New year… New leadership development opportunity for workforce developers… On Thursday, January 9th, MAX will kick off the Leadership MAX Class of 2025, presented by Amazon, with an opening retreat at Callaway Gardens on January 9th and 10th, 2025. Class members will have an opportunity to explore “Strengths Based Leadership,” learn about authentic leadership and exercising servant leadership, consider how best to foster DEIA (diversity, equity, inclusion, and access) in leadership, and discuss metro Atlanta and Georgia’s workforce ecosystem. And of course, fun, food, and fellowship are part of the plan as well.
The Leadership MAX Class of 2025 was announced at our MAX Annual Meeting by program chairs John Helton, CEO, CareerRise, and Breezy Straton, Vice President, Elevate Douglas. The class is comprised of 25 workforce developers representing community based organizations, local workforce boards, state agencies, and private consultants – all key partners in workforce. Class members include:
- Autumn Andrews, Gwinnett County Government
- Rachel Ash, Elevate Douglas Economic Partnership
- Dr. Chuck Barlow Jr., Saving Our Sons & Sisters International aka SOSSI
- Ann Burris, Georgia Department of Human Services
- Dr. Maxine Cain, STEM Atlanta Women, Inc.
- Lisa N Davis, Atlanta Regional Commission
- Chanell Davis, City of Atlanta
- Carla DeBose, Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG)
- Tiffany Francis, Urban League of Greater Atlanta
- Nate Futrell, CareerRise
- Sergio Galeano, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta
- Brenda Johnson, The Collaborative Training Company
- Jason Martin, ThrivalED
- Dr. Ubani Ogbonnaya, Atlanta Technical College
- Angelia O’Neal, Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce
- Ashlee Phillips, First Step Staffing
- Anggie Pope, City of Refuge
- Dr.Susan Simmons-Stevenson, Americans Thrive, LLC
- Jahari Soward, NPursuit Career Partners
- Paul Terlemezian, Georgia LEARNS Now, LLC
- Jordan Troutman, Newton County School System
- Michelle Vialet, WorkSource Fulton
- Joshua Williams, Decide DeKalb Development Authority ; WorkSource DeKalb
- Toya Williams, STRIVE Atlanta
- Olivia Wilson, CobbWorks Inc. / WorkSource Cobb
Leadership MAX provides an exciting opportunity for workforce developers to grow within the workforce development community and develop into a community of peer leaders who will solve problems together in the years to come. Designed especially for developing leaders in the workforce development field, this cohort-based leadership development program is as an extension and evolution of our commitment to provide high-quality professional development and network-building opportunities for our members.
