CHICAGO, Illinois, USA – PCMA has identified 20 of the brightest and most talented global professionals from the next generation of business events leaders for its annual “20 in Their Twenties” class.
The class of 2021 represents strategists, suppliers and destinations from the U.S., Europe and Australia. “Each of these emerging leaders has demonstrated an extraordinary gift for leadership that spans creative thinking, problem solving, and spearheading teams that achieve ambitious goals,” said Meredith Rollins, PCMA’s chief community officer and executive director of the PCMA Foundation. “We continue to be impressed every year by the caliber of business events professionals in this generation.”
The “20 in Their Twenties” class of 2021, supported by PCMA Foundation and Experience Columbus, will be honored at the PCMA Convening Leaders conference Jan. 11-15.
Class members are selected by a committee of veteran industry professionals and “20 in Their Twenties” alumni. Applicants were required to provide examples of industry leadership, a video statement and professional references. They can be no older than 29 as of Jan. 11, 2021. Applicants were not required to be full-time employees in the business events industry this year, in light of the pandemic.
In addition to receiving a scholarship to participate in Convening Leaders, PCMA’s annual signature event, “20 in Their Twenties” members receive complimentary registration to PCMA’s EduCon event, PCMA membership and access to PCMA educational products. The 2021 “20 in Their Twenties” class will also be featured in PCMA’s Convene magazine, and have exclusive opportunities to participate to network with business events industry leaders.
Here is the PCMA “20 in Their Twenties” class for 2021:
Taylor Abbate, CMP
Meeting Planner
American Public Works Association
United States
Colleen Bingle
Meetings, Exhibits, and Sponsorship Manager
American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry
United States
Bob Chain
Strategic Account Manager, Founder & Host
Swapcard and (RC)2 Podcast
United States
Carolyn Cooper, CMP, DES
Senior Events Manager
Bipartisan Policy Center
United States
Ben Cramer, DES
Sales Manager
Global Experience Specialists
United States
Byanca Ellul
Coordinator, Meeting Services
Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, Inc.
United States
Basha Ferdinand
Accelerator Program Manager
Tampa Bay Wave
United States
Stephanie Geddis
Business Development and Client Marketing Manager
ICC Belfast
United Kingdom
Mariya Georgieva
Delegate Service Specialist
Kenes Group
Bulgaria
Rachel Keyes
Site Selection Manager
Meeting Expectations, Inc.
United States
Simona Milenkova
Marketing and Social Media Lead Coordinator
Kenes Group
Bulgaria
Bree Nidds, CTA
Vice President of Sales
Discover Lehigh Valley
United States
Dan Noyce
Senior Sales Executive
IMEX Group
United Kingdom
Jack Owens
International Association Conferences
Fáilte Ireland
Ireland
Farah Parkinson
Marketing Manager
Saxton Speakers Bureau
Australia
Christina Pino, CMP, DES
Conference Logistics and Design Manager
Stellato Meeting Solutions
United States
Jean Thomae, CMP
Formerly Account Executive, Capitol Services, Inc.
United States
Marcus Urquhart, CMP
Event Marketing Manager
Georgia State University, J. Mack Robinson College
United States
Felix Willert
Authorised Officer/Head of Events
Innovate GmbH
Germany
Derrick Williams
Communications Analyst
Deloitte
United States
For media queries from the Americas and EMEA and requests for interviews with Sherrif Karamat, please contact: For Asia Pacific media inquiries, please contact: PCMA believes that business events can economically and socially transform communities, enterprises and individuals. As the world’s largest platform for business events strategists and their business partners, PCMA’s success is driven by a commitment to providing provocative executive-level education, face-to-face networking and business intelligence to its membership of 8,400 professionals and students and global audience of over 100,000 business event stakeholders. Through its Ascent leadership initiative to promote inclusion and diversity across the business events industry and beyond, PCMA seeks to empower those challenged by gender, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity or disabilities to find success. Headquartered in Chicago, PCMA has 17 chapters throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico with members in more than 40 countries and regional offices in Northern Ireland, Australia and Singapore. Visit us at pcma.org or on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Meghan Risch
mrisch@pcma.org
Jessica Kauffman, Senior Account Manager, ZADRO
jessica@zadroagency.com.auAbout PCMA