The Daily Iberian is proud to present this third annual publication to honor members of our community who make a difference in many ways.  

We realize it takes a very special combination of individuals of all ages to make a difference in any local community, but we wanted to once again take this opportunity to honor those under the age of 40 who are making a significant impact.

As I have stated before, there is little doubt the enormous challenge we face in a smaller community to keep our best and brightest right here at home. Too often they leave to attend college never to return or they leave seeking better employment opportunities in larger cities. 

Fortunately, there are those who do opt to remain in the community and strive to make a difference. And it is those hard-working, dedicated young professionals that we want to support, encourage and recognize every year with our 20 Under 40 publication.

The process is never an easy one.  Like in the previous two years, The Daily Iberian once again asked for nominations from the community and received an overwhelming amount of top-notch submissions.  Each nominee was impressive, and our selection committee had the daunting task of having to narrow the field to a mere 20.

We felt confident that these selected individuals represent the best our community has to offer. From education, nonprofit, health care and more, our winners are from diverse backgrounds and offer many talents.  

Each 20 Under 40 award winner has a unique story and offers his or her wisdom and advice on what it takes to be successful. You’ll read about what they do, what they like about the community, what they still hope to accomplish and much more.  I sincerely hope you enjoy reading about each one of these special individuals.  

I also want to take a moment to thank all of you who took the time  out to nominate someone. Thank you to Ricky Gonsoulin, our Gold Sponsor. A very special thanks go out to Courtesy Cadillac for partnering with us and providing a venue for our celebration. Finally, I would like to thank each and every one of our winners for the terrific work that they do each and every day to make this a magical place to live and work.

For those of you who wish to nominate someone that is helping making the Teche Area a better place next year, please look for our call for nominations in January of 2020.

 

Christina Pierce is publisher of The Daily Iberian.