LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Greater Louisville Inc., the Metro Chamber of Commerce, held its annual business meeting Thursday. The voting board confirmed the Executive Committee’s Dec. 16, 2019 nomination of GLI Chief Operating Officer and Chief of Staff Sarah Davasher-Wisdom to succeed Kent Oyler as GLI’s president and CEO.
Davasher-Wisdom is the first female CEO or president in the organization’s 157-year history.
Davasher-Wisdom joined GLI in 2014, progressively increasing her levels of responsibility. Prior to joining GLI, Davasher-Wisdom was manager of government relations at the Tennessee Valley Authority, strategic communications officer with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and community development coordinator with the office of Congressman Ron Lewis. She holds a bachelor of arts in political science and government and a master of public administration from Western Kentucky University. She graduated from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s Institute for Organization Management earlier this month.
Oyler joined GLI in 2014 during a challenging period and led the chamber back to a strong position in all aspects of its operations, capped by being recognized as the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives’ 2019 Large Chamber of The Year — the national championship in the chamber industry.
In other business, GLI welcomed 12 new volunteer business and community leaders to serve on its board of directors and elected its 2020 executive committee.
Lonnie Bellar, chief operating officer of LG&E & KU Energy LLC, was elected chairman of Greater Louisville Inc. He succeeds Mike Ash, regional president-Kentucky, Fifth Third Bank. Ash will continue to serve on GLI’s executive committee as immediate past chair. Jennifer Willis, North/Southeast Regional Vice President, Humana, was chosen to serve as chair-elect. “GLI is fortunate to have such a deep, accomplished board from which to draw its leadership,” Ash said. “Every individual who serves on this board has a singular goal in mind – to make our community and our region even greater.”
The 2020 GLI Executive Committee members are:
- Lonnie Bellar (Chair), COO, LG&E & KU Energy LLC
- Mike Ash (Immediate Past Chair), Regional President-Kentucky, Fifth Third Bank
- Jennifer Willis (Incoming Chair & Planning Committee Chair), North/Southeast Regional Vice President, Humana
- Brian A. Cromer (Secretary), Chair, Business and Finance Service Group, Stites & Harbison, PLLC
- Jim Allen (Treasurer), Vice Chairman of R.W. Baird & Co.
- Russ Cox, President & CEO, Norton Healthcare
- Condrad Daniels, President, HJI Supply Chain Solutions
- Steve Gault, Founder & President, Stephen C. Gault Co.
- Tierra Kavanaugh Wayne, CEO, TKT & Associates
- Charlie Scholtz, Vice President & Associate General Counsel, Brown-Forman Corp.
- Purna Veer, Founder & President, V-Soft Consulting, Inc.
Greater Louisville Inc. is a private, non-profit 501(c)(6) organization governed by a volunteer Board of Directors consisting of 51 voting members and 29 non-voting members. The Executive Committee of the Board is made up of 11 elected members from the Board of Directors. Officers of the Board include the chair, immediate past chair, incoming chair, secretary and treasurer.
The 12 new voting directors are:
- Lisa Benson, President & Publisher, Louisville Business First
- Daryn Demeritt, Senior Vice President, Government Relations, BrightSpring Health Services
- Dr. Susan Donovan, President, Bellarmine University
- Jennifer Eberle, Vice President/Owner, HighNote
- Steve Gault, Founder & President, Stephen C. Gault Co.
- Demetrius Gray, Founder & CEO, WeatherCheck
- Jeffrey Jasnoff, Chief Human Resources Officer, Kindred Healthcare
- Franklin Jelsma, Managing Partner, Wyatt Tarrant Combs LLP
- John Megibben, Vice President, Louisville Region, Messer Construction
- Victoria Russell, Chief of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, Papa John’s International
- Brad Seigel, Senior Vice President & General Manager, Caesars Southern Indiana
- Kent Suiters, Senior Director – Supply Chain Strategy, GE Appliances, a Haier Company
Additionally, two community representative directors were selected:
- Steve Cunanan, Chair, GLI Talent Steering Committee & CEO American Red Cross
- Mary Ellen Wiederwohl, Chief, Louisville Forward
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