Leadership Exchange 2024

Richard App

Grand Rapids Chamber, Retail Retention & Attraction Specialist

A long-time small business owner, Richard App was hired in 2020 for a newly created position – jointly funded by the Grand Rapids Chamber, City of Grand Rapids, and Downtown Grand Rapids, Inc. – with a main goal of helping draw a more diverse set of retailers to downtown. Born in Iceland, he has spent most of his life in West Michigan.

Mayor Rosalynn Bliss

City of Grand Rapids

Mayor Rosalynn Bliss became the City of Grand Rapids’ first female Mayor when she took office on January 1, 2016. She was re-elected for a second and final four-year term in November 2019. Prior to being elected Mayor, she served 10 years as City Commissioner for the Second Ward. She currently serves on the boards of the Downtown Development Authority, Experience Grand Rapids, the Convention/Arena Authority, and more. 

Jerry Callahan

Van Andel Institute (VAI), Strategy Consultant

VAI is an independent research facility devoted to improving human health through biomedical research and science education. Now contracted part-time as a strategy consultant, Jerry previously served as VAI’s Chief Strategy Officer from 2013-2024. Over the course of his career, Jerry has been deeply involved in life science innovation in West Michigan. He formed two private equity and venture capital investment firms focused on the life sciences, and he launched several life science startup companies.

Shawn Crowley

Atomic Object, Co-CEO

Shawn Crowley leads custom software consultancy Atomic Object alongside co-CEO Mike Marsiglia. Over 20 years, Shawn has expanded Atomic from a single office in Grand Rapids to an industry leader with four offices and nearly $25 million in annual revenue. Shawn helped The Right Place grow Grand Rapids’ regional Technology Council that helps businesses using tech to drive growth – increasing council membership from 4 to 70+ members.

TaRita D. Johnson

The Right Place, SVP of Talent & Diversity

TaRita D. Johnson is the Senior Vice President of Talent and Diversity at The Right Place. She works to collaborate with workforce development organizations, employers, and investors to lead strategies to ensure West Michigan attracts, develops, and retains diverse talent. Prior to joining The Right Place in October 2021, TaRita served as the Director of the Career Center at Calvin University.

Andy Johnston

Grand Rapids Chamber, SVP of Advocacy & Strategic Engagement

As Senior Vice President of Advocacy and Strategic Engagement for the Grand Rapids Chamber, Andy is responsible for overseeing the Chamber’s public policy efforts, marketing, communications, and events on behalf of 2,700 members to create a vibrant business environment and thriving economy that benefits everyone.

Andy serves as a member of the Chamber’s Executive Leadership Team, responsible for strategic planning and execution, organizational development, and day-to-day decision making. His favorite Chamber activity is helping members solving problems. “We don’t know everything at the Chamber, but we know people who do, and we are here to help.”

Tim Kelly

Downtown Grand Rapids, Inc., President & CEO

Tim Kelly is President & CEO of Downtown Grand Rapids, Inc. (DGRI), which oversees and coordinates development activities in the downtown area. He has been with DGRI since its startup in 2013, and in that time he has managed several key capital projects and planning efforts, including the first update to the Downtown Master Plan in more than 20 years.

Ryan Kilpatrick

Housing Next, Lead Consultant

Founder & CEO of neighborhood design firm Flywheel, Ryan Kilpatrick serves as Lead Consultant for Housing Next, previously serving as the organization’s founding Executive Director. Ryan has more than 15 years of experience supporting local governments, community foundations, and developers on planning, zoning, process improvement, and the use of financial tools to create economically vibrant communities.

Jerry Kooiman

Michigan State University, Assistant Dean for External Relations (MSU College of Human Medicine) & Chief External Relations Officer (MSU Office of Health Sciences)

Jerry Kooiman oversees communications and marketing, hospital relations, community engagement and outreach, government relations, and industry partnerships for MSU’s College of Human Medicine. Prior to coming to MSU in 2007, Jerry Kooiman served 12 years as an elected official from Grand Rapids, serving on the Kent County Commission and in the Michigan House of Representatives, including two years as the Speaker Pro Tem of the House. He also served on the staff of two members of Congress for 16 years.

