Forty Under 40

Fred Yeakey is vice president at Providence Cristo Rey High School.

Duchess Adjei leads the design, planning and execution for all global communication efforts as head of global communication
at Beckman Coulter Life Sciences, which develops, manufactures and sells products that simplify, automate and innovate complex biomedical testing.

Tanorria Askew gives herself five job titles—creative entrepreneur, author, personal chef, social justice activist, podcast host—but they all boil down to this: “I nourish people’s bodies with food and their souls with justice.”

Christian Beck is executive partner of growth strategy and design at Innovatemap, which he co-founded, and helped develop Innovatemap Ventures, which invests a percentage of the company’s profits in startups.

Robert L. Marshall Jr. is founder and executive director of Vanguard Collegiate, which he said he opened as payback to the community for the strong education he received.

Ann O’Connor McCready is a partner at Taft Stettinius & Hollister where she litigates business contract disputes, complex environmental and toxic tort cases, intellectual property disputes, product liability claims and securities issues.

Jason Becker is the CEO RICS Software Inc. and Dyknow LLC and has led a turnaround of both companies.

Sarah Myer is senior director of marketing and communications at the Indiana Sports Corp. and helped manage this spring’s NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament in Indianapolis.

Dr. Cole Beeler, medical director of infection prevention at Indiana University, is responsible for reducing and addressing hospital-acquired infections as well as preventing health care workers and patients from getting COVID-19 while they are in the hospital. As director of symptomatic testing at Indiana University, his role is to work with health care systems, students, faculty and staff to coordinate care of individuals who contract COVID.

Erik Braden is managing partner of Braden Business Systems, a company his father founded in 1989. He returned home to the business after working on Wall Street in investment banking and for private-equity groups in Los Angeles; Zurich, Switzerland; and New York City.  

Kristen Nunery is founder and CEO of myCOI, which manages certificates of insurance, protecting construction, real estate and other businesses against the risk of underinsured claims, costly litigation and failed audits.

Rosie Bryant, lead organizer for Faith Indiana, works to reform the city’s criminal justice system to reduce violent crime and build community capital and resilience. She pushed the city to pilot, expand and fund the Group Violence Intervention program.

Nick Carter is CEO of Market Wagon, which has created online farmers markets in 26 cities in 14 states. Carter filed his first Schedule-K for farm income at the age of 9. He owned dairy cows and rented land from his father for pasture and feed production.

San Pathak, COO of Element Three and co-founder and CFO of AfterSchool HQ, describes himself as the kind of person who has the ability to figure just about anything out.

Ben Conner is CEO of his family’s Conner Insurance company and is responsible for its people, culture and numbers-building. He also leads the company’s employee benefits practice and consults with employers directly on their employee benefits program. He’s a former board member and owner of Jay’s Moving Co., an IBJ Fast 25 company.

As associate director of student recruitment for the IU McKinney School of Law, Lauren Peña is responsible for recruiting and advising prospective law students as well as developing strategic communication plans.

Tamara Cypress leads marketing, communications and corporate social responsibility projects for Black Onyx Management, which helps organizations empower Black and marginalized communities.

Jessica Gendron, president and CEO of the Center for Leadership Excellence, is on a mission to get companies to create a great workplace culture for women, not just a fun or “great” place to work.

As vice president of stakeholder engagement at TechPoint, Lauren Petersen connecting with 150-plus organizations, securing fundraising commitments and managing the three-person relationship management team.