YPAL Announces New 2017 – 2018 Board of Directors

Louisville, KY (April 20, 2017) — The Young Professionals Association of Louisville (YPAL) is pleased to announce its 2017-2018 Board of Directors. The incoming board is composed of young professionals who represent a broad range of industries and backgrounds and are unified in their desire to make Louisville a better place for young professionals to live, work and play. The board will be led by incoming President, Drew Eckman, an attorney at Frost Brown Todd LLC (more about Drew Eckman below). The 2017-2018 YPAL Board term will begin effective July 1, 2017.

Other members of the board are the executive committee:
• President-Elect: Aimee Jewell – University of Louisville
• Immediate Past President: Chris Nation – Quantum Communications
• Vice President of Community: Alexis Hebert – Emerge Kentucky
• Vice President of Programming: Haley James – Taylor Siefker Williams Design Group
• Vice President of Public Relations: Charissa Acree – PriceWeber
• Vice President of Engagement: Paul Heintzman – Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co.
• Treasurer: Brittany Oerther – MCM CPAs and Advisors
• Secretary: Joe Mandlehr – Stoll Keenon Ogden PLLC

And directors:
• Director of Membership: Nathan Shanks – Maverick Insurance Group
• Director of Entertainment: Erika Rohrer – March of Dimes
• Director of Professional Development: Holly Neeld – Kentucky Center for Performing Arts
• Director of Community Outreach: Jenna Haugen – University of Louisville
• Director of Inclusion: Gary Spence – Republic Bank
• Director of Public Issues: Rudy Ellis – Goldberg Simpson LLC
• Director of Communications: Sally George – Doe-Anderson
• Director of Recruitment: Nikki Carver – Mercer
• Director of Technology: Shannon Siders – Code Louisville

About Drew Eckman:

Incoming YPAL President Drew Eckman has been a YPAL member since 2014. He joined the Board of Directors as Secretary in 2015 and currently serves as YPAL President-Elect. In his current board role, Eckman has led the planning and development of a five-year strategic plan for the organization. As president, he will be responsible for leading the implementation of that plan.

Eckman is an attorney at Frost Brown Todd LLC, Louisville’s largest law firm, with 147 local attorneys and more than 500 attorneys in 12 offices. Eckman helps entrepreneurs and small companies grow and finance their businesses, focusing his practice on corporate and business law, mergers and acquisitions, private-equity financing, and securities law.

He currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Front Row Foundation (which provides life-changing experiences to people facing critical health issues), is a founding member of the St. Xavier Emerging Leaders Society, serves as Director of Operations for the Charlie George Invitational Charitable Giving Fund (fund through Community Foundation of Louisville), and has volunteered for the Legal Aid Society’s Project H.E.L.P. program, providing free legal assistance to homeless clients. Eckman previously served as Chair of the Louisville Bar Association’s Corporate Law Section and is a recent graduate of the Leadership Louisville Center’s Ignite Louisville Class of 2017.

He graduated from the University of Louisville Brandeis School of Law and holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Louisville, where he received the Wall Street Journal Award and was recognized as the “Outstanding Senior in Finance” after graduating with a cumulative 4.0 GPA.

For more information, contact:
Charissa Acree
Director of Communications
Direct: 502.299.2093
Charissa.Acree@ypal.org