NIRI Announces 2026 Class of Rising Leaders Under 40

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – NIRI: The Association for Investor Relations, today announced its 2026 Class of Rising Leaders Under 40.

The NIRI Rising Leaders Under 40 Program recognizes talented young individuals in the investor relations community who have made noticeable contributions to their companies and the overall Investor Relations (IR) profession.

“On behalf of NIRI, I’d like to congratulate our 2026 Class of Rising Leaders Under 40. This year we’ll have the unique pleasure of celebrating their achievement at our first-ever NIRI Gala at the NIRI 2026 Annual Conference on the evening of Saturday, June 6th at the Sheraton Grand Chicago Riverwalk,” said NIRI President and CEO Matthew Brusch, CAE.

The NIRI 2026 Rising Leaders Under 40 include:

Louise Bick, Vice President, Investor Relations, Sempra

Nicole Bronstein, Senior Manager, Investor Relations, The Walt Disney Company

Catherine Brunet, IRC, Associate Director, Rivel

Alexandra (Alexa) Clements, Senior Vice President, H/Advisors Abernathy

Ryan Coleman, Managing Director, Alpha IR

Frances (Frannie) DeFranco, Director, Investor Relations, GSK

Lucia Dempsey, Head of Investor Relations, Chesapeake Utilities Corporation

Erin Drabek, Vice President, Investor Relations, Arcosa

Annie Drapeau, CPA, Investor Relations Director, Fortra

Jennifer Drew-Bear, Senior Associate, bitfarms

Mateo Garcia, Director, Investor Relations, Hawaiian Electric Industries

George Gosden, Enterprise Account Executive, AlphaSense

Kelsey Henderson, Practice Manager, Corporate Affairs and Investor Relations, High Country Search Group

John Holecek, CFA, Manager, Investor Relations, The Home Depot

Alex Jones, Associate Director, Rivel, Inc.

Alex Kapper, IRC, VP, Investor Relations, Caterpillar Inc.

Tanner Kaufman, Managing Director, M&A and Activism Defense, FTI Consulting

Sarah Marx, Senior Director, Investor Relations, Etsy

Meighan McGowan, Head of Business Development, Georgeson LLC

Aileen Pilgrim, CPA, Assistant Vice President of Investor Relations, The Hartford

Adam Pollack, Partner, Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher

Vina Tsai, Founder and Principal, VT Consulting Group

NIRI will honor the 2026 Rising Leaders Under 40 during the NIRI 2026 Annual Conference, June 6-9, 2025, in Chicago. More information about the NIRI Rising Leaders Under 40 Program can be found here.

About NIRI: The Association for Investor Relations

Founded in 1969, NIRI is the professional association of corporate officers and investor relations consultants responsible for communication among corporate management, shareholders, securities analysts, and other financial community constituents. NIRI is the largest professional investor relations association in the world with members representing over 1,500 publicly held companies and $12 trillion in stock market capitalization.