WILMINGTON — The Delaware Business Times is excited to announce the 2021 honorees of its inaugural CEO of the Year program.
The new awards program honors the efforts of Delaware’s top-ranking business leaders in both for-profit and nonprofit sectors. The winners, chosen by an independent judging panel, will be honored at a July 22 charity golf outing, dinner and awards presentation.
The annual program also features a Milestone Award winner, which recognizes a Delawarean who has demonstrated significant, sustained success leading a business or nonprofit organization while also making a positive, measurable contribution to the state’s community as a whole. The 2021 Milestone Award winner is Gary Stockbridge.
Stockbridge has served as president of Delmarva Power, Delaware’s only regulated electric provider, for 16 years and president of Atlantic City Electric in New Jersey since 2018. He also serves as the board president for the Workforce Investment Board in Delaware; is a board member for the Delaware State Chamber of Commerce; and is chairman of the board of the Vision Coalition supporting education reform in Delaware. He is also a member of the executive board for the Delaware Business Roundtable, and member of the REACH Riverside Advisory Board.
The Large For-Profit CEO of the Year honoree is Rod Ward III, president and CEO of CSC. A fourth-generation descendant of one of the company’s founders, Ward served on the CSC board for more than 15 years prior to his election as CEO in April 2010, leading the world-class business, legal, and financial services firm ever since. In addition, he serves as co-chair of the Delaware Prosperity Partnership, the state’s public-private economic development agency, among many other board positions.
The Large Nonprofit CEO of the Year honoree is Logan Herring, CEO of REACH Riverside, Kingswood Community Center and The Teen Warehouse. A Wilmington native, Herring’s work in the Riverside community is an ambitious mix of new housing, support services and educational opportunities that seek to raise up a new generation of residents.
The Medium For-Profit CEO of the Year honoree is Robert Brady, chairman and partner of Wilmington law firm Young Conaway. Consistently ranked as one of the state’s top bankruptcy/restructuring attorneys, Brady leads one of the city’s biggest firms. He is also consistently providing pro bono aid and donates to justice and education-related causes.
The Medium Nonprofit CEO of the Year honoree is Basha Silverman, CEO of Jewish Family Services Delaware, a nonprofit behavioral health and human services agency. Silverman has helped grow the organization’s revenue, services and workforce under her tenure, and responded to the community’s needs during the pandemic.
The Small For-Profit CEO of the Year honoree is Lee Podolsky, founder and owner of Breakwater Accounting + Advisory. Relying on over 25 years of industry experience, Podolsky has built a fast-growing boutique firm serving retail, nonprofit, and professional service clients. She has also helped mentor young women and entrepreneurs in the state.
The Small Nonprofit CEO of the Year honoree is Carrie Leishman, president and CEO of the Delaware Restaurant Association and its philanthropic arm, The Delaware Restaurant Association Educational Foundation. She has led the DRA for 20 years, promoting the talent of Delaware’s dining scene and was faced with her toughest task yet in supporting the industry through 2020’s COVID-19 pandemic. She has also spent time mentoring high school youth in Delaware’s foster care system, is an avid writer and national speaker and is an adjunct professor in the University of Delaware’s Hotel, Restaurant & Institutional Management Program.
