Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce's leadership classes name new members

Staff photo by C.B. Schmelter / Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Christy Gillenwater speaks during the annual Spirit of Innovation awards ceremony at The Signal on Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2019 in Chattanooga, Tenn.
Staff photo by C.B. Schmelter / Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Christy Gillenwater speaks during the annual Spirit of Innovation awards ceremony at The Signal on Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2019 in Chattanooga, Tenn.

The Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce has announced its newest members for its annual leadership development programs designed to aid future leaders in learning about and working together to help the local community.

Leadership Chattanooga, which offers monthly sessions for participants to find out more about Chattanooga and how to be a part of community solutions, will include 45 business and community leaders in its new class.

"Leadership Chattanooga brings people together to expand perspectives and understanding so that we can strengthen our community," said A. Celeste Herbert, president of the Leadership of Chattanooga Alumni Association. "We are proud to have built collaborative leadership capacity by matriculating more than 1,300 professionals through the program over the years and we look forward to developing the Class of 2022 to connect and engage across the region to address the challenges and opportunities we face."

Similarly, The Young Professionals of Chattanooga (YPC) class is a diverse group of 25 early and mid-career professionals representing a variety of industry sectors across the Chattanooga region including government, hospitality, business and financial operations, nonprofit, professional services, engineering and more.

"If you are a young professional looking for ways to gain new skills or improve on a current skill, connect with other like-minded young professionals, and connect with leaders in the community then Protégé is for you," said Shawnice Beard, the Protege Committee chair and an advisory board member for the Young Professionals of Chattanooga.

Leadership Chattanooga will launch its year-long program next month and includes in its 2021-22 class:

* Alayna Best, McKenzie Foundation

* Shadrina Booker, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Chattanooga

* Brittany Carman, Henderson Hutcherson & McCullough PLLC

* Crystle Carrion, Hamilton County District Attorney's Office

* Jason Corley, Duracell

* Logan Davis, Davis & Hoss, P.C.

* Michelle Davis, LearningRx

* Deanne Dawes, Dawes Hospitality

* Ross Dillard, Unum Group

* Alan Doak, Elliott Davis

* Anthony Easter, City of Chattanooga

* Scott Embry, Chattanooga Times Free Press

* Whitney Evans Snardon, Parkridge Medical Center

* Erin Farris, Crye-Leike Realtors

* John Freeze, The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

* Lindsey Gallaher, Christ United Methodist Church

* David Goodloe, Branch Technology

* Meghan Greene, A Step Ahead Chattanooga

* Angela Hester, Signal Centers, Inc.

* Dawn Hjelseth, River City Company

* Taylor Hodges, Reliance Partners

* Kirby Johnson, MarkeTeam

* Micah Johnson, Bridge Public Affairs

* Ternae Jordan Jr, Mt. Canaan Baptist Church / NAÉJOR Enterprise, LLC

* Ginny Kelly, Bad Beard Events

* Walter Lindsey, Unity One East, Inc.

* Angela Love, EPB

* Carlin McRae, Ruby Falls

* Mary Helen Montgomery, The Enterprise Center

* Robert Morris, Tennessee Valley Authority

* Tiffany Palmer, Volkswagen Group of America

* Sean Phipps, Chattanooga Tourism Company

* Kia Ruffin, Cempa Community Care

* Lily Sanchez, La Paz Chattanooga

* Murphy Sauceman, BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee

* Melody Shekari, Shekari Law PLLC

* Aletheia Silcott, Astec Industries

* Josh R. Singh, The Bethlehem Center

* Karen Sloan, CHI Memorial Foundation

* Tamara Steward, Tennessee Valley Authority

* Takeo Suzuki, The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

* Kurt Thomas, Market Street Partners

* Logan Threadgill, Chambliss, Bahner & Stophel, P.C.

* Jacquelyn Webb, McKee Foods Corporation

* Gregory Williams, U.S. Xpress

Members of the 2021-22 Protégé Chattanooga include:

* Jessica Bastianelli, United Way of Greater Chattanooga

* Felicia Beard, Volunteer Behavioral Health

* Chelsea Beebe, LEO Events

* Gisela Bellina, The Local Juicery

* Nathaniel Bird, Ragan Smith

* Conni Boykins, The Patten Group

* Kyle Briner, Henderson, Hutcherson, & McCullough, PLLC

* Erika Burnett, Women's Fund of Greater Chattanooga

* Kaelan Byrd, Lil Mama's Chicago Style Hoagy

* Dustin Carlton, Bellhop, Inc.

* Jonathan Finlay, Elliott Davis

* Devan Gann, Black Widow Creative, INC

* Paden Janney, Bellhop, Inc.

* Nicholas Jimmerson, Tennessee Valley Authority

* Abby Kinnard, Legacy Box

* Timothy Moore, Proof Incubator

* Angela Onan, Tennessee Valley Authority

* Scott Rannick, FirstBank

* Matthew Rava, Brakes To You

* Kimberly Smith, City of Chattanooga

* Danika Veldkamp, InfoSystems, Inc.

* Danica Vince Cruz, DVC Media

* Emma Wolfenbarger, Husch Blackwell

* Jacob Wuertz, Whiteboard

* Jessica York, Text Request

- Compiled by Dave Flessner

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