In 2022, the MAX Board of Directors created the MAX Wendell Dallas Excellence in Leadership Award in honor of founding board chair Wendell Dallas.
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.
Nate Marsh, director of workforce development, MUST Ministries, and member of the incoming Leadership MAX Class of 2026, has been named the fourth recipient of the MAX Wendell Dallas Excellence in Leadership Award. Marsh was recognized during the MAX 2025 Annual Meeting.
2024-2025 MAX Board Chair Jenny Taylor, chief mission officer and vice president of career services with Goodwill of North Georgia, recognized individuals who, along with Marsh, were also nominated by their peers for excellence in the field (listed in alpha order by last name):
- Quasandria Curry, Director, Westside Works, powered by CareerRise.
- Chad Houser, CEO, Café Momentum and the Momentum Advisory Collective.
- Mark Whitlock, CEO, Central Education Center.
Marsh was nominated by Greg Elder, vice president of client services with MUST Ministries. In honoring Marsh as the 2025 MAX Wendell Dallas Excellence in Leadership Award recipient, Taylor shared some words from Elder in nominating Marsh, such as:
Nate Marsh is an industry leader in metro Atlanta in the workforce development space. Nate regularly partners with MAX and industry partners to share the best practices and cutting-edge technology he has developed. Nate has a “global mindset”, believing that every workforce development program has purpose. He is willing to help any organization that wants to pursue workforce development as a service.
Nate has innovated new technologies long before AI and ChatGPT were in vogue. These tools have received rave reviews from Fortune 50 companies, and his program’s job capture rate is 3 times the industry average. Nate also considers details that few other programs consider and new provides industry-specific clothing to remove the up-front barriers for clients who get those jobs.
With over 700 jobs captured in FY25, Nate’s team constantly strives to do more, including bridging the digital divide through it’s computer training program, making training programs available where possible, and furthering the idea of a pathway out of poverty through his ACE Aspiring Community Entrepreneurs partnership with Kennesaw State University’s Coles College of Business and Notre Dame University’s Urban Poverty Initiative. Nate’s success with this program has become the model for Notre Dame’s expansion of the program.
Nate’s realistic but compassionate and positive outlook and his infectious enthusiasm endear him to all of his industry colleagues, staff, and team. His willingness to selflessly share best practices and his vision for workforce development to be the key to a successful future make Nate the perfect choice for this award.
MAX congratulates Nate Marsh as the 2025 MAX Wendell Dallas Excellence in Leadership Award recipient!
ABOUT THE MAX WENDELL DALLAS EXCELLENCE IN LEADERSHIP AWARD
Wendell 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. Dallas is well-known for going above and beyond in providing leadership in workforce development and for leading with integrity, devotion, and selflessness in service to others in the workforce development sector.
The MAX Wendell Dallas Excellence in Leadership Award was created by the MAX Board of Directors in 2022. Previous award recipients include Jenny Taylor, Karen Leone de Nie, and Dr. Barbara Wall.
