Four people with Bellarmine ties are among Louisville Business First’s 2022 Forty Under 40 class. The annual awards event identifies and showcases Metro Louisville’s leaders of tomorrow. This year’s honorees were selected from more than 600 nominations.

 Aimee JewellAimee Jewell MAC ’15 Aimee Jewell is the Engagement Manager at the Leadership Louisville Center, the largest civic leadership organization in the nation. She manages recruitment for all five of the center’s civic programs, helps with business development and membership cultivation, co-facilitates Focus Louisville, and represents the Leadership Louisville Center in the community. Jewell also serves on the boards of Metro United Way and the Louisville Pride Foundation and is the past board chair of Assumption High School’s Alumnae Association. She is also a member of the New Leaders Council, a statewide leadership program, and served as one of 150 worldwide Regional Leaders of LeanIn.org. After receiving her bachelor’s in Communication at the University of Louisville, Jewell graduated from Bellarmine University in 2015 with her Master of Arts in Communication. With her focus on leadership development, inclusivity, volunteerism and civic service, she jokes that she’s “basically striving to be Louisville’s Leslie Knope”—the ever-optimistic deputy director of the Parks and Recreation Department of fictional Pawnee, Ind., played by Amy Poehler on Parks and Recreation. 

Marcus StubbsMarcus Stubbs, current Ph.D. student Marcus Stubbs is a community outreach specialist with Russell: A Place of Promise in Louisville’s Russell neighborhood. The Louisville native, has worked with numerous organizations throughout the community focusing on social justice, community-building, food equality and homelessness. In April 2021, he was awarded a Newman Civic Fellowship, a yearlong program for campus leaders who are committed to finding solutions for social problems.  He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Bellarmine’s doctoral program in Education and Social Change after earning a bachelor’s in Interdisciplinary Studies in Social and Behavioral Studies with a minor in Family Studies and a master’s in Student Affairs in Higher Education at Western Kentucky University.  “I have an understanding that a Doctor of Philosophy in Education and Social Change provides a strong foundation for being effective change agents for various communities, in addition to understanding what social justice means when it comes to looking at populations that are in a poverty state,” he said. “This program will not only help me to reach my goal to know more about myself as a scholar but will teach me the characteristics that I need to help individuals in the areas of self-worth, academia, and social mobility. My hope is to establish a career in community development and stop the cycle of poverty by reinforcing individuals with resources that will help them to pass down generational wealth and knowledge to their family and friends.”  Stubbs is passionate about food insecurity and had the opportunity to work as the inaugural mobile market manager at the local Dare to Care food bank. He’s also conducting a comparative research study for his doctoral program on the lived experiences of staff and students using the food pantry.   Dorothy Thacher

Dorothy Thacher '06/’21 MBA Dorothy Thacher is the senior director of Global Business Services (GBS) for United Parcel Service in Louisville. She credits Bellarmine with setting her up for success. “I can proudly say I’ve spent the last 16 years traveling and working internationally in Dubai, India, South Africa, Morocco, Singapore, Philippines, Guatemala, and many more because of the education and international experience I had at Bellarmine.” Thacher joined UPS after graduating with a bachelor’s degree in Foreign Language and International Studies (FLIS)/French and a study-abroad opportunity in Montpellier, France, one of Louisville’s Sister Cities. “When HR saw my degree from Bellarmine and the international business component, they asked if I would be interested in applying to the International UPS Customs Brokerage team.” Twelve years later, Thacher returned to Bellarmine to complete an Executive MBA. “The alumni discount lured me in, but the experienced professors and talented grad students kept me engaged. I was lucky to work with flexible administrators at Bellarmine who helped me create a unique schedule that allowed me to work and study at my own pace. Even though it took longer than planned, my Bellarmine MBA has paid for itself three times over!”  

 Jessica TretterJessica Tretter  2015 Accelerated Executive Certificate in Financial Planning Jessica Tretter is a certified financial planner and owner of at Tretter Financial Planning, which is offered through LPL Financial and serves more than 100 clients.  She told Louisville Business First that earning her CFP, which she did through a nine-month Kaplan weekend program at Bellarmine University, was her greatest career achievement.  “After earning my Accelerated Executive Certificate in Financial Planning from Bellarmine, I prepared for the board exam, which had an average pass rate of 60 percent at that time,” she said. “I passed, but more importantly now had competency in areas of tax and estate, in addition to my regular areas of practice including retirement, investments, insurance, social security, employee benefits, education planning, and several others.” 

After finishing Bellarmine’s program, she was invited to serve on the university’s CFP advisory board. Since 2018, she has been employed by Kaplan and the College of Financial Planning as an instructor teaching the program to CFP candidates.

All photos by Louisville Business First