Brooke Oosterman

Housing Next, Executive Director

Brooke Oosterman joined Housing Next as Director of Policy and Communications and was promoted to Executive Director, supporting the partnership’s expansion from Ottawa County to also include Kent County. Since joining the organization, she has built cross-sector partnerships to move housing supply solutions forward. This work has included policy advocacy, new tool creation, and communications strategy. Under her leadership, Housing Next was selected by the Michigan State Housing Development Authority in 2023 as one of the organizations to lead West Michigan’s five-year regional strategy for housing solutions, along with The Right Place and the Urban League of West Michigan.

Laurie Placinski

BAMF Health, VP for Design, Real Estate & Partnerships

BAMF Health is the world’s first vertically integrated platform for molecular imaging and radiopharmaceutical therapy. Laurie joined BAMF in 2020 where she applies her prior healthcare experience with design – including working in oncology at Corewell Health, leading the practice and healthcare market for a national architectural and engineering firm, and working with Herman Miller Healthcare – to support the design of healing environments. Through this extensive healthcare design experience, Laurie oversaw the design, planning, and construction of BAMF Health’s 60,000 square-foot flagship location in Grand Rapids.

Tom Ross

Grand River Aseptic Manufacturing (GRAM), President & CEO

GRAM is a leading contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) that produces sterile injectable drug products for pharmaceutical and biotechnology partners. Tom became GRAM president in 2013 and CEO in 2015. Under Tom’s direction, GRAM has grown into one of the largest CDMOs in the U.S., with 500 team members across seven Grand Rapids facilities. Tom previously held senior executive roles at other large pharmaceutical companies, including eight years at Perrigo Company.

Randy Thelen

The Right Place, President & CEO

As President and CEO of The Right Place, Randy Thelen leads the economic development strategy for the Greater Grand Rapids Region. To achieve the region’s vision of being one of the leading growth economies in the nation, Randy collaborates with business and community leaders to focus efforts on strengthening three strategic pillars: People, Place, and Prosperity.

Since taking the helm at The Right Place in 2021, the organization has supported the creation and retention of 4,000+ jobs and $1B+ in new capital investment for the region. Under Randy’s leadership, The Right Place has grown to support an 8-county collaborative in the Greater Grand Rapids Region. Randy has expanded the organization’s initiatives to include community development and placemaking, along with increased talent retention, expansion, and attraction services. Randy also championed the launch of a 10-year regional tech strategy that will position the region as one of the leading tech hubs in the Midwest.

Carol Van Andel

Executive Director, David & Carol Van Andel Family Foundation

Carol Van Andel has long been a fixture and a force for positive change in West Michigan. As Co-Chair of Grand Action 2.0, she is a principal in the development of the Acrisure Amphitheater in downtown Grand Rapids, a 12,000-seat riverside outdoor concert and event venue slated to be completed in 2026. She, her husband David, and their four sons comprise the David & Carol Van Andel Family Foundation, which makes significant gifts to a wide array of nonprofit endeavors. Carol also plays a leading role at the Van Andel Institute, a world-renowned biomedical research and educational center in downtown Grand Rapids.

Mark Washington

City of Grand Rapids, City Manager

Mark Washington has been Grand Rapids’ City Manager since October 2018. As City Manager, he functions as the city’s Chief Executive Officer, overseeing all city departments, operations, policies, and programs. In this role, he has led efforts to create a strategic plan, increase efficiencies of government services, establish an equitable economic development and mobility strategy, establish an equity office and innovation office, launch a homeless outreach team, and more.

Catlin Whitington

ArtPrize, Executive Director

Catlin Whitington is Executive Director of ArtPrize, an annual international art competition hosted in downtown Grand Rapids. In this role, he has guided the organization’s transition into a standalone public-private partnership. Catlin moved to Grand Rapids from Austin in 2023 after jobs with the Long Center for the Performing Arts and South by Southwest.

Kara Wood

Grand Action 2.0, Executive Director

Kara Wood serves as the executive director for Grand Action 2.0, a nonprofit organization focused on advancing downtown transformational projects. Previously, she managed community partnerships for Western Michigan University, and prior to that, she worked for 12 years as the city of Grand Rapids’ economic development director.

Janet Wyllie

The Bridge – Spartan Innovations, Senior Program Manager

The Bridge is an incubator on the Medical Mile in Grand Rapids, designed for high-tech, high-growth startups. Janet manages its programs, such as the Grand Rapids Gateway business accelerator fund. She focuses on cultivating meaningful relationships among entrepreneurial support organizations (ESOs), service providers, industry experts, and academics to increase the market viability of early-stage ventures, and she connects teams with resources and funding networks to assist in business growth.