Emerging Leaders of United Way of Lake County Honor “4 Under 40” 2021 Award Winners During January 20 Reception
Mentor, OH (January 21, 2022) – The Emerging Leaders of United Way of Lake County hosted a ceremony the evening of January 20, 2022 to honor the recipients of their fourth annual “4 Under 40” awards.
The event was held at 6 pm at The Everly in Mentor where over eighty guests enjoyed drinks and hors d'oeuvres prior to the ceremony.
Nominees were evaluated based on their hard work and achievements in the areas of leadership, community involvement, entrepreneurship, and professional accomplishment. In order to be considered, those nominated were required to live or work in Lake County and be between the ages of 21- 40 years of age during the year ending December 31, 2020.
A total of five 2021 recipients were honored instead of the usual four this year.
According to “4 Under 40” committee chair Kerry Jonke of Laketran, “Our committee has found it difficult to consider professionals from nonprofits over the past few years due to the community involvement roles most naturally play in their jobs. Given this, we decided to add a new category to evaluate these professionals using an alternate set of rubrics so no one would be overlooked.”
The 2021 winners recognized included Ben Capelle, CEO of Laketran and current United Way of Lake County campaign chair; Brandi Haught, Branch Manager of KeyBank in Mentor; Andrew Somich, President & CEO of Somich & Associates CPAs; Jen Yorko, General Manager of the Lake County Captains; and nonprofit honoree Sarah Baggot, Lake County YMCA Director of Development.
“Our goal is to highlight the outstanding work and contributions of young professionals in Lake County who positively impact our community both personally and professionally,” said Jonke. “We are proud of this year’s highly accomplished award winners.”
Event sponsors included Brunner Sanden Deitrick Funeral Home & Cremation Center, Dworken & Bernstein and Associates, KeyBank, D&S Automotive Collision & Restyling, Leadership Lake County, Leolo Hospitality, Mentor Area Chamber of Commerce, Spence Technologies, and Two Men and a Truck.
The mission of the Emerging Leaders is to be a catalyst for change in the lives of Lake County youth through leadership, advocacy, knowledge and education in order to facilitate positive behaviors that will create tomorrow’s leaders.
The group welcomes new members interested in volunteering their time to impact lives in the community. To learn more about the Emerging Leaders, visit United Way of Lake County’s website at www.uwlc.org/emerging-leaders.