AICC’s Emerging Leaders (EL) program continues to build momentum, with steady growth and expanded programming highlighted during an update at last week’s Spring Meeting.
Junior delegate Cody Brant, Midwest Sales Manager for AG Stacker, shared an overview of the group’s current membership, recent activity, and plans for the year ahead.
There are currently about 160 active members in the Emerging Leaders group, all under the age of 35 and comprised of a fairly even mix of suppliers and converters. Last year in 2025, the EL group welcomed 39 new members, making it a one of its best years on record. So far this year, we have five new members, which is a promising start. At the end of this 2026, EL will recognize seven graduating members.
2025 was a busy year for the Emerging Leaders. It hosted four C-suite webinars, two virtual trainings and networking events, three in-person trainings, and four in-person networking events.
This year, EL will continue its quarterly C-suite webinar series, with the first already completed in January. AICC President Mike D’Angelo joined that session to provide an update on AICC, followed by breakout sessions that allowed Emerging Leaders to connect and network. During this week’s meeting, EL also hosted an in-person training led by Jack Fitterman of Liberty Packaging.
Later this year, in addition to the quarterly C-Suite webinars, EL will host a new member webinar, which will be open to any members who have joined EL within the past year. The session will give newer members an opportunity to meet committee members and delegates, while also learning more about the program and AICC as a whole.
Brant also gave a special thanks to fellow colleagues, Evan Clary, Senior Delegate, and Nicholas Catania, Freshman Delegate, before sharing about his own journey in the program.
“Emerging Leaders has been fantastic for me, both personally and professionally. I’ve grown my network tremendously and have seen continued success in my career. I’ve even made some lifelong friends being in this group.”
AICC Chairman Terri-Lynn Levesque reinforced the importance of continued participation in the program. “As a former junior delegate for Emerging Leaders, I am living proof that the program needs to continue,” she said. “I ask every single person in this room to go back to your companies, find one person that you can enroll in the program. We have a duty to make sure that program continues to thrive. And there’s no better way to leave a legacy than to get somebody involved in Emerging Leaders.”
