An evening to recognize notable West Virginians who are embodying our mission of attracting, retaining, and advancing young people in the Mountain State.
August 26, 2023
6pm
J. Q. Dickinson Salt-Works
Cocktail Attire
Ticket Sales Have Now Closed
Join friends, supporters, and partners of Generation West Virginia as we celebrate the end of the summer in the mountains.
What should you be looking forward to? 👀
Award-winning cuisine from 1010 Bridge and James Beard Award Finalist Paul Smith!
Access to our open bar of mocktails and cocktails
Live music performed by West Virginia’s Minor Swing
Plus we’ll also have exclusive prints for sale by Charleston’s very own Base Camp Printing Co!
2023 Gallery
What a successful evening for young people from all around the Mountain State. Proceeds from Generation West Virginia’s event will directly benefit our work, our programs, and our people. Thank you for supporting our mission! We are working to get next year’s Summer Night Soirée on the books! In the meantime, please drop your email below if you’d like to be added to the invitation list for next year’s event.
All event photography by Rafael Barker.
Know Before You Go ✨
We are excited to see you at Generation West Virginia’s Summer Night Soiree! Please take a moment to review the details below before Saturday evening.
We are not issuing physical tickets for this event. Please visit our check-in table when you arrive to receive your table assignment. If you purchased individual tickets, you will receive a tax receipt via email after the event.
The event is sold out! Unfortunately, we can’t accommodate additional guests at the door on Saturday.
Time
The event begins at 6pm and dinner will be served at 7pm.
Location
J.Q. Dickinson Salt Works
4797 Midland Dr. Malden, WV 25306
304-925-7918
Parking
Parking will be located adjacent to the venue, as well as across the street in the Carver Career and Technical School parking lot.
Transportation
The Venue is 8.1 miles away (about 11 minute drive) from Embassy Suites in Charleston. There is plenty of parking available onsite. You may also choose to use Lyft or Uber.
Attire
Cocktail attire is suggested. Weather permitting, dinner will be outside on the lawn. Please choose your footwear accordingly.
Questions? Please email [email protected].
Traveling from out of town?
Call 304-347-8700 and mention the Generation West Virginia room block for a discounted rate on Saturday, August 26th! Reservations must be made before August 12, 2023 at:
300 Court Street
Charleston, WV 25301
Summer Night Soirée 2023 Awardees
Tom Heywood
Lifetime Achievement Award
This award recognizes and promotes an individual who has made a significant contribution to West Virginia and its efforts to attract, retain and advance its people over the course of the individual’s lifetime.
Tom Heywood is the former Managing Partner of Bowles Rice LLP, a regional, full-service law firm with 110 attorneys and six offices in West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. Tom is a partner in the firm and serves as Chair of the firm’s Business Development Team. He has been named one of the “10 Most Influential Business Leaders in West Virginia” by The State Journal and is a recipient of the “Who’s Who in West Virginia Business” award.
Tom earned his law degree from Harvard Law School and his undergraduate degree in international relations from Stanford University.
Tom serves on numerous charitable and non-profit boards and was recently named the Board Chair of the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation, a regional foundation focusing primarily on West Virginia and Southwestern Pennsylvania. Tom has received many awards for his community involvement, including the Buckskin Council’s Good Scouter Award in 2022 and the YMCA of Kanawha Valley’s Spirit of the Valley award in 2017. He also participates actively in various business and trade associations, and is a Fellow of the American Bar Association and the West Virginia Bar Association.
Tom has been involved with Generation West Virginia since 2007, when he led strategic planning work that helped transform the then volunteer-led organization into a larger and more impactful nonprofit.
Sydney Wait
Empowerment Award
This award recognizes an exceptional NewForce graduate who has successfully forged a new career pathway upon completion of the program. This individual has demonstrated perseverance, outstanding character, the ability to take on new challenges, and serves as a model for their fellow NewForce alumni.
Sydney Wait earned a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Brigham Young University and a Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue. However, she credits Generation West Virginia with the educational opportunity that changed the course of her career. After completing NewForce, a 6-month intensive training program, she began working as a software developer. She cut her teeth at Core10 before accepting a fully remote position at Constellation Digital Partners, which is based in Raleigh, NC. Sydney has worked at Constellation for the last 3 years and received several promotions, including to her current position as a Technical Architect for Digital Banking Services. Constellation has such a high opinion of Sydney and the NewForce program that they have hired three additional New Force alumni to join her team.
