Birmingham City Clerk Alexandria Bingham recently received the recognition of Oakland County Executive’s Oakland Together 40 Under 40 program, spotlighting top leaders in business and the community under 40 years of age. She was selected from 300 local applicants. “I am delighted to be recognized,” said 35-year-old Bingham. “Public service is a huge part of my family. My grandpa was a Milford police officer and my mom introduced me to municipal work in Commerce Township by en

Bloomfield Hills resident Ryan Walker was motivated to create the Pine Lake Ultraman, a local 320-mile endurance event not only for the extreme physical and emotional athletic challenge but also for deeply personal reasons. Growing up outside of Pittsburgh as the oldest child of teen parents, Walker admitted, “I had a complicated childhood. While my parents tried to make it work and do their best…I ended up having various parental figures through the years.” His maternal gra

Award-winning artist Lauren Levato Coyne was an exceptionally curious child who began creating when she was just six-years-old. “I was curious to the point of annoying everyone around me,” she joked. “And I’m still a very curious person. The very first thing I remember making was text and image-based. I did a drawing of a newspaper. I drew a picture of what the lead story was, which was the dust bunnies taking over the bedroom. I was interested in the arts from day one. At th

Bloomfield Hills High School students and award-winning fencing champions Lucas Senic and Luao Yang began their journey as young boys at the Renaissance Fencing Club. “I started at (Renaissance Fencing Club) when I was eight-years-old,” said Yang. “I thought (fencing) was interesting. It was like a puzzle or a game to see who would make the next right decision.” Senic, a 15-year-old sophomore at Bloomfield Hills, was a sports enthusiast from an early age. “I was six-years-

In early 2025, after nearly 30 years in the auction house business, Birmingham native Bonnie Brennan became the CEO of Christie’s, a worldwide leader in the global art and luxury business including auctions, art appraisal and international real estate. Growing up in Michigan, Brennan attended Academy of the Sacred Heart for 12 years and currently serves on the school’s board of trustees. Brennan shared that from a young age she was interested in art and still enjoys paintin

Her former career as a premier climate scientist enabled Dr. Petra Huck to travel and explore all around the world. But it is her current role as the inaugural Jennifer Caldwell and John Fisher Cranbrook Climate Science Fellow that keeps her where she wants to be and doing what she enjoys. While earning her PhD in Physics and Astronomy from the University of Canterbury in New Zealand, as well as an MS/BS in Meteorology and Climate Research from the University of Karlsruhe i

Tessa Shane, founder of The Donation Closet, learned the importance of giving back at a young age. “I have an older sister and she was involved in a lot of community service work,” she said. “I started seeing her getting involved in things, like the Friendship Circle, and other community service. She kind of guided some of my decisions and opened my eyes up to what you can do for others.” Shane also became involved in the Friendship Circle, a non-profit that offers programmin

Bloomfield Hills native and chef Justin Tootla appears on Season 23 of Bravo’s award-winning culinary competition series “Top Chef,” which takes place in the Carolinas. This season launched in March and will conclude in June. Tootla fondly remembers an “idyllic childhood” growing up next to Cranbrook Schools campus. “It was an amazing place to grow up…I was born in the ‘80s and grew up in the ‘90s, so the last generation to leave the house in the morning and come home at nigh