Dannie Patrick, Cole Amstutz, Olesya Holker and Wesley Franklin

Meet the 2024 Forty Under 40 class

The Business Record is proud to recognize the 2024 Forty Under 40 honorees. 

These 40 local leaders, who were chosen by past award winners, are under the age of 40 and have demonstrated impressive career achievements and unparalleled community involvement.

This year’s class is the 25th to receive the award. Together, they join 960 past Business Record Forty Under 40 honorees to bring the total number of honorees to 1,000 since the Business Record began the awards in 2000.

We celebrated these honorees on Thursday, March 28 at Prairie Meadows from 4 to 7 p.m.


2024 Class:

Cole Amstutz, Vice president of commercial business development, ServiceMaster by Rice

Jaime Blue, Owner/managing broker, JLN Realty Co. 

Nick Blyth, Senior vice president, Holmes Murphy/Innovative Captive Strategies

Maria Brownell, Attorney/shareholder, Ahlers & Cooney PC 

Nick Callison, Vice president of development, Forvis

Nana Coleman, Chief product officer, RainyDayPal

Liz Cooney, Manager, performance and capability management, F&G 

Kacey Davis, Director of employee health and wellness, Dotdash Meredith

Shannon Draayer, Director of health and well-being, WesleyLife

Wesley Franklin, Community impact director, American Heart Association

Siriaco Garcia, Artist (Siricasso)

Olesya Holker, Co-founder, executive director, HHD Production LLC 

Jon Hummel, Vice president, commercial banking, West Bank

Kourtney Kirkpatrick, Director of advancement, Anawim Housing

Erin Knupp, Director of business development, Boyd Jones

Lauren Kollauf, Executive director, Avenues of Ingersoll & Grand

Kiersten Maertens, Managing director, account strategy, Flynn Wright

Vanessa Carolina Marcano-Kelly, Owner and lead linguist, Caracas Language Solutions LLC | Strategist, content, Principal Financial Group

Jerrica Marshall, Executive director, Directors Council

Kristina Marshall, Regional vice president, BH Management

Jessi McQuerrey, Director of programs, Iowa Association of Business and Industry Foundation

Emily Mendez, Director of development, Proteus

Andrew Mertens, Executive director, Iowa Association for Justice

Sammy Mila, Owner, Crème 

Morgan Miller, Political director, Iowa State Education Association

Karoline Myers, Director of education, Des Moines Performing Arts

Sharon Ndikurugamba, Executive director, African Immigrants and Refugees Transition Services

Dannie Patrick, Senior director of community impact, Community Foundation of Greater Des Moines

Leann Pederson, Senior partner, health care studio manager, registered interior designer, RDG Planning & Design

Nick Peterson, Strategic partnerships manager, Alliant Energy

Mollie Ross, Vice president of operations, Technology Association of Iowa

Jenae Sikkink, Senior vice president of talent development and inclusive strategies, Greater Des Moines Partnership

Zach Sims, Client executive, Holmes Murphy 

Anna Stoermer, Executive vice president, chief marketing officer, Hy-Vee Inc. 

Jordan Stokes, Self-perform work leader, Midwest region, Ryan Cos.

Ryan Tousley, Senior business development manager, Weitz Co.

Bridgette Uhlemann, Senior vice president and general counsel, LCS

Rachel Wacker, Executive director, Greater Dallas County Development Alliance

Danielle West, Regional vice president, LifeServe Blood Center

Alec Wilcox, Associate, Cushman & Wakefield Iowa Commercial Advisors

2024 Alum of the Year: Mary Sellers, president, United Way of Central Iowa


Past Honorees:

2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | Complete Class History

Connect with us:

Twitter: @BusinessRecord

Facebook: Facebook.com/DMBusinessRecord

Event Hashtag: #BR40U40   

Join the Business Record

Want to become a member?

Hate being at a meeting where everyone starts talking about the new development in town...that you don't know anything about?    

Business moves fast. Competition is intense. Time is one of your most valuable commodities. For over 35 years Central Iowa business and community leaders have made time to read the Business Record because they trust it to give them a competitive edge by keeping them connected to and informed of news affecting the local business community.

BR-Blue-Block.jpg