Beacon Vol 3
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Do we get the leaders
we need or deserve?
When Savannah turns 300 in 2033, these kids will be eligible to vote.
What kind of city will we create for them?
How do we make a place for them at the table?
How will we prepare them to lead?
Savannah’s Civil Society p. 52
Leadership on the Field p. 64 Meet the Bridge Builders p. 72
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FROM THE EDITORS
One Topic to Rule
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Editorial Page Editor
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Associate Editor/Beacon
Amy Paige Condon
Contributing Writers,
Researchers and Editors
Molly Clancy, Betty Darby,
Bill Dawers, Ariel Felton, Nancy
Fullbright, Anthony Garzilli, Meaghan
Walsh Gerard, Andrea Goto, Rabbi
Robert Haas, Allison Hersh, Tom
Kohler, Jessica Leigh Lebos, Patrick
Longstreth, Sara E. Murphy, Heather
Ohlman, Rebecca Rolfes
Graphic Design
Kristen Morales
Contributing Photographers
and Illustrators
John Carrington, Siobhan Egan,
Molly Hayden, Beau Kester
©2019
A PUBLICATION OF
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Beacon had its genesis more
than a year ago when community
leaders and others expressed
interest in developing a vision for
what our community could be by
2033 – Savannah’s 300th anniversary.
With those conversations in
mind, this publication was born
just five months ago. Our goal
was to challenge and raise the
level of discussion by presenting
facts, details and ideas around
a topic. As we held discussions
about the first topics on infrastructure
and affordable housing,
the conversations always turned
to vision and leadership.
The decisions to fix the problems
around these topics are
long-term ones, requiring planning
and a systematic approach
through leadership. Yet there was
a constant sigh that the “bench”
for tomorrow is quiet and the will
to make long-term decisions is
weak. We turn to Leadership for
this edition.
The questions are many: How
do we get the leaders we need and
deserve? How do we close the
gap between what we want in our
leaders and what we actually get?
How can we cultivate new leaders
and encourage people to run for
public office?
In this issue, we explore the
paths to leadership positions, the
groups working to fill the “bench”
and the mindsets of those who
lead and encourage others.
In our system, healthy communities
rise from a balance of
leadership from business, government
and civil society made
up of neighborhoods, nonprofits
and social groups. We look at the
pieces of our leadership pipeline.
The publication was created to
offer ideas and potential solutions
to address the key opportunities
in our community. It is about
thinking with a broader vision
and not about thinking small or
narrow.
This issue is no exception.
Today we shine the light on those
who’ve come before and those
who are helping others to grow
into tomorrow’s visionaries, connectors
and leaders.
Who among us will invest in
others, let down the ladder for
others to climb and work for goals
only realized when they are gone?
These are today’s challenges for us
now and our children.
We appreciate any comments
from you as we move forward
with Beacon. Please send them to
mtraynor@savannahnow.com or
scatron@savannahnow.com
Thank you for reading.
Michael Traynor, publisher
Susan Catron, executive editor
6 BEACON
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15,000 SAVANNAH ALUMNI
141 ACADEMIC PROGRAMS
3 CAMPUSES
YOUR UNIVERSITY
Think. Serve. Lead. Grow.
STATESBORO • SAVANNAH • HINESVILLE • ONLINE
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BEACON
PARTNERS
HunterMaclean
8 BEACON
Inside
THE
ROUND-UP
WITH HEART
A fearless
entrepreneur
and a concerned
mother prove
that leadership
requires passion
Pages 18 & 26
LET’S TALK
We’ll never move
forward unless
we learn to talk
to one another
again Page 22
FEATURES: WE’RE THE PEOPLE
WISE
COUNSEL
Sage advice
from the torchbearers
Page 42
CIVIL
SOCIETY
A look at the
“third sector”
Page 52
HEAD OF
THE CLASS
Youth leadership
programs
Page 58
ACROSS
THE GOAL
LINE
Leadership on
the field
Page 64
A DEEPER
BENCH
Creating a
culture of
leadership
Page 68
BRIDGE
BUILDERS
Meet nine
community
connectors
Page 70
LEAD THE
WAY
From nonprofit
boards and city
commissions to
elected office,
there are many
ways to step up
Page 29
ESSAYS FROM THE EXPERTS
YES/NO
Rebecca Rolfes
Page 82
MORAL
LEADERSHIP
Rabbi Robert
Haas
Page 84
GOOD
QUESTIONS
Tom Kohler
Page 86
ACTION
PLAN
Do we need a
new form of local
government?
