Celebrating AADOM’s 2025 Green Leader: Brooke Wallisch’s Tips for a More Sustainable Dental Practice
We are very excited to introduce you all to our 2025 Green Leader:
Brooke Wallisch, Office Manager at Krider Dental Wellness Center in Fort Wayne, Indiana!
Creating an environmentally friendly culture and mindset within your dental practice has an impact that reaches far beyond the physical walls of the office. Made possible by a grant from the Henry Schein Cares Foundation, AADOM created this award as part of its Green Leader Initiative, which aims to empower practice managers to reduce their practices’ environmental footprint and lead their teams in becoming part of dentistry’s green future.
Environmentally-Friendly “Green” Tips for Your Dental Practice
Throughout the year, we’ll update this post with Brooke’s top tips for your dental practice, with the newest at the top:
Tip # 1: Evaluate Your Going Green Stance
What does your office use that could be wasteful or unnecessary? Getting the proper mindset is step one.
Step two is to create a to-do list to make more eco-conscious decisions moving forward. Hold yourself and your team accountable and create a timeline to accomplish your goals.
Make sure your team is aware, and let them see where you are versus where you want to be. Your team will be an integral part of ensuring this works.
Meet AADOM’s 2025 Green Leader!
What is your definition of a Green Leader?
A green leader in dentistry is someone who champions environmentally friendly practices within the dental field. They focus on reducing waste, conserving resources, and promoting sustainable choices in the office while encouraging their teams and patients to do the same. By blending leadership with eco-conscious action, a Green Leader helps create a healthier practice, community, and planet.
How does your team support your efforts?
In a dental office, having your team’s support is essential for having a “Go Green” mindset. My team contributes by:
- Daily Habits & Awareness – Staff helps reduce waste by reusing, recycling, and properly disposing of hazardous materials.
- Supply Choices – Assisting with ordering eco-friendly products and choosing options for transport with a lower carbon footprint.
- Digital Systems – Supporting paperless workflows by using digital records, patient communications, and digital forms.
A Green Leader may set the vision, but it’s the whole team’s participation that makes it work day to day.
What is your favorite GREEN thing to do?
I really enjoy finding a “greener” alternative to something we once thought was not available. Working in the dental field, it is hard to find more eco-friendly options, so when we find one….I am so excited!
How does your work/green mindset carry over to your own/home life?
My green mindset doesn’t stop when I leave the office. It has more so become a new way of life. At home, I make a conscious effort to recycle, reduce energy use, and choose sustainable products. I also look for ways to involve my family in simple, eco-friendly habits, like reducing single-use plastics. It’s important to me that sustainability is not just something I encourage at work, but also something I model in my personal life.
As the 2025-26 Green Leader, what would you like to share with practice owners about how their leadership can impact the environmental impact of their practices?
As practice owners, your leadership has the power to shape more than clinical excellence, it shapes culture. When you choose to lead with sustainability in mind, you inspire your teams, influence your patients, and set a standard that goes beyond dentistry.
Every eco-conscious decision, no matter how small, creates a ripple effect that builds momentum, reduces our collective footprint, and shows that caring for people also means caring for our planet. Your leadership today has the power to create a legacy of responsibility, innovation, and lasting change.
Brooke Wallisch: A Passionate Leader in Dental Practice Management
Brooke Wallisch is the Office Manager at Krider Dental Wellness Center in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where she combines her passion for dentistry with a strong commitment to leadership development and sustainable business practices. Her career in dentistry began in 2017 as a Certified Dental Assistant, and her hands-on clinical experience continues to inform her empathetic and effective management style.
In 2022, Brooke earned her Associate’s Degree in Business Administration, along with certifications in Human Relations and Digital Marketing. These achievements have equipped her with the tools to lead high-performing teams, implement innovative office strategies, and foster a culture of continuous improvement.
A proud member of the American Association of Dental Office Managers (AADOM), Brooke is actively pursuing her Fellowship (FAADOM), with plans to complete the designation at the 2026 national conference. Her professional development goals are rooted in a deep belief in servant leadership—mentoring her team to grow both personally and professionally.
Brooke is equally passionate about integrating green and wellness-centered practices into the dental office environment. She believes that sustainable operations not only benefit the planet but also contribute to a healthier, more mindful workplace for both patients and staff.
Outside of her day-to-day responsibilities, Brooke is known for her positive energy and ability to inspire those around her. She brings heart, strategy, and a forward-thinking mindset to everything she does—always with a smile.
About the AADOM Green Leader Initiative:
The AADOM Green Leader Initiative empowers dental practice leaders to adopt greener practices in the dental office. The initiative aims to engage members to reduce the environmental impact of “business as usual” dentistry and to show how there are real bottom-line benefits to implementing specific changes that will result in reducing waste and using environmentally friendly products.
This initiative is made possible through a generous grant from the Henry Schein Cares Foundation.
Are you our next Green Leader?
Criteria to nominate the 2026 Green Leader:
- Use of Green Products in the practice
- Use of Green Practices
- Current AADOM member and Office Manager
- Must be registered to attend the 2026 AADOM Conference, September 3-5, 2026, in Orlando, FL
- Environmental mindset around your dental practice
- Sets example for his/her dental team
- Deadline for submissions is June 5, 2026
Click here to nominate our 2026 Green Leader!
