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 Gen Z 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.
Ahmad Alatrash
Co-founder // Mesquite Fresh Street Mex
Generation: Gen Z
Background: Alatrash is a visionary restaurateur helping redefine fast-casual dining in Arizona. As co-founder of Mesquite Fresh Street Mex, he built the concept around fresh ingredients, bold flavors and a modern street-Mexican experience, growing the brand into one of the Valley’s most exciting emerging restaurant success stories.
Alexis Bensberg
Business strategist // Arizona Department of Housing
Generation: Gen Z
Background: Bensberg is a forward-thinking business strategist helping shape housing policy and economic development across the state. At Arizona Department of Housing, she works to expand housing access, strengthen partnerships and support innovative programs that address Arizona’s growing housing needs and community development challenges.
Wally Brown III
Partner and consultant // Diversified Partners
Generation: Gen Z
Background: Brown brings a new generation’s vision to Arizona’s commercial real estate landscape. At Diversified Partners, he blends entrepreneurial insight, technology and relationship-driven leadership to advance retail development while championing innovation, sustainability and AI-powered strategies that help the firm grow and adapt in a rapidly evolving market.
Brendan Cassin
Vice president and private banker // MidFirst Bank
Generation: Gen Z
Background: Cassin represents the next generation of financial leadership, combining relationship-driven banking with a fresh, solutions-focused mindset. As vice president and private banker at MidFirst Bank, he helps clients navigate complex financing needs while staying deeply engaged in the community through initiatives like Scottsdale Leadership’s Class 37.
Trey Davis
Pinal County specialist // Land Advisors Organization
Generation: Generation Z
Background: Davis is an industrial land broker with the Land Advisors Organization specializing in development opportunities across Pinal County. Since entering the industry in 2018, he has completed more than $600 million in transactions and worked with major groups including Lucid Motors, Kohler and Chang Chun Petrochemical. His expertise includes industrial site selection, power-intensive users, renewable energy projects and land positioning strategies that help create shovel-ready opportunities for manufacturers and data centers. Davis is active in regional economic development, serves on the Casa Grande Industrial Development Authority and is a member of Pinal 40, supporting responsible growth and quality job creation.
Best decision: “One of the most defining decisions in my career came during a time when I was working both in research and brokerage at Land Advisors. I made the decision to move fully into brokerage, even though I did not completely feel ready at the time. This meant stepping in to take over several client relationships and active deals that my partner no longer had the bandwidth to manage. I had to rise to the occasion quickly, take ownership, and earn the confidence of those clients. That experience pushed me to grow as a leader, trust my preparation, and ultimately close deals that helped establish my credibility as a broker.”
Learn more: landadvisors.com/team/trey-davis/
Landon Herndon and Tre’ Palmer
DIFFERENT ERA: “If we had to choose another era, it would be the early days of building America,” say Landon Herndon and Tre’ Palmer, managing partners of Kingsman Development.” It was a time when faith in God was at the center, and people leaned on that faith to push through real challenges and build something meaningful. Construction was the cornerstone of that growth, laying the foundation for everything that followed.” (Photo by Bruce Andersen, Az Business, a publication of AZ Big Media)
Managing partners // Kingsman Development
Generation: Generation Z
Background: Tre’ Palmer and Landon Herndon are the managing partners of Kingsman Development, a rapidly growing civil construction company based in Arizona. Built from the ground up with no outside capital, they have scaled the company to over 30 employees and a strong project pipeline in under two years. Their leadership is rooted in faith, extreme ownership, and a commitment to servant leadership, driving both their team and projects forward. Specializing in underground utilities, mass grading, paving and concrete, they focus on delivering high-quality work while building lasting relationships. Their mission is to serve God, serve people and set a higher standard in the construction industry.
Personal strength: “Servant leadership. Our foundation is rooted in extreme ownership and accountability, and our mission is to serve God and serve people. We named our company Kingsman after the kingsmen in the army, who were often the lowest rank yet fully committed to serving the king. For us, our King is Jesus, and that defines how we lead. In civil construction, the work is tough and demands a strong team. We lead side by side, not above, solving problems together with humility, purpose, and a mindset of taking full ownership in every situation.”
Best decision: “Uncertainty is what we live in, and choosing to trust the Lord through it has shaped our leadership the most. We started with no outside capital, zero connections, and a $17,000 credit card. Nineteen months later, we have 31 employees and an $18 million–$20 million pipeline for 2026. Our favorite saying is, ‘We’re fully backed by God,’ and that mindset carries us through the moments we do not have answers. We move forward trusting where He is leading us. It has taught us that true leadership is staying faithful, taking ownership, and trusting God to guide every outcome.”
Leadership advice: “The best employees act like owners, and the best owners act like employees. We’re a people and relationship business that happens to do construction.”
Learn more: kingsmandevelopmentusa.com
Jordan Karam
Senior accountant // eeCPA
Generation: Gen Z
Background: Karam exemplifies the energy and collaborative spirit of Generation Z leadership. Known for mentorship, inclusivity and digital fluency, Karam fosters creativity and connection in fast-paced environments while uplifting peers and emerging professionals. With infectious enthusiasm and a people-first mindset, Karam is helping shape the next generation of Arizona leadership.
