Forty-three future leaders of Chattanooga graduated from the Leadership Chattanooga program on Wednesday in ceremonies at The DoubleTree Hotel.
Leadership Chattanooga is presented by the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce and sponsored by the Chattanooga Chamber Foundation.
The program included presentations on class service projects, which offer class members the opportunity to hone their leadership skills in a group endeavor and to perform community service.
The 2009 projects include Buy Fresh Buy Local, an effort to encourage consumers to patronize vendors that sell food grown locally; Children Changing Chattanooga, an essay-writing contest allowing 8th graders to describe how they would change the community for the better; Dress the Code, creation of a uniform clothing closet for children in need at Orchard Knob Middle School; Kids Can, a program encouraging young people to develop a sense of community service; and Green Affair, a campaign to encourage recycling at local festivals.
The program also included reflections on the Leadership Chattanooga experience by class member Mike Dunne, external communications manager for Hamilton County government.
“Leadership Chattanooga is a 10-month program designed to develop leadership skills in outstanding early- or mid-career professionals,” said Diane Parks, director of leadership and community development for the Chamber. “The program is informative, challenging and motivational, providing interaction with the community’s top leadership, familiarity with key agencies and institutions, and community service team projects.”
This year’s Leadership Chattanooga graduates are: Cathy Barrett, Unum; Blair Bennington Cannon, Patrick, Beard, Shulman and Jacoway; Darlene Boyd, Regions Bank; Kelly Brexler, Office of Senator Lamar Alexander; Lilian Bruce, EPB; Linda Bullard, BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee; Adam Clagg, Covenant Church; Danielle Clark, Hamilton County Department of Education; April Crenshaw, Chattanooga State Technical Community College; Tony Dahlberg, The Samaritan Center; Mike Dunne, Hamilton County Government; Kelly Fitzgerald, Artech Design Group; Dawn Ford, Chattanooga Hamilton County Health Department; Kathryn Foster, Chattanooga Hamilton County Business Development Center; Brian Frye, Legal Aid of East Tennessee; Amanda Galas, Waterhouse Public Relations; Richard Gary, Orange Grove Center; Valerie Gifford, Tennessee Valley Federal Credit Union; Stacy Johnson, La Paz de Dios; La'Nita Jones, Tennessee Valley Authority; Deborah Luehrs, Siskin Children's Institute; Travis Lytle, Cornerstone Community Bank; Deborah Maddox, Community Impact of Chattanooga, Inc.; Angela Lee McClister, WTCI-TV (PBS); Jaime Melton, St. Peter's Episcopal School; Glenn Morris, M & M Industries, Inc.; Pam Morris, LBMC Technologies; Ivan Patton; Veronica Peebles, CARTA; Brad Pierce, The Johnston Southern Company; Tara Poole, CreateHere; Philip Pugliese, City of Chattanooga; Mark Reina, SunTrust Bank; Mary Robinson Roland, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga; Josiah Roe, Medium; Ken Smith, episode49, LLC; Craig Smith, Miller & Martin, PLLC; Derrall Stalvey, WRCB TV3; Matt Stovall, Barge, Waggoner, Sumner & Cannon; Shalin Tejani, Hamilton Plastics, Inc.; Chinyere Ubamadu, Ronald McDonald House Charities; Jason Underwood, Joseph Decosimo and Company, PLLC; and Jerri Weary, Chattanooga Police Department.
The community luncheon was sponsored by AT&T The Real Yellow Pages, EPB, TVA and Unum.