NASHVILLE, Tenn. (June 14, 2016) – Thirty five community and business leaders from Middle Tennessee have graduated from Leadership Middle Tennessee, Inc., a regional leadership institute. The 2016 class is from the 10-county area which includes Cheatham, Davidson, Dickson, Maury, Montgomery, Robertson, Rutherford, Sumner, Williamson and Wilson.
The 2015 Leadership Middle Tennessee (LMT) graduates and their respective counties are: CHEATHAM COUNTY: Stacy Pennington, Community Outreach Director, AARP; Dr. Tara Watson Tiller, Chief Academic Officer, Cheatham County School Board; DAVIDSON COUNTY: Fabian Bedne, Metro Council Member, Metropolitan Government of Nashville; Dr. Katherine Y. Brown, President/CEO, Roberta Baines Wheeler Pulmonary Hypertension Awareness Group; Mark Cleveland, Owner/CEO, Hobby Express; Maura Cunningham, Founder/ Executive Director, Rock The Street, Wall Street ; Laura Moore, Education Liaison, Mayor’s Office, Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County; Keith Simmons, Vice Chair, Cumberland Region Tomorrow; Douglas Small, CEO, Blue Dog Merch; Patricia Smith, Director of Public Affairs, Tennessee Housing Development Agency; Blaine Strock, Executive Vice President & Middle Tennessee Market President, Bank of Tennessee; Donna Yurdin, President, Credo Management Consulting; DICKSON COUNTY: Heath Larkin, Financial Advisor, Ameriprise Financial Services, Inc.; Dr. Arrita Summers, Director, Tennessee College of Applied Technology- Dickson; MAURY: Doug Burgess, Director of Power Operations, Columbia Power and Water Systems; Wil Evans, President, Maury County Chamber & Economic Alliance; Chaz Molder, Attorney, Mounger & Molder, PLLC; MONTGOMERY: Keith Lampkin, Director of Housing and Community Development, City of Clarksville; Jeff Truitt, Chief of Staff, Montgomery County Government; Joel Wallace, Attorney, Cunningham, Mitchell & Rocconi, and Clarkesville City Councilmember; ROBERTSON: Kathy Raglin, Executive Director, YMCA Middle Tennessee; RUTHERFORD: Anne Davis, Director, Saint Thomas Rutherford Foundation; Veronica Terrell, Sr. Manager-Engagements, Deloitte; Carolyn Tumbleson, Development Director, Jones College of Business at Middle Tennessee State University; SUMNER: Kee Bryant-McCormick, Attorney, Bone, McAllester, Norton; Leisa Byars, Franchise Owner, The Goddard School; Daisy Casey, Community Bank President, First Tennessee Bank; Dewayne Scott, President/CEO, SRS, Incorporated; WILLIAMSON: Matthew Bourlakas, President/CEO, Goodwill Industries of Middle Tennessee; Galen Hull, Consultant, Hull International; Justin Lowe, Principal/ Owner, Centric Architecture, Inc.; Tara Myers, Sr. Design Manager/ Risk Manager, Earl Swensson Associates, Inc.; Michael D. Williams, Jr, Senior Vice President/ Relationship Manager, Renasant Bank; WILSON: W. Paine Bone IV, Owner, Wilson County Hyundai; John Lancaster, Chairman & CEO, First Freedom Bank.
The nine month program highlights historic and contemporary perspectives on relevant regional themes and features presentations by leading experts and key community leaders. Sessions employ a mix of interactive presentations, facilitated dialogue, behind-the-scenes visits and more.
Leadership Middle Tennessee was formed in 1999 as an initiative of Partnership 2000 to contribute to future planned and sustainable economic and community growth and development in the fast-growing 10-county area through the participation of community leaders in an annual regional leadership program. According to Deborah Varallo, LMT chair of the Board of Directors, “Leadership Middle Tennessee was founded before the word ‘regionalism’ was incorporated into the middle Tennessee leaders’ vocabularies. We are very pleased to have been at the forefront of encouraging our business, government, community and nonprofit leaders to collaborate, support and work together on regional issues.”
Leadership Middle Tennessee is overseen by a regional board that is comprised of the Leadership Middle Tennessee alumni and business and community leaders. Leadership Middle Tennessee operates through the Jennings A. Jones College of Business at MTSU. Patti James is executive director. Deborah Varallo, founder of Varallo Public Relations, is chair of the Board of Directors. Visit www.leadmt.org for more information.
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2016 Commencement photos: VIEW HERE Photo credit: Beth Gwinn Photography
For additional information contact: Patti James 615.904.8207; Email: Patti.James@mtsu.edu Executive Director, Leadership Middle Tennessee
