Candance Castlen Brake, president and CEO of the Greater Owensboro Chamber of Commerce, will be the featured speaker at the 2021 Brescia University commencement May 8. The Class of 2021 has more than 200 students, and graduates from the Class of 2020 have also been invited since their commencement took place virtually.
Brake graduated from Brescia University (at the time still called Brescia College) with a bachelor’s degree in history. She earned a master’s degree in public administration from Western Kentucky University and is also a graduate of the public leadership program at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
Brake’s career has been dedicated to public service and community development. She served as a three-term City Commissioner from 2004 to 2010, serving on commissions that led the downtown placemaking strategy and the region’s shift to a knowledge-based economic development strategy.
Prior to holding public office, Brake served as executive vice president of the Greater Owensboro Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development Corporation and Deputy Judge-Executive for Daviess County Fiscal Court. She has also served as an adjunct professor in the Department of Government at Western Kentucky University.
Brake has served on numerous boards and commissions throughout her career including Brescia University Board of Trustees, Owensboro Riverport Authority, RiverPark Performing Arts Center, United Way of the Ohio Valley, Wendell Foster Center, and Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence. She is currently on the board of the Wendell H. Ford Government Education Center and the Kentucky State Chamber.
Commencement is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. May 8 at the Owensboro Sportscenter. Seating is limited, and each graduate will receive tickets that must be presented at the door. There will be a livestream of the event at here.
By The Owensboro Times