Members of the Bluegrass IIBA Chapter Board of Directors serve as the Officers of the Chapter. They serve two year terms, and terms are staggered with approximately one-half the Board elected each year; to provide new ideas and thoughts to the leadership of the chapter and continuity and mentorship to new Board members. If you are interested in advancing your leadership skills and see how decisions are made in an organization ran by a Board of Directors, please contact one of the people below to see how you can Get Involved!  

President

Bill Powers, CBAP, AAC, CBDA

Bill Powers is a Business Analyst at Cincinnati Insurance Companies. He is a highly accomplished, innovative and team spirited professional with several years of experience in Business Analysis, Project Management, Client Service Management, Operations and Benefit Administration. Bill has experience in Data Analytics, Operation Efficiency, Project Implementation, UAT and QA testing efforts. Bill was born and raised in the Northern Illinois suburbs and relocated to Louisville, KY with wife Andrea, son William and daughter Alison. Bill obtained his Certified Business Analysis Professional™ (CBAP®) certification in October 2018, his Agile Analysis Certification (IIBA®- AAC) in March 2021, and his Business Data Analytics Certification (IIBA®- CBDA) in June 2023. Bill is proud to be part of the Bluegrass IIBA Chapter.  We constantly provide educational opportunities for the community, always advocate for the consistent use of the IIBA techniques and encourage our practitioners to challenge the status quo!
 
  

Vice President, Administration and Finance

Aaron Whittenberger, CBAP, AAC, CPOA, ICP-APO, A-CSPO

Aaron Whittenberger has over 35 years of Business and Information Technology experience, including 19 years of business analysis and 15 years as a Consultant. He earned his Certified Business Analyst ProfessionalTM (CBAP®) certification in 2008, his Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO®) in 2018, his IIBA® Agile Analysis Certification (IIBA®-AAC) in 2019, his Certificate in Product Ownership Analysis (IIBA®-CPOA) in 2021, his ICAgile Certified Professional - Agile Product Owner (ICP-APO) in 2022, and his Advanced Certified Scrum Product Owner (A-CSPO®) from Scrum Alliance in April 2024. Aaron is the Founding President of Bluegrass IIBA Chapter, as well as has served the IIBA® as Regional Director of the Americas Eastern Region and the Chairperson of the Role Delineation Committee, responsible for the relevancy and validity of the IIBA® certification program. He is a 2016 Inductee into the Bluegrass Business Analysis Hall of Fame.

Aaron lives in Independence, KY and has four children. Just a few years ago he participated in his first ever game of cricket with his co-workers. For himself, Aaron enjoys a good round of golf, we’ll see if he ever has one.

Aaron hopes that the Bluegrass IIBA Chapter brings a business analysis educational program to the area to spark innovation and creative thinking and raise the level of business analysis performed for organizations in the Bluegrass area. This will raise the awareness of the value of business analysts as change agents to allow organizations to gain competitive advantage in the marketplace.

 

      

Vice President, Community Outreach and Engagement

Stephanie Hawkins, MSIA, CISA

Stephanie Hawkins has over 25 years of experience in the Information Technology field focusing on enterprise IT transformation, business analysis, project management, data governance, IT risk, and controls. She holds a Master's degree in Information Assurance (MSIA) from Walsh College and is a Certified Information Security Auditor (CISA).
 
Stephanie would like to grow the chapter’s community outreach to ensure all professionals know they are welcome to be part of our community. She will provide unique events and activities to build the sense of belonging to a community.
 
  

Vice President, Marketing & Communications 

Will Powers

Will Powers graduated from Northern Kentucky University (NKU) in May 2022 with a Bachelor’s degree in Anthropology with a minor in Information Systems. He currently works at Fidelity Investments and the NKU Museum of Anthropology. He has held positions of responsibility with he Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity in member retention, finance, growth and alumni relations.

Will would like to provide his marketing and digital expertise to see the Bluegrass IIBA Chapter to continue to grow and provide excellent events and service to its community. He plans to grow the chapter’s presence both online and offline, with targeted social media messaging as well as look for potential new social media platforms that can be utilized to grow the chapter’s presence. As a recent college graduate, Will will be happy to help develop connections with local universities to grow the chapter college-age presence.

 

  

Vice President, Membership 

Bronson Zell, CBAP

Bronson Zell is the Business Analyst Manager for the Business Continuity at Republic Bank & Trust in Louisville, Kentucky. He has a decade of business analysis experience, and specializes in process improvement, data analysis, data visualization, and both informal and formal documentation. He considers himself an Efficiency Specialist with experience in Project Implementation, UAT, QA, Experienced Customer Service Manager, Professional Writer, Payments Processing, Banking, Claims Adjudication, Graphic Design and Layout, and Technical Support.

Bronson obtained his Certified Business Analysis Professional (CBAP®) certification in August 2018; and his Agile Analysis Certification (IIBA®-AAC) in December 2021. Bronson is currently Director of the Kentuckiana Branch for the Bluegrass IIBA Chapter. He would like to see the Bluegrass IIBA chapter further grow and develop the Business Analysis discipline within the corporate culture of Kentucky.  There are several companies with robust, mature BA practices, but there are also many that do not have a formalized BA team nor a PMO.  I believe we have the opportunity to promote the profession and to improve the strength and health of business in Kentucky. 

