Nebu Kolenchery, chief revenue officer of Flourish and Thrive Labs in Grayslake, has been named one of 60 scholars who will form the Presidential Leadership Scholars’ 11th annual class.

Over the past decade, PLS has brought together nearly 600 established, purpose-driven leaders to collaborate and make a difference in the world as they learn about leadership through the lens of the presidential experiences of George W. Bush, William J. Clinton, George H.W. Bush, and Lyndon B. Johnson.

The class was selected after a rigorous application and review process. Scholars were chosen based on their leadership growth potential and the strength of their personal leadership projects aimed at addressing a critical challenge or need in a community, profession, or organization.

Kolenchery is the chief revenue officer for Flourish and Thrive Labs, a consulting firm that supports data modernization projects in state and local public health departments. In this role, he leads business development and partnership strategy, working with health departments to build sustainable systems that use data to understand and respond to public health threats.

Before that, he was the director for communicable disease response at the Saint Louis County Department of Public Health, where he oversaw the responses to emerging infectious disease outbreaks, including COVID-19 and mpox, as well as the department’s sexual health clinic, tuberculosis clinic, and hepatitis program. He has also consulted for federal health care and public health clients, including the CDC. He was recognized by the de Beaumont Foundation as one of the nation’s 40 under 40 in Public Health and serves on the Board of Health for the City of St. Louis.

“I’m honored to be selected for the Presidential Leadership Scholars program,” Kolenchery said in a news release. “I believe that a well-functioning public health department is the best example of a representative democracy. I look forward to learning from extraordinary leaders and my fellow Scholars, and applying these lessons to strengthen public health departments across the country.”

During the six-month program, Kolenchery will develop his initiative focused on building a leadership curriculum for public health professionals. He hopes to create training resources that will help health departments across the country build capacity to lead change and strengthen their communities’ public health infrastructure.

“Congratulations to Nebu on this well-deserved achievement,” said Jefferson McMillan-Wilhoit, CEO of Flourish and Thrive Labs. “His commitment to building leadership capacity in our field is exactly what this moment demands. We’re excited to support him through this program and eager to see the impact of his work with health departments nationwide.”

Over the course of the program, Scholars will travel to each participating presidential center to learn from former presidents, key former administration officials, business and civic leaders, and leading academics. They will study and put into practice varying approaches to leadership and exchange ideas to help strengthen their impact.

Scholars have consistently reported remarkable growth in skills, responsibilities, and opportunities for impact since the program began in 2015. For example, 93% of Scholars state they have a strong sense of purpose as a leader, and 100% of Scholars state they are inspired to accomplish and achieve more after completing the program.

The 2026 program began on Jan. 21 in Washington, D.C.