Burlington, Vt. – (May 28, 2025) The Lake Champlain Chamber is proud to announce the second graduating cohort of Advance Champlain, a dynamic 6-month leadership development program designed to enhance key skills for navigating complex challenges and leading with purpose. This innovative initiative blends hands-on learning, expert facilitation, and peer collaboration to help participants strengthen their strategic thinking, communication, and change management capabilities.
Please join us in congratulating these talented professionals who are now better equipped to lead within their organizations and across our region:
- Candice Callahan, GlobalFoundries
- David Schalk, Community Bank, N.A.
- Fritz Langrock, Langrock Mediation Center PLLC
- Gregg Jager, City of South Burlington / South Burlington Police Department
- Jack J. McSweeney Jr, M&T Bank
- Jay Lawson, University of Vermont Police Services
- Jeff Lawson, Lake Champlain Chamber / Hello Burlington
- Katie Wagner, Cox Automotive Inc. / Dealer.com
- Kevin Izzo, M&T Bank
- Meghan Masterson, KidSafe Collaborative
- Morgan Major, Special Service Transportation Agency
- Rebecca Stazi, Green Mountain Floral Supply
- Sanela Smaka, Hometap
- Thomas Firlik, Redstone
“We’re eager to see how the leadership capabilities and strategic thinking developed through this program will translate into measurable value for the employers and organizations these participants represent,” said Alex Bunten, director of workforce and education. “This program was designed to meet the region’s need for advanced leadership development, and the enthusiastic response confirms we’re on the right track. We look forward to partnering with more employers in the year ahead.”
The Chamber is grateful to the excellent faculty, distinguished guests and organizations that helped make this program such a success (in order of appearance):
- Peter Anderson, PhD, Inner Citadel Consulting
- Alexa Cole, Alexa Cole Consulting
- Annemarie Curley, Newgrange IT Consulting
- Mike Pieciak, State Treasurer, State of Vermont
- Dennise Casey, Casey Inc.
- Lt. Col. Meghan Brady Smith, Vermont Air National Guard
- Col. Laura Caputo, US Air Force and BETA Technologies
- Lt. Col. Jason Beams, Army Mountain Warfare School
- Emiliano Void, nuwave Equity Corporation
- Alex Hernandez, Champlain College
Applications for next year’s cohort will open in Summer 2025. For more info or to express interest in applying, please visit advancechamplain.org.