(Toledo News Now) - The '20 under 40' Leadership Awards Recognition Program happened Thursday recognizing individuals who have influenced the region.
The program has been happening since 1996. There have been a total of 340 recipients.
Candidates are nominated for the award and are chosen by a panel of outside judges consisting of CEOs, officials and community leaders.
The 2012 judges included Mike Hart, president and CEO of Hart and Thomas Winston, vice president and chief financial officer, Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority.
The event is sponsored by Eastman & Smith, Ltd, Fifth Third Bank, Plante & Moran and Columbia Gas of Ohio.
The 2012 '20 under 40' award recipients:
Brittany Barhite- chief operations officer, Zepf Center
Michael Clements- executive vice president/financial services, Financial Design Group
Romules Durant- assistant superintendant, Toledo Public Schools
Chase Francis- Northwest Ohio regional liaison to Governor John R. Kasich, Office of Governor Kasich
Alison Frye- vice president client development, Signature Bank
Jon Gathman- executive vice president/senior lending officer, The State Bank and Trust Company
Isaac Lee- president/CEO, Defiance Area Chamber of Commerce
Patrice McClellan- director of Master of Organizational Leadership Program, Lordes University
Dan McQuillen- assistant manager, The Danberry Co., Realtors
Lydia Mihalik- Mayor, City of Findlay
Eugenio Mollo Jr.- attorney, Advocate for Basic Legal Equality
Melissa Noe- treasury management officer, Fifth Third Bank
Renee Palacios- executive director, Family House
Sarah Pawlicki- member, Eastman & Smith, Ltd.
Katherine Rofkar- CEO, Nemsys
Lorin Sonneberg- founder, Sonny Smiles Foundation
Carrie Sponseller- Eastman & Smith, Ltd.
Blake Underwood- assistant director for the Dallas Hamilton Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership, BGSU
Laurie Watson- attorney, Anspach Law
Jeffrey Williams- directors of sales and development, Temperance Distilling Co.
Click here to learn more about this year's winners or to nominate someone else.
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