INNOVATION | ENTREPRENEURSHIP | LEADERSHIP
EMERGING LEADER
AWARD
The Emerging Leader Award honors an individual within an organization who has furthered advances in behavioral and mental health, education, or economic revitalization through their current work, whether research-based or project/program-based.
2026 Emerging Leader Award Recipients
Lawrence Burden
Position: Sire Director, Camden
Burden leads a team delivering innovative career readiness programming – spanning training, coaching, professional development, and employer partnerships - while driving measurable outcomes including a 103% enrollment rate, 25% increase in client satisfaction, and 30% partnership growth. He represents the organization in statewide fellowships and accelerator cohorts, collaborating with leaders across New Jersey to advance worker-centric solutions for young people facing barriers to education and employment.
Matthew Carluzzo
Position: Assistant Dean of Students and Academic Success
Carluzzo is dedicated to helping students thrive both in law school and beyond. Guided by a calm, student-centered approach, he places student success at the heart of every decision. A lifelong educator, Carluzzo draws on his experiences in corporate law, AmeriCorps service, and higher education leadership to create environments where students can meaningfully develop their own academic, personal, and professional potential.
Kevin Masukawa
Position: Senior Product and Operations Manager
Masukawa leads efforts to strengthen One Love’s digital products, data infrastructure, and technology, bringing a former classroom teacher's perspective to ensure these tools genuinely serve mission delivery. A Teach for America alum and Cal Poly SLO graduate, he has advanced the organization's capacity to scale nationally and internationally while becoming a trusted cross-functional thought partner who uses data and concrete outcomes to continuously refine strategy.
David Ryle
Position: Director of Programs
Ryle leads a team to build community resilience, youth development, and food security across 50 partner sites throughout the Philadelphia region. Drawing on nearly 20 years of experience in organic agriculture and a career rooted in social justice, he combines practical know-how with a deep belief in the power of people — especially young people — to drive meaningful change. He designs and scales programming across the region, engages with food and community-based collaboratives, and cultivates a team culture grounded in transparency, shared decision-making, and intentional staff development.
2025 Emerging Leader Award Recipients
Michelle Haley
Position: Executive Director, Children and Family Division
Haley​​ leads a $17M child welfare program with 200+ staff, having demonstrated innovation through restructuring foster care services, opening seven new programs in 18 months, integrating peer support models, achieving financial sustainability, and collaborating on statewide policy improvements while seeking continued leadership development.
Lauren Johnston
Position: Philadelphia Site Manager
Johnston coaches staff and volunteers across 5 counties in Philadelphia, demonstrating exceptional leadership through emotional intelligence and strategic vision that bridges high-level planning with grassroots implementation, while driving community impact through initiatives like anti-drug violence coalitions and Black-led wellness programs.
Kyle Lafferty
Position: Director of People Power
Lafferty regularly hires hundreds of coach-mentors and managing all HR functions while demonstrating authentic leadership through crisis management, equitable hiring practices, and staff development that maintains cultural identity and drives organizational transformation in service of youth empowerment and community impact.
Kelly Laysears
Position: Program Director, Aftercare Evening Reporting Center
Laysears leads a multidisciplinary team serving court-involved youth, having transformed AERC into a trauma-informed, evidence-based program that promotes healing and accountability while collaborating with juvenile probation, DHS, and community providers to improve outcomes through both quantitative metrics and qualitative relationship-building approaches.