Page 88
OUR VIEW
From the
Editorial Page
Page 90
ON THE
COVER:
Future Voters/
Future Leaders
Models: (from
left) Mark
Mrsan, Dennis
James Ceasar,
Emoree Reed,
Oscar Blu, and
Kenai Groomes.
Grace Wren
Carey is pictured
on page 43.
Location:
Hancock Askew
Board Room
Photographer:
Molly Hayden
Mea Culpa
On page 82 of the June 2019 issue of Beacon, the Our View column states that
17,000 locals sit on the waiting list for subsidized housing. That figure should have
read 13,000. Fewer, but still significant.
September 2019 BEACON 9
Leading The Way to a Healthier Tomorrow.
To ensure the long-term health of our community remains
robust, St. Joseph’s/Candler partners with a wide variety
of educational institutions that inspire, train, and mentor a
new generation of healthcare leaders.
One of those leading partnerships is with The Medical
College of Georgia (MCG) School of Medicine.
For more than a decade, St. Joseph’s/Candler has
served as a site of the Southeast Georgia Clinical Campus
of Medical College of Georgia training third- and
fourth-year medical students through clinical rotations
under the mentorship of private volunteer physicians.
This hospital-based, hands-on educational experience
allows students to train with highly skilled specialists,
video conference with other MCG campuses, confer
with professors and visiting professors, take tests and
maximize their participation with colleagues on other
campuses throughout the state.
It’s just one of the many
ways St. Joseph’s/
Candler works to
protect the health and
wellbeing of our community
and its future.
sjchs.org
STEP INTO THE DREAM
an immersive 4D experience
Book now at scadstory.com
OUR TAKES
We asked our contributors to tell us their
biggest takeaways from working on this issue.
Molly Clancy
Most nonprofits
operate on very
lean budgets.
That puts a lot
of responsibility
on their boards
and on our
community
to cultivate
leaders who
are truly willing
to serve and
will rise to the
challenge of
serving them
well.
Amy Paige
Condon
The best
leaders
remember that
they represent
the people,
whether those
people are the
ones that report
to them on
the job or are a
constituency
where nearly
half the people
did not vote
for them. They
understand
that when they
create space
for the most
vulnerable,
then they have
created a place
that serves the
needs of all.
Betty Darby
Finding a leader
willing to run for
office reminds
me of that old
adage: It’s hard
to find someone
smart enough
to do the job
and dumb
enough to take
it. Combine the
responsibilities
with the exposure,
and who
wants to be
on the ballot?
But there’s a
work-around
with political
appointments,
where you can
exercise power
without public
scrutiny or voter
approval.
Bill Dawers
We complain
endlessly about
local leadership,
but too many of
us never get off
the sidelines.
We don’t vote,
don’t run for
office, and don’t
participate in
civil discourse
in the public
realm. If residents
become
more engaged,
we will inevitably
have leaders
who are more
responsive to
voters.
Ariel Felton
I didn’t know
much about
the history of
the Savannah
Fire Rescue,
but with
Kelly Zacovic
and Luciana
Spracher at
City Hall, I was
able to chase
information
down to a single
source. I could
see any discussion
about the
term “master
firefighter,” as
well as departmental
changes
throughout
history.
Nancy
Fullbright
Whitney
Houston said it
best when she
sang, “I believe
the children are
the future.” In
all seriousness,
adults in this
community
should pull a
chair up to their
table and start
taking notes.
What they’re
doing will
impress you.
Meaghan
Walsh Gerard
Leadership is
not about titles
or flowcharts.
It’s about who
shows up and
gets things
done. Anyone
can be a leader
because anyone
can identify a
need and do
something
about it.
Anthony
Garzilli
Leadership is
effective when
there is trust.
In the Jenkins
football
program, trust
is based on the
players and
coaches knowing
they are in it
together. If the
players trust
and listen to the
coaches, then
the coaches will
give everything
they have to
help the players
succeed. In
turn, the student-athletes
will show up
and do their
best for each
other.
Andrea Goto
It was
refreshing to
see leaders
collaborating,
not competing.
When we lift
others, we lift
ourselves, and
that kind of
thinking and
action is at the
root of all that
is good in our
community.
Allison Hersh
Leadership truly
is a learned
skill that can
be nurtured,
developed
and shared.
Fortunately,
Savannah
offers a wide
range of
leadership
development
resources and
mentoring
opportunities
for emerging
leaders with a
hunger to get
involved and
make a positive
impact on the
community.
