Dozens of Graduates Honored at Transformational Leadership Ceremony

A group of local leaders has completed the Greater Wausau Chamber of Commerce’s nine-month Transformational Leadership program. These graduates were recognized at a ceremony at the Holiday Inn & Suites in Rothschild on Tuesday, May 19.

The Greater Wausau Chamber of Commerce hosted a graduation ceremony for participants in the 2025-2026 session of the Transformational Leadership program at the Holiday Inn & Suites in Rothschild on Tuesday, May 19, 2026. Four graduates were honored with awards at the graduation (from left): Miranda Gentry-Siegel, Holly Nowak, Tim Morines and Tawnya Gonzales (not pictured).

The event featured remarks from Dave Eckmann, President/CEO of the Greater Wausau Chamber of Commerce, Laura Huggins, Senior Vice President Marketing at Connexus Credit Union and member of the Chamber board, and those in the program.

Additional highlights of the evening included the presentation of three Transformational Leader of the Year Awards. These were presented to Miranda Gentry-Siegel, UWSP at Wausau, Tawnya Gonzales of Kolbe & Kolbe Millwork Co Inc, Tim Morines of All Metal Stamping, and Holly Nowak of Miron Construction Co Inc. This award recognizes participants who demonstrated exceptional growth throughout the program, as voted by their peers.

These 56 graduates recognized at the ceremony included: Joshua Ahles, Jason Baars, Matthew Bell, Justin Breuch, Ginny Brooks, Jeff Cichon, Rosalie Doering, Rhonda Erickson, Alex Gassner, Miranda Gentry-Siegel, Tawnya Gonzales, Nate Guldan, Kim Hartleben, Patty Hendrickson, Ray Hessil, Nathan Hintz, Jacob Holty, Caitlin Jeske, Abi Johns, Marie Jones, Emily Katz, Justin Keller, Colton Kellnhauser, Katie Kieffer, Sallie Kitzrow, Sarah Klug, Vijaya Kollipara, Frank Kruszka, Simon Larson, Megan Lavin, Leanne Matz, Pat McGee, Colin Million, Tim Morines, Elicia Newman, Holly  Nowak, Brad Oberbeck, Ken Parker, Krisi Passehl, Megan  Pellett, Rouhan Richardt, Amanda Schessler, Jacob Schraeder, Michelle Schreiner, Sara Sendelbach, Michael Somers, Chad Strehlow, Rebecca Thompson, Ann Thurs, Aaron Washatko, Amanda Wehrman, Steve Wettern, Jacob Wolfe, Amanda Leigh Zblewski and Thomas Zompolas.

Bridget Wenman, President of Perspectives Training and Consulting LLC, has been leading the Chamber’s Transformational Leadership program since 2019.

“I am continually impressed by the young leadership that I see throughout this program and I am excited to help the Chamber by offering a program that not only challenges the participants, but also positively impacts their organizations and the community.” said Wenman.

Registration for the 2026-2027 Transformational Leadership program is now open. The first in the series of monthly sessions will be held in September. The program will include nine sessions totaling more than 70 hours of interactive learning and opportunities to grow both personally and professionally. For more information on the program, visit WausauChamber.com or contact Sharon Baumann at 715-848-5943 or sbaumann@wausauchamber.com.

Transformational Leadership is sponsored at the platinum level by Ho-Chunk Gaming - Wittenberg and at the gold level by Aspirus/Aspirus Health Plan, Associated Bank, Greenheck Group, Linetec and Wausau Window & Wall Systems.

Members of the Greater Wausau Chamber of Commerce can participate in the program at a reduced rate.