Sydney is originally from a rural community in Northern California and has called West Virginia “home” for the last 15 years with her husband, Isaac and two sons, George and Thomas.
Treasure Barberich-Wyckoff
Emerging Leader Award
This award recognizes a GWV Fellow who has already made significant contributions to their field early in their career. The Emerging Leader is an individual who has completed, or is in the process of completing the GWV Fellowship, and exemplifies perseverance, creativity, and promise for future growth.
Treasure Barberich-Wyckoff was born in Morgantown, and raised in West Union. She graduated from Doddridge County High School in 2012, and went on to receive a Bachelor’s Degree in International Studies and Political Science from West Virginia University in 2016, graduating Magna Cum Laude. While at WVU, Treasure was a student in the WVU Honors College, and member of the Pride of West Virginia Mountaineer Marching Band. After briefly moving out of state, she followed the country roads back home and is currently pursuing a Master’s Degree in Higher Education Administration from WVU, while also working full-time as an Administrative Assistant in the Eberly College of Arts & Sciences Deans’ Office. Treasure serves on the Women United Advisory Board for the Tygart Valley United Way and was recently appointed to the City of Fairmont Arts & Humanities Board.
Treasure is proud to be participating in the 2023 Generation West Virginia Fellowship, and is humbled to be among such an incredible group of people dedicated to West Virginia’s future. She was nominated for this award by her Fellowship peers, who have noticed her engaging attitude during Fellowship sessions, and interest in sharing her passion for West Virginia with her cohort.
In her free time, Treasure volunteers at Arthurdale Heritage Inc., giving tours of the historic New Deal community and sharing WV history. She also enjoys leading a local book club, visiting all WV State Parks, dabbling in photography, and embracing her inner nerd by playing tabletop, board, and video games.
Lee Farabaugh | Co-founder & President, Core10
Distinguished Leader Award
This award recognizes a company or individual who has helped make West Virginia a great place for young people to work. The Distinguished Leader empowers, challenges, and inspires young people to strive for excellence in the Mountain State.
Lee Farabaugh is the co-founder and president of Core10, a provider of API integration and SaaS implementation solutions serving the banking, fintech and financial services industries. Farabaugh has created greater opportunities for local talent by pioneering the Hereshore® model, under which companies recruit talent from smaller communities. She established Core10’s first outsourcing center in Huntington, WV, in 2016, which has now expanded to become the company’s largest concentration of developers.
In 2018, she provided invaluable support and partnerships that helped Generation West Virginia launch its successful NewForce program. Core10 has hired many NewForce graduates, where they have started successful careers within the West Virginia industry.
Core10 is also a proud supporter of the Generation West Virginia Fellowship Program, a leadership program for young professionals in the state. Several GWV Fellows from the program have joined the Core10 team, and the company continues to invest in the program.
Photo caption: Top from left to right: Isaac Sinclair (Co-Chair), EJ Price (Co-Chair), Johanna Miesner, Christopher Welty
Bottom from left to right: Bethany Kinder, Drew Elliot, Adam Perry, Lindsay Stollings.
Up Next Charlie West
Community Partnership Award
This award recognizes a group of individuals who are collectively making contributions to their community in terms of attracting, retaining and advancing young people in WV.
Up Next Charlie West, a program of the Charleston Area Alliance, engages and empowers young people in the greater Charleston community through various events and programming. Up Next Charlie West gives members the tools to improve their careers, develop their leadership abilities, build their professional networks and give back to the community. Up Next Charlie West is an open, inclusive environment that welcomes anyone ages 21 to 45 in the Greater Charleston area. Membership is free, and the group welcomes new members year-round. The Leadership Team includes: Co-chairs EJ Price, DJEJ and Isaac Sinclair, United Bank; Drew Elliot, City National Bank; Bethany Kinder, Dow, Inc.; Johanna Miesner, The Greater Kanawha Valley Foundation; Adam Perry, Merrill Lynch Wealth Management; Lindsay Stollings, Robinson & McElwee PLLC; and Chris Welty, University of Charleston.
A Special Thank You to Our Sponsors
Platinum
Gold
Silver
Host Committee
Ben Ashley and Suzette Raines
Kel and Dr. Mollie Cecil
Monika L. Eckard
Jade and Julian Irving
Meghan Moses
Jill Scarbro
Danielle Waltz and Patrick Smith
Zach Treister
Jay and Breana Williams