Sarah LeFevre
Associate // Gallagher & Kennedy
Generation: Gen Z
Background: LeFevre represents the excellence and drive of Generation Z leadership. A top graduate of Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University and Order of the Coif honoree, she pairs academic distinction with real-world legal experience, public service and mentorship, positioning herself as one of Arizona’s promising next-generation attorneys.
Myles Lewallen
Associate attorney // Burch & Cracchiolo
Generation: Generation Z
Background: Lewallen prides himself on being a generalist. He practices law in multiple areas, including complex criminal defense, bankruptcy, and civil litigation. He joined the firm in 2024 after previously serving as a summer associate in both 2022 and 2023.
Personal strength: “Positivity. I try to wake up every day looking forward to what the day will bring. I try to approach everyone I come across with a positive attitude, which has gotten me very far in creating great relationships with lawyers I am working with, and with opposing counsel. It is easy to be positive when you can do what you love and are passionate about your work.”
Best decision: “My decision to get my GED and enroll in community college at 19 shaped my leadership the most. I was a high-school dropout with very limited prospect. I knew that if I wanted to make something of myself, I would need to put in the work and make it happen. My early successes in college gave me the confidence to pursue my dreams, eventually graduating summa cum laude from ASU, and then cum laude from ASU Law. This taught me that I could do anything I wanted to, I just needed to get started.”
Learn more: bcattorneys.com
Trinity Roraback
Founder // Rodeo Rose Market
Generation: Gen Z
Background: Roraback represents the entrepreneurial spirit and creative energy of Generation Z leadership. As founder of Rodeo Rose Market, she has built a platform that celebrates local makers, small businesses and community connection. Through innovation and authenticity, Roraback is helping redefine modern retail while empowering fellow entrepreneurs across Arizona.
Mackenzie Schmader
Project engineer // McCarthy Building Companies
Generation: Gen Z
Background: Schmader represents the energy and purpose-driven leadership of Generation Z in Arizona’s construction industry. As a project engineer at McCarthy Building Companies, she helps deliver projects across the Valley while championing women in STEM. Through mentorship, outreach and hands-on leadership, she inspires young women to pursue careers in engineering, construction and community-building.
Adin Tarr
Associate // Greenberg Traurig
Generation: Gen Z
Background: Tarr focuses her practice on corporate and securities law, mergers and acquisitions, and capital markets transactions. She advises public and private companies in a range of transactions, including equity and debt offerings, M&A deals and early-stage financings. Her experience includes advising clients across various industries on complex transactional matters and she regularly counsels clients on SEC reporting and stock exchange compliance.
Hannah Toth Larrabee
Vice mayor // Town of Fountain Hills
Generation: Gen Z
Background: Larrabee has lived in Fountain Hills her whole life and is now the Town’s youngest ever Council woman at 24 years old! She is a graduate of Arizona State University with bachelor’s degrees in sports business and business law as well as a certificate in business data analytics.
Adrian Valdovinos
EMERGING LEADER: “There is always more room at the top,” says Adrian Valdovinos, CEO of La Machine Consulting. (Photo provided by La Machine Consulting)
CEO // La Machine Consulting
Generation: Generation Z
Background: Valdovinos is the CEO of La Machine, a national political consulting firm executing some of the most consequential elections in the country. A Gen Z leader with deep field roots, Valdovinos rose from teenage canvasser to CEO by modernizing how campaigns engage multilingual and multicultural voters at scale. With a background in electrical engineering and business, Valdovinos has led La Machine’s national growth —helping elect progressive candidates and pass ballot measures at the municipal, state, and federal levels. Today, he leads high-stakes, multi-state operations with a focus on execution, precision and winning where it matters most.
Personal strength: “Resourcefulness. I’ve had to lead in environments where the stakes are high, timelines are tight, and there’s no room for panic. At La Machine, that has meant helping scale programs across battleground states, managing hundreds of staff and contractors and keeping operations running clean in the middle of fast-moving election cycles. Whether it was modernizing our internal systems as CFO or leading multi-state voter contact programs as CEO, I’ve learned how to stay calm, solve problems quickly and keep teams focused. In my generation, adaptability matters — but I think what really sets leaders apart is being the person who can bring order, focus and momentum when things get chaotic.”
Impactful decision: “Stepping into the CEO role at La Machine in 2024 was the biggest decision I’ve made in uncertainty. We were no longer just a strong Arizona operation — we were scaling into a national firm trusted with high-stakes work across battleground states. That year, we knocked on over 1 million doors, completed tens of thousands of voter registrations and ran large-scale programs across Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin and North Carolina. It taught me that I’m at my best when I’m building under pressure, leading through complexity and creating structure in fast-moving environments where the margin for error is small.”
Learn more: lamachineconsulting.com
Will Xander
Co-founder and CEO // Truthkeep.ai
Generation: Gen Z
Background: Xander represents the bold innovation and entrepreneurial drive of Generation Z leadership. As co-founder and CEO of Truthkeep.ai, he is helping shape the future of responsible artificial intelligence by developing tools that enhance transparency, trust and digital accountability. His forward-thinking vision reflects a new generation redefining how technology serves society.