Jessica Leigh
Lebos
I wonder
if today’s
potential
young leaders
have the same
support and
guidance as
the activists
of the last
century. The
leaders of today
and tomorrow
must not only
inspire, but
be effective:
It’s going to
take more
than marches
and meetings
to create
equitable job
opportunities,
prepare for
climate change
and create
solid policies
that uplift
and protect
every citizen of
Savannah.
Patrick
Longstreth
Strong leaders
see themselves
thrust forward
by necessity,
rather than
opportunity.
Sara E.
Murphy
None of the
people I interviewed
considered
themselves
leaders, even
though every
single one of
them clearly is.
When pressed,
they seemed to
think that “real”
leaders fit a
more anachronistic
definition
and reflected
deeply embedded
views about
who is allowed
to occupy
positions of
power, and how
that power is
wielded.
Heather
Ohlman
I was deeply affected
that the
transient nature
of my generation
will affect our
community’s future
leadership.
We want to see
a lot of change,
but apparently
we don’t want
to stick around
one place long
enough to
make it happen.
Although there
are many ways
to define a good
leader, people
know a bad
leader when
they see one.
12 BEACON
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DIGITAL CONTENT
CORPORATE STRATEGY
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THE ROUND-UP
Lay of
the Land
If we were to ask if you would
consider running for office, how
many of you would raise your hand?
What about serving on a nonprofit
board or one of the many publicinterest
commissions or authorities
that hold real power over decisions
that affect our lives and the future of
our community?
Hmm. That’s what we thought.
Whatever the reasons, it’s clear
that at all levels of leadership —
corporate, communal, educational,
governmental — we often have a
real divide between what we seek
in our leaders and what we get.
As a representative democracy,
the leaders we end up with largely
depend upon our own engagement.
But because of both real and
perceived barriers, qualified and
visionary people often throw in the
towel before they even throw their
hats in the ring.
You don’t have to be the mayor
to make a difference or CEO to
inspire the best in others. There
are many ways to serve … and to
serve nobly. Herein, we explore the
many pathways to leadership within
our community and talk with a few
daring souls who have stepped up.
An
Enlightened
Citizenry
OFF
BY BILL DAWERS
On the day of the 2015 general election in Savannah,
local Facebook feeds were dotted with
posts from folks who went to their usual polling
places only to discover that they didn’t even live
in the city. It is tempting to mock residents who
don’t know where they live, but the confusion is
understandable, at least to a point. Our political
boundaries often seem arbitrary, even nonsensical.
I suspect relatively few area residents can reel off
the names of all the elected officials who represent
them.
Try it.
Whom have you and your neighbors elected to the
U.S. House, Georgia House, Georgia Senate, county
commission, city council, school board and so on?
I was reminded of that 2015 election day confusion
after I was asked to share some thoughts about
political engagement and civic involvement for this
issue of the Beacon. We live in a
curious era of mass media and
social media; many Americans
know minute details about President
Trump’s latest tweets but
know relatively little about basic
governance in their home cities
and counties.
Basic Information
Residents who want to become
more engaged in the community
should probably start by
looking at maps and reviewing
other basic information. Local
governmental bodies publish
a wide range of information —
from meeting agendas to crime
statistics — that citizens can access
independently.
Choosing
visionary
leaders that
represent the
interests of
the people
depends
largely on a
public that
is interested,
informed, and
engaged
16 BEACON
And even though this may
sound self-serving, your local
newspaper can fill in the background
and backstory on topics
important to you. We also
have other media outlets that
cover a wide range of important
local news, but too many area
residents rely on social media
pages and other sources that
have little if any editorial control.
Too much of our public
discourse, especially on social
media, consists of rants that are
disconnected from actual facts.
In particular, poor knowledge
of political boundaries, governmental
structures, and demographics
hampers our civic
discourse. [See sidebar: Improve
Your News Literacy.]
For example, I encounter
many residents who dramatically
overestimate the regional
population. The widespread
ignorance about basic demographic
data leads to frustration
that we don’t have everything
that can be found in bigger cities
and to a sense of hopelessness
about our collective ability to effect
change.
According to the U.S. Census,
the population of Chatham
County is approaching 300,000.
About half of those people live
within the Savannah city limits.
The population of the Savannah
Metropolitan Statistical Area
(Chatham, Effingham and Bryan
counties) is just shy of 400,000.
