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40 chosen for next Leadership Chattanooga class

Chattanooga Girls Leadership Academy students hold red balloons to support mentoring in Hamilton County on Tuesday at the Highland Park school. The event was sponsored by the United Way, Mayor Andy Berke and 68 nonprofits and schools.
Chattanooga Girls Leadership Academy students hold red balloons to support mentoring in Hamilton County on Tuesday at the Highland Park school. The event was sponsored by the United Way, Mayor Andy Berke and 68 nonprofits and schools. Chattanooga Girls Leadership Academy students hold red balloons to support mentoring in Hamilton County on Tuesday at the Highland Park school. The event was sponsored by the United Way, Mayor Andy Berke and 68 nonprofits and schools.

The Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce has announced the members of its 2016-2017 class for Leadership Chattanooga, a year-long program that offers new and emerging area leaders the chance to learn about and participate in local community projects.

“One of the core components of the program are small group projects that benefit our community,” said Diane Parks, director of Leadership and Community Development for the Chamber. “Every class comes up with different solutions and it’s exciting to see how each team project impacts the lives of people in our community in different ways.

The incoming class will include:

Brandon Abney, J.P. Morgan Chase Foundation

Paul Abraham, Chattanooga Times Free Press

Jessica Baker, Tennessee Valley Authority

James Brown, Cohutta Banking Co.

Andrew Childress, Hamilton County government

William Copeland, EPB

Erin Creal, Chattanooga Room in the Inn

Melissa Woodall Curtis, Woodall Agency Insurance

Mario Duarte, Volkswagen Chattanooga

Jessica Dumitru, Art Creations

Ashley Ewing, Vision Hospitality Group, Inc.

H. Nicole Flowers, First Tennessee Bank

Cortney Geary, Chattanooga Hamilton County Regional Planning Agency

Tanner Goodrich, Erlanger Health System

Jennifer Harper, Bridge Financial Planning, LLC

Jill Hartness, Boyd-Buchanan School

Jenny Hill, Papercut Interactive

Larissa Huskey, BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee

Zach Hutcherson, Henderson, Hutcherson & McCullough

Sarah Lane, Hamilton County public schools

Jeana Lee, Unum

Patrick Long, United Way of Greater Chattanooga

Douglas MacMillan, Baylor School

Daisy Maura-Smith, Parkridge Medical Center

Charles McDaniel, Legal Aid of East Tennessee

Charlie Milburn, True North Custom

Rebecca Miller, Chambliss, Bahner & Stophel, PC

Charles Mitchell, Hamilton County public schools

Kathleen Morgan, Chattanooga Housing Authority

Emily O’Donnell, Public Education Foundation

Lori Quillen, The Benwood Foundation

Donyel Scruggs, Girls Inc. of Chattanooga

Mark Smeltzer, Chattanooga Police Department

Reginald Smith, Bethlehem Community Center

David Steele, Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce

John Sweet, Niedlov’s Breadworks, Inc.

Samantha Teter, Chattanooga Symphony & Opera

Chris Topel, Northside Neighborhood House

Amanda Varnell, Dish T’Pass Cooking School & Catering Co.

Kyle Wilson, Miller & Martin PLLC

The Leadership Chattanooga class of 2015-16 completed five projects that impacted 1,042 students in 25 Hamilton County schools.