 

     

Vice President, Professional Development 

Retta Witter, MBA

Retta Witter is a Consultant with J. Geiger Consulting with over 20 years of Business and Information Technology experience implementing ERP systems.  She has earned her Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and her MBA degree from University of Wisconsin Oshkosh.

Retta lives in Kimberly, Wisconsin with her husband, son and dog.  In her free time, she loves hiking, photography and volunteers her time with the youth at her church.

Retta wishes to help IT professionals understand all the opportunity available and help them increase their skills so they can achieve their career goals.

 

     

Vice President, Sponsorship

Kathy Leigh, CBAP

Kathy Leigh, CBAP is a Certified Advanced Facilitator and a Certified Business Analysis Professional™ (CBAP®). She has 30 years of experience in Information Technology, including 25 years in project and program management, and IT business analysis. Kathy earned a BS in Chemical Engineering and an MBA from the University of Kentucky. Kathy also volunteers for Junior Achievement. She loves thoroughbred horse racing and has been to tracks all over the United States, Canada and UK, but thinks Keeneland is the best racetrack in the world. Kathy is a 2017 Inductee into the Bluegrass Business Hall of Fame. When asked what she wants the Chapter to bring to the surrounding community, she responded: “I want the Bluegrass IIBA Chapter to raise the quality of business analysts in the area as well as to provide a place where they can network with each other and with potential employers.”
 
     

Executive Director, Kentuckiana Branch 

Isis Phillips, MBA, MS

Isis Phillips is a Business Analyst for Louisville Gas and Electric - Kentucky Utilities, a PPL Corporation, that provides gas and electric services throughout Kentucky. Passionate about technology, Isis acquired a Master’s of Science in Applied Information Technology from Bellarmine University which stimulated her interest in Business Analysis. She participates in community service projects as often as possible and is an avid believer in servant leadership. Isis has been a member of IIBA international since 2014. Isis would like for Bluegrass IIBA Chapter to help secure some volunteer projects, for members or those entering the field of Business Analytics, can obtain some hands on training.  This will help individuals acquire a more in-depth skill set in business analytics as well as help them make steps toward gaining their Business Analysis certifications.
 
      

Executive Director, Northern Kentucky/Cincinnati Branch

Sarah Poynter, CBAP, CBDA

Sarah Poynter is currently a Software Engineering Manager for the Core Systems at USBank, where she has been employed for 23 years.  She started her career in the branches in 1999, then moved to a Branch software help desk role until 2002. She moved into a Business Analyst role at that point in Tech Services when USBank and Firstar merged.  That was the beginning of her journey as an IT Business Analyst. At one point she was in a Programmer Analyst role for 3+ years before moving back into a Senior Business Analyst on her team since working with both the technical folks and business lines is her passion.  She loves being the ‘bridge’ between those two groups.   Sarah has an Associate’s Degree in Applied Science (Computer Science) from Southern Ohio College where she took two Cobol coding courses. Those two courses alone have served her well the past 20+ years while working on USBank’s Core Systems team.  Sarah has been CBAP® certified since October 2015, and earned her IIBA®-CBDA in 2022.

When she isn’t working or participating in IIBA functions, she enjoys down time with her 3 dogs, Fancy, Hay Hay and Neno, catching up on the latest episodes of her favorite TV programs and putzing around the house and yard.  She and her family are based in Florence, KY.  Sarah is very thankful for the growth and development in business analysis that IIBA® has provided over the years and would like to utilize her time in this new role to share that knowledge with other business analyst professionals in the Greater Cincinnati/ Northern Kentucky area and beyond.  She is is looking forward to helping launch the NKY/Cincy branch of the Bluegrass IIBA chapter along with her fellow chapter leaders.

 

         

Bluegrass IIBA Chapter thanks our past Chapter Leaders for their service to the Chapter and business analysis community of the Bluegrass region. Thank you for laying the foundation to make this Chapter what it is today!
Hee Kyung (Lori) Son, CBAP
Vice President
Membership
2021-2023

LeShai Phelps

Vice President

Sponsorship 2018 - 2022

Marketing 2016 - 2018

Kathy Leigh, CBAP

President; 2017 - 2022

Membership & Sponsorship; 2013 - 2017

Eric-Stephen Neill, PMP, CSCP
Vice President/Director
Certification
2013-2022
 

Judeth Tarter, CBAP

Vice President

Community Outreach

2016 - 2021

Derrell Zuercher, PMP, CBAP, CSM, SSM

Vice President

Membership

2019 - 2020

Diane Teague, MBA, CCBA

Vice President

Membership

2020 - 2021

 

Joann Sims, CBAP

Vice President

Membership

2016 - 2019

 

Richard Power, CBAP, PSM

Vice President

Administration and Finance

2017 - 2019

 

Sarah Sechrist

Treasurer

2013 - 2021

 

Brandy Phelps

Vice President

Marketing and Communications

2015 - 2016

 

Holly Thompson

Vice President

Administration and Finance

2016 - 2017

 

Terry Sundy

President

2016 - 2017

 

Aaron Whittenberger, CBAP

President

2013 - 2016 

 

John Batts

Vice President

Community Outreach

2013 - 2016

 

Jason Ballard

Vice President

Professional Development

2015

 

Bud Ratliff, PMP, MCSE, MCTS

Vice President

Administration and Finance

2013 - 2015

 

Daryl Keltz, PMP

Vice President

Marketing and Communications

2013 - 2015

 

Naresh Shah 

Vice President

Professional Development

2013 - 2015

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