By contrast, the Charleston,
South Carolina metro area has
more than 700,000 residents.
The sprawling Atlanta metro area
has nearly 6 million residents.
Savannah’s small scale certainly
has drawbacks, but we
should focus on the upsides.
Our area is large enough that
residents can find myriad opportunities
to engage in civic
life, but small enough so that
individual actions can have immediate
positive impacts.
Interested in helping households
that struggle with food
insecurity? Check out the volunteer
opportunities with America’s
Second Harvest of Coastal
Georgia.
IMPROVE YOUR NEWS LITERACY
The Pew Research Center
confirms that people tend to
gravitate toward news sources
that support their political beliefs.
But, efforts such as the News
Literacy Project, directed toward
high school students, and Stony
Brook University’s Center for News
Literacy, focused on creating
resources for journalists and other
writers, are helping to combat
“confirmation bias” [see page 22].
We citizens must get better at
parsing fact from fiction and
recognize propaganda designed
to distract and outrage. The truth:
There is not, on every story, equal
arguments on both sides. Some
arguments are backed by facts,
history, science. Fortunately,
discernment is a learned skill. So,
before you share something on
social media, check your facts (and
your bias) at these websites:
AllSides.com — places stories
from a variety of sources on a
spectrum, far-left to far-right and
side-by-side.
FactCheck.org — for 15 years,
the Annenberg Public Policy
Center has been holding politicians
accountable for their misleading
statements and outright lies.
PolitiFact.com — a project
of the Poynter Institute that
assesses the veracity of claims
made by politicians, pundits, and
commentators on a scale from
“True” to “Pants on Fire.”
SunlightFoundation.com — an
online news source focused on
open government, accountability
and transparency.
OpenSecrets.org — identifies
the sources of funding donated to
candidates and elected officials.
Washington Post Fact Checker
— equal-opportunity analysis of
claims made by politicians, news
outlets, ads and political action
committees. It uses Pinocchio
emojis to rate “truthiness.”
Know the difference between a
reporter and a columnist? Can you
list reputable sources for reporters?
This quiz will test your news
literacy: newslit.org/get-smart/
how-news-literate-are-youquiz/
Do you think libraries serve important civic
functions? Live Oak Public Libraries, which has 16
branches in the area, is always looking for volunteers.
Want to help address homelessness? Check out
the volunteer programs at the Chatham-Savannah
Authority for the Homeless.
If you want to help unwanted animals, the Humane
Society of Greater Savannah needs volunteers,
too.
These are just examples, of course. Depending
on your skills and passions, you can almost certainly
find a nonprofit group or house of worship that
needs your help. Individual actions can make profound
differences.
Individual votes matter, too.
Fewer than 40 percent of voters in the city of
Savannah turned out for the runoff election in
2015. Eddie DeLoach became mayor with only
12,472 votes. In the general election in November
2015, Estella Shabazz needed just 1,435 votes to be
re-elected in the city’s 5th aldermanic district. Van
Johnson was reelected in the 1st district with just
1,744 votes.
In 2016, Al Scott ran unopposed in his bid for
reelection as chair of the Chatham County Commission.
The winners ran unopposed in five of the
eight County Commission races.
With so little competition, candidates rarely
have to engage in vigorous debates about public
policy. Elected officials have little incentive to listen
to residents who are unlikely to vote.
Grassroots Level
We need to have an all-hands-on-deck approach
if we want to address the endemic problems in the
Savannah area – the high poverty rate, the high crime
rate, the low level of educational attainment – but
our local politics have been scarred by complacency,
cynicism and a widespread sense of powerlessness.
But we do not have to accept the status quo.
Residents who want to get off the sidelines
should probably begin by engaging their immediate
neighbors. The city of Savannah has 105 official
neighborhoods – yes, 105 – and every resident,
whether homeowner or renter, deserves a voice.
Keep in mind, however, that our voices will
have the most impact when we engage in direct
conversation. Neighborhood groups on Facebook
and other social media sites can play important
roles, but they can also be platforms for spreading
misinformation and sowing suspicion. We need to
make sure that our online gathering points break
through boundaries rather than solidify them.
And, we need to remember that we face boundaries
beyond those on maps.
With good will and honest talk, we can use our
various civic platforms to break down other barriers,
especially the divisions of race and class that have
played such sinister roles in Savannah’s history.
We are all in this together.
September 2019 BEACON 17
Q&A
From the Heart
BY HEATHER OHLMAN
JOHN CARRