In 2022, the MAX Board of Directors created the MAX Wendell Dallas Excellence in Leadership Award in honor of Wendell Dallas.
Dallas and partners launched MAX in 2014. Says Wendell about the development of MAX: “Not only are we committed to the workforce system, and we’re working together and supporting each other, we know each other, we trust each other, and we like each other.”
In 2016, Dallas accepted the invitation to serve as MAX’s founding board chair and continued to develop the board of directors and MAX organization in the years that followed while also serving as chair of Georgia’s State Workforce Development Board, in leadership roles with the National Association of State Workforce Board Chairs, and in many other civic leadership capacities.
In honor of the award’s namesake, the Wendell Dallas Excellence in Leadership Award recognizes individuals who have gone above and beyond in providing leadership in workforce development through the Metro Atlanta eXchange for Workforce Solutions (MAX) and/or MAX partners. An individual recognized through this award is known for leading with integrity, devotion, and selflessness in service to others in the workforce development sector.
During the MAX 2022 Annual Meeting, Jenny Taylor, Chief Mission Officer for Goodwill of North Georgia and MAX Vice Chair, became the first recipient of the MAX Wendell Dallas Excellence in Leadership Award.
Taylor was nominated by MAX board member Amelia Nickerson, President & CEO of First Step Staffing, a long-time collaborator with Taylor and Goodwill. Says Nickerson:
“Jenny is a local and national leader in workforce development. She has helped to established Goodwill of North Georgia as a gold-star provider of services and training throughout the region, built nationally replicated models around SNAP E&T; led efforts to coordinate partnership opportunities to help serve more people better and faster; and always made herself available to be a listening ear and strong thought partner. She ensures that the resources available through Goodwill are accessible to smaller nonprofits. Jenny is innovative, thoughtful, and determined to make a difference!”
Says John Helton, chair of the MAX Board of Directors and Executive Director of CareerRise:
“Jenny is the perfect recipient of our inaugural Wendell Dallas award. She epitomizes the quality of servant leadership that drives our regional workforce development system. Her generosity in sharing her vast knowledge and resources is unmatched and the improvements she’s helped make in serving our neighbors across north Georgia make her selection an obvious choice for this recognition.”
MAX congratulates Jenny Taylor!
