A graduate of the University of Toledo, Thomas resides in Perrysburg.
ANTHONY GOODWIN, National Co+op Grocers
As a young leader in public health, Anthony Goodwin, Business Innovation Director at National Co+op Grocers, has dedicated his career to improving the lives of others. His work has focused on addressing the social determinants of health to improve the health and well-being of the community.
Goodwin joined National Co+op Grocers (NCG), a business services cooperative for retail food co-ops located throughout the United States, in September of this year. Prior to NCG, he was Director of Resourceful & Market Solutions at ProMedica where he was responsible for the product development and commercialization of digital health and well-being solutions.
As past director in the 15th largest non-profit healthcare system in the US, he has worked locally and nationally to reduce health disparities in the country. A few key highlights have been the development of three non-profit grocery stores in Ohio and Michigan to eliminate food deserts in low-income communities, allowing thousands of people access to healthy and affordable food in the community; and developing job training programs to offer workforce development and living wage jobs to the community.
Goodwin is currently pursuing his Ph.D. in public health with a research focus on the food environment, health disparities, and racial equity. He plans to graduate in 2024 and then secure a position as a professor to educate future generations of public health professionals. Goodwin serves the community in a range of ways, including as an Engage Toledo ambassador; on the board of the Toledo Public Schools Foundation; and as a committee member for the V-Project; among others.
JASON WHITE, Witness Riches
Jason White died unexpectedly on August 16 leaving a wife and two children and is receiving his award posthumously. White was the owner of Witness Riches, which provided financial coaching and credit repair services to people across America. He attended Adrian College, where he earned his degree in marketing. In 2013, after quickly failing at selling life insurance, he took a leap of faith and started his financial improvement company. He used his self-education and life experiences to teach and serve his community of over 100,000 Dough Chasers on using their money as a tool and improving their creditworthiness so they could reach their goals more quickly using credit. To help those who may not have been able to afford his services, he often shared financial tips and strategies on his YouTube channel , which had over 400 videos and 25,000 subscribers. His social media had over 30,000 followers, and his financial literacy blog had over 45,000 subscribers.
Through his career, he had many notable achievements, such as authoring a book, Credit Building Secrets; owning his business since 2013, with seven brands serving the community; maintaining employment for all 13 staff members during the pandemic; achieving an A+ Better Business Bureau rating; increasing the company revenues by 21% and total clients served by 29%; and fostering a community of over 100,000 with financial literacy tools and services through the company, among others.
In the community, White had donated 500 backpacks and school supplies to families in underserved communities and he was excited to double that this year; gave 100 turkeys away each Thanksgiving to families in the Toledo area; and hosted free credit building workshops to the community at The University of Toledo, the Mott Library, and Canaan Manifested Word Church
KATHY TUCKER, Historic South Initiative
Kathy Tucker is the vice president of operations for the Historic South Initiative, managing all the residential real estate development projects in Toledo’s Old South End for the organization. She previously worked as the CEO of the Northwest Ohio Homeownership Development Agency (NOHDA), where she was responsible for the overall strategic direction and execution of homeownership opportunities for low to-moderate income families in Lucas County. Prior to her role as CEO of NOHDA, she worked in the banking industry for several years where she held positions in retail/branch banking, small business lending, and CRA planning.
She was accepted at The University of Toledo (UToledo) College of Law Juris Doctorate Program last fall and awarded a scholarship. Additionally, this summer, Judge Lindsay Navarre selected her as a legal intern for the Court of Common Pleas.
Tucker has been intentional about serving her community and currently volunteers her time on several boards, committees, and coalitions including the Lucas County Homelessness Board, the Lucas County Family Council Board, the Impact Coalition, and the Broadway Corridor Coalition. She has served as a chair and a director on a range of boards, as well as a chair and member on different committees.
KRISTAL BARHAM, Health Partners of Western Ohio
Kristal Barham is the center director of Health Partners of Western Ohio, where she leads a team of 32 professionals at three community health centers in Toledo. Her leadership skills are played out daily as her team delivers high-quality care to its patients in an environment that is inclusive, has high morale, few office politics, and a team that are experts on how to communicate with one another.
Barham earned her certificates in non-profit management and executive leadership from the
Center for Non-Profit Resources, a Bachelor of Science in exercise science, and a Master’s in public health from The Northwest Ohio Consortium for Public Health.
Barham serves the community in a number of ways, including, among others, as a four-year board trustee with the West Toledo YMCA in the capacity of the program committee chair and the captain of the Scholarship Committee Campaign; as secretary for the Elmhurst Elementary School Parent Teacher Association and chair of the wellness committee; and serving on the Toledo Public School (TPS) District Health Advisory Council, which was tasked with updating the TPS District Wellness Policy.
ZAHRA APRILI COLLINS, Toledo Urban Federal Credit Union
Zahra Aprili Collins serves as the program manager for Toledo Urban Federal Credit Union (TUFCU). In this position, she is responsible for identifying and pursuing resources that are vital to the enhancement and fulfillment of TUFCU’s mission to assist members in achieving economic empowerment. Her responsibilities include cultivating new and maintaining existing relationships between TUFCU and other community organizations and institutions, as well as grant writing, grant management, and new program development.
After joining the staff in February 2020, she immediately faced challenges amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Her first task was to interface with the Small Business Development Center (SBDC), the Minority Business Assistance Center (MBDC), and the Small Business Administration (SBA) to assist local business owners and the community in accessing the resources and funding available through the C.A.R.E.S. Act. In the last three weeks of the Payroll Protection Program (PPP), she helped lead the effort to open (PPP lending at TUFCU and assisted in servicing / distributing nearly $1.5 million in PPP loans to small businesses in Toledo. Her biggest achievement is having successfully written and received confirmation of approximately $2.1 million in private and government grants for TUFCU.
Within the community, Collins serves on a number of non-profit boards, including as second vice president of the Scott High School Alumni Association; as chair of the Scholarship & Hall of Fame Committees; and she volunteers as a member of the Community Hub Team, as well as other notable leadership positions in the area.