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2026 C-SUITE AWARDS HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | OCTOBER 19, 2026 B9 www.cocc.com 2026 C-Suite Award Honoree RICHARD LEONE COCC proudly congratulates Richard Leone, Chairman, CEO & President, on being named a recipient of Hartford Business Journal's C-Suite and Lifetime Achievement Awards 2026. A respected business leader, educator, and industry advocate, Rich's vision and commitment to innovation, service, and community continue to drive COCC's success and make a lasting impact across the financial services industry. Congratulations to Rich and all of this year's honorees. C H A I R M A N , C E O & P R E S I D E N T | C O C C H A R T F O R D B U S I N E S S J O U R N A L ' S NOMINATION DEADLINE: DECEMBER 11, 2026 HELP US RECOGNIZE THE OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTIONS OF WOMEN LEADERS WHO ARE MAKING A DIFFERENCE THROUGHOUT CONNECTICUT. SUBMIT A NOMINATION FOR HARTFORD BUSINESS JOURNAL'S 2027 WOMEN IN BUSINESS AWARDS! 2027 NOMINATIONS ARE OPEN! OR VISIT HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM/HBJ-EVENTS MAJOR SPONSOR WINNER CATEGORY | C E O, L A R G E C O M PA N Y, 200+ E M P LOY E E S Richard A. Leone Chairman, President & CEO COCC Inc. Size of Organization: $256 million Employees: 700 Education: Bachelor's degree, accounting, Central Connecticut State University R ichard A. Leone is chairman, president and CEO of COCC Inc., a Southington-based provider of banking technology services to banks and credit unions. He leads the company's growth strategy, promoting its banking technologies and cooperative ownership model. His work includes developing partnerships with clients, employees, educational institutions and industry organizations. What have been your biggest professional accomplishments over the past year? Since becoming CEO, I have significantly expanded COCC's annual revenue from $20 million to over $256 million while consistently maintaining high client service ratings, remaining true to the cooper- ative's founding mission established in 1967. Under my leadership, COCC has focused on delivering innovative digital banking technology solu- tions that provide clients with a competitive advantage in an ever-evolving banking marketplace. This past year, I have continued to drive the company's growth while adapting and aligning our culture to an ever-changing flexible and remote workplace. In what ways are you involved in the community? I am involved with the Northwest CT Community Foundation as a donor and through its scholarship fund, and I am involved at Central Connecticut State University as the former American Savings Bank Foundation chair in Banking and Finance as well as an adjunct/ associate professor in the business school at CCSU. WINNER CATEGORY | C E O, L A R G E N O N P R O F I T, 200+ E M P LOY E E S Sonja LaBarbera President & CEO Gaylord Specialty Healthcare Size of Organization: $114 million budget Employees: 636 full-time; 155 part- time; 289 per diem Education: Master's degree, organiza- tional leadership, Quinnipiac Univer- sity; master's degree, speech-language pathology, State University of New York College, Fredonia S onja LaBarbera was appointed president and CEO of Gaylord Specialty Healthcare in 2019, becoming the first woman and speech-language pathologist to lead the organization since its founding in 1902. Her work spans clinical operations, strategic planning, business devel- opment, leadership development and philanthropy. She oversees efforts to expand access to care and develop partner- ships with healthcare, academic and research organizations. What have been your biggest professional accomplishments over the past year? Over the past year, the focus has been on advancing strategic initia- tives to strengthen Gaylord's financial, operational and clinical performance. To meet growing demand from our acute-care partners, we added inpa- tient capacity. On the outpatient side, we expanded our footprint by 30%, increasing access to our specialized orthopedic and neurorehabilitation expertise with a new speech therapy clinic in Guilford; opened our first outpatient clinic in Fairfield County; and relocated our Cheshire clinic to a significantly larger space to accommo- date the burgeoning patient need. We also successfully launched a new, outpatient Interventional Pain Center, offering non-opioid, non-sur- gical solutions for persistent pain. This year also marked the launch of a cohesive Center for Education, bringing together Gaylord's CNA Academy, nurse residency program and the state's first physiatry residency program to strengthen our workforce and advance the education of the next generation of rehabilitation professionals.