For the first time in history, up to five generations — and soon possibly six — are working side-by-side in today’s workplace, bringing together decades of experience, fresh ideas and very different perspectives on leadership. From the seasoned wisdom of the Silent Generation to the digital fluency of Gen Z, the modern workforce is a dynamic blend of tradition and innovation. Today, meet Arizona’s Baby Boomer business leaders who are innovating in 2026.
LEARN MORE: As generations collide, great leadership thrives
• Meet the Gen Z business leaders who are innovating in 2026
• Meet the Millennial business leaders who are innovating in 2026
• Meet the Generation X business leaders who are innovating in 2026
• Meet the Baby Boomer business leaders who are innovating in 2026
The digital sponsor of Generations of Leadership is Desert Financial Credit Union.
Jim Afinowich
Managing partner, IBG Fox & Fin
Generation: Baby Boomer
Background: A nationally honored leader in the M&A industry, Afinowich has more than a quarter century of tested experience in middle-market business sales spanning more than 500 mergers and acquisitions. He has provided expert witness services in cases relating to business sales practices and standards of care and has developed and led classes for M&A professionals internationally.
Tami Bohannon
CEO, AllThrive 365
Generation: Baby Boomer
Background: Bohannon is the epitome of mission-driven, people-centered leadership grounded in decades of wisdom gained through service. As the first female CEO in AllThrive 365’s 50-year history, she has transformed the organization by leading a complete rebrand, expanding private philanthropy, launching new strategic partnerships and elevating healthy aging as a statewide priority.
Walt Brown Jr.
Founder, CEO and designated broker, Diversified Partners
Generation: Baby Boomer
Background: Brown Jr. has cemented himself as a visionary entrepreneur shaping commercial real estate statewide and across the nation. Since founding Diversified Partners in 1996, he has developed the company from the ground up. Brown applied his professional connections and experience-led expertise to expand the firm nationwide.
Katherine Cecala
President and CEO, Junior Achievement of Arizona
Generation: Baby Boomer
Background: One of Cecala’s most significant achievements is the creation of JA Money in Motion, a program that delivers financial literacy, entrepreneurship and career readiness to underserved and rural communities at no cost to schools, helping close critical opportunity gaps. She also pioneered JA Inspire, Arizona’s premier virtual career exploration and work readiness program.
Michael Crow
President, Arizona State University
Generation: Baby Boomer
Background: Crow has emerged as one of the most influential higher education leaders of his generation by redefining what a modern public university can be. Through bold innovation, expanded access and a focus on real-world impact, he transformed Arizona State University into a global model for academic excellence, research leadership and inclusive opportunity.
Carol Elias
Founder and co-director, New Vistas Center for Education
Generation: Baby Boomer
Background: Elias exemplifies generational leadership through consistency, clarity of vision and decades of meaningful impact. As founder and co-director of New Vistas Center for Education, she has spent more than 46 years building one of Arizona’s most respected independent schools — well before personalized, high-level learning entered the national conversation.
Stewart Goldman, MD
Senior vice president of research, Phoenix Children’s
Generation: Baby Boomer
Background: Dr. Goldman oversees more than 700 active studies, 640 investigators and 90 research professionals, positioning Phoenix Children’s as a destination for discovery, education and translational medicine. Under his leadership, research has expanded in both volume and rigor, with a clear focus on moving scientific findings efficiently from laboratory to bedside.
Denise Gredler
Founder and CEO, BestCompaniesAZ
Generation: Baby Boomer
Background: For 25 years, Gredler has been a pioneering force in elevating workplace culture and employer branding in Arizona. She helped introduce Arizona’s first Best Places to Work award program in 2003, in partnership with the Great Place to Work Institute — bringing national-level workplace recognition to employers across the state.
Sharon Harper
Founder and CEO, Plaza Companies
Generation: Baby Boomer
Background: Harper is widely recognized as one of the most influential commercial real estate leaders of her generation, guiding transformative developments that have shaped Arizona’s healthcare, bioscience and mixed-use landscape. As founder and CEO of Plaza Companies, she has championed innovation, collaboration and community-focused development that drives long-term economic growth.
Bill Heller
Pre-construction manager, Sun State Builders
Generation: Baby Boomer
Background: Heller is a Baby Boomer who brings a combination of knowledge and experience with a fresh perspective to his position at the more than 50-year-old company. He challenges his team to think outside the box and throw away the narrative when tasked with a new design-build project.
Joan Koerber-Walker
CEO, Arizona Bioindustry Association
Generation: Baby Boomer
Background: Koerber-Walker has worked with leading tech innovators and now focuses on innovations that improve health. She supports Arizona health innovators as they create products and services that improve health and quality of life. These innovators create medicines, medical devices and health technologies, build companies that create high-paying jobs and strengthen Arizona’s economy.
Larry Lazarus
Partner, Lazarus & Silvyn
Generation: Baby Boomer
Background: Lazarus’ expertise has helped his clients achieve successful outcomes for more than four decades. “I started out as a neighborhood activist when the mayor of Phoenix tutored me as to the complexities of running a vibrant city,” he says. “I realized I wanted to be involved in the growth of the city while also working to make it a livable place.”
Jeff Meshey
President and CEO, Desert Financial Credit Union
Generation: Baby Boomer
Background: Meshey is a CPA who began his career at Ernst & Young, specializing in audits of financial institutions. He joined Desert Financial in 1994 and was named CEO in 2017. His extensive experience at commercial banks, savings banks and credit unions prepared him to lead a $9 billion organization built on a culture of performance, innovation and philanthropy.
Bob Mulhern
Managing director – Arizona market leader, Transwestern
Generation: Baby Boomer
Background: Mulhern’s real estate career has included leadership roles in property management, development, brokerage and brokerage management. “I’ve learned that magnanimity and humility define true leaders, and that true leadership is virtue in action,” he says. “This has allowed me to attract and retain talented people who desire to have grand purpose in their lives.”
Diana Thomas
Founder and CEO, The World Egg and Sperm Bank
Generation: Baby Boomer
Background: Thomas turned her personal struggle with infertility into a groundbreaking mission that reshaped reproductive medicine. As founder and CEO of The World Egg and Sperm Bank, she created the nation’s first independent egg bank, helping more than 7,000 families conceive while advancing ethical, accessible fertility care and inspiring hope worldwide.
