Sommer also helped create the Mustang Public Schools Foundation. Although the foundation is young, it already has contributed $12,000 directly to teachers to spend in their classrooms and expects to exceed that amount in 2006-2007.

Sommer is a graduate of Leadership Oklahoma City, he coached the Mustang Youth Soccer Association from 2000 to 2005, and he is a member of the Mustang Chamber of Commerce. He is also a member of the Oklahoma Bicycle Society and the Oklahoma Earthbike Fellowship, for which he helps build and maintain mountain bike and multi-user trails at the Bluff Creek Wilderness Trail, the Draper Wilderness Trail and Green Leaf State Park.

Through his work with The Children's Center, Sommer has served as chairman and course director for "Spin Your Wheels," a fundraising bicycle tour, and volunteers every year at the center's Winter Wonderland event.

Sommer received his bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of Oklahoma and is a graduate of the certified financial manager program through the College of Financial Planning. As well, he is a graduate of the financial planning program at Oklahoma City University.

Emily Pomeroy, Attorney, Center for Economic Development

Emily Pomeroy passed the state bar exam, married and started a new career all while in her Twenties.

It was a "whirlwind of events" she recalls.

Pomeroy, 30, started her job at the Center for Economic Development Law and hit the ground running. It was just a few days after her arrival that co-worker Dan Batchelor invited her to help close the Cytovance deal for the Oklahoma City Presbyterian Health Foundation Research Park.

Countless hours and massive amounts of paperwork later, Pomeroy found herself creating one of the key economic generators for the city.

She says she was thankful for her "limited role" in the project because it was a step in the right direction.

That's pretty much the trick in the business community, Pomeroy says. It's a combination of being in the right place at the right time and making oneself available to all possibilities.

"There will be good days and bad days," Pomeroy said. "But as long as you're doing something that you like and feel strongly about, the big picture will be so much clearer."

Her theory on life came shortly after she left the Sooner state and went to Bucknell University in Pennsylvania to earn a bachelor of art degree. It was more than another time zone for Pomeroy, it was an entirely different environment.

Through the experience, she was able to adapt to a new life and eventually earn a juris doctorate from the University of Oklahoma.

She was forced to grow up and adapt to life in a new place and now, she says, she can handle whatever is thrown her way.

Pomeroy is involved in Pi Beta Kappa and the Oklahoma Bar Association, but her service to Oklahoma City Housing Services Redevelopment Corporation as its president has been the highlight of her volunteer efforts.

From individual door knobs to the architectural designs, every aspect of a project makes the houses homes, she says.

Pomeroy lives her life the same way she played volleyball in college at Bucknell University