Introducing the 2020 GenXYZ Finalists

For the last nine years, ColoradoBiz has celebrated the most influential young professionals from across the state. These professionals represent the best (and the future) of the Colorado business community.

Each year, a panel of editors, business leaders and former winners narrow down GenXYZ nominations and select the best and brightest based on their achievements — both in and outside of work — as well as their potential for even greater success. The 2020 batch of nominees represents the diversity of Colorado business, reaching across a multitude of industries, job roles and business entities.

Now, in GenXYZ’s 10th year, 50 finalists were culled from hundreds of nominations and on Jan. 16, 2020 the top 25 young professionals (including the Top 5 most influential) will be revealed during a celebration at Mile High Station.

This event is not to miss. Not only will the 10th anniversary class be revealed and revered, guests will have the opportunity to network, dig into delicious food, enjoy music from a live DJ, participate in an elevator pitch contest and get their photo placed on a cover of ColoradoBiz. Purchase your tickets today.

But without further ado, here are the GenXYZ finalists for 2020: 

Mike Albert, partner at Design Workshop

Nick Armstrong, owner of WTF Marketing

Allison Blevins, COO at Proximity

Dustin Brackett, CEO of Hive Digital Strategy

Paige Brophy, executive director at Outdoor Lab Foundation

Rob Carpenter, CEO and founder at Valyant

Dana Castronova, lead product development engineer at Comptek Technologies

Justin Cohen, shareholder of Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck

Zoey Dewolf, director of state government affairs in the Midwest and Rocky Mountain western region of Sanofi

Jeremy Douglas, director of client engagement at Catapult PR

Megan Durning, VP of strategy and business development a lutheran Medical Center – SCL Health

Nadia Garas, project communications manager at Flour and spokesperson at Denver Transit Partners

Liam Girard, division president at Collegiate Peaks Bank

Lynn Granger, executive director of the Colorado Petroleum Council

Christopher Griffiths, shareholder of Griffiths Law PC

Clay Guillory, founder and CEO of Titan Robotics

Preston Hare, president and CEO of Lot Spot

David Hassoun, founder and CEO of RealEyes Media

Saul Huerta, senior associate at the Greenhouse Family of Companies

Erik Huffman, founder and CEO at Handshake Leadership

Bremmer Kneib, SVP and corporate banking group manager at PNC Bank

Hannah Krieger, executive director of Mentor Colorado

Melanie Lewis Dickerson, portfolio lead of Community Solutions

Andrew Lyon, founder and managing partner of Focused Energy

Taylor Merritt, CEO of Merritt Aluminum Products Company

Sam Morris, president of Blue Star Recyclers

Alina Nikishina, co-founder and program architect of The Mastery Network

Chris Olsen, owner and president of OE Construction

Josh Oqueli, principal architect, founder and CEO of Bonsai Design + Build

Miriam Peña, director at the Denver Office of Strategic Partnerships

Joseph Poling, operations manager at Good Day Pharmacy

Liddy Romero, founder and executive director at Worklife Partnership

Jason Runung, financial advisor at Summit Wealth Group

Rosie Sanchez, manager at ACM LLP

Elexis Schroder, founder and head of haus at SchroderHaus

Jimmy Sengenberger, president and CEO of Liberty Day Institute and Millenial Policy Center, AM radio show host at Salem Denver

Scott Shrake, director of the Institute for Entrepreneurship at Colorado State University

Tony Smith, president of R&R Engineers

Laura Smith, owner of All Star Cleaning Services

Javier Tafoya, regional vice president at AXA Advisors

Cesar Tamariz, chef de cuisine at Kachina Cantina

Sarah Tiedeken O’Brien, partner and owner of Vertical Arts Architecture

Devon Tivona, co-founder and CEO at Pana

Alice Tran, VP of marketing at Mobile Solutions

Tyler Van Eeckhaut, project manager at Mortenson

Elia Wallen, CEO of Travelers Haven

Michael Walters, SVP at KeyBank 

Martine Wells, shareholder at Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck 

Tracy Wesley, director of software development at Proximity

Kate West, director of community development at Eaton Senior Communities

Join us Thursday, Jan. 16, 2020 at Mile High Station for the GenXYZ 10th Anniversary Party. Buy your tickets today. This event is brought to you by presenting sponsor ACM and associate sponsors Norwich University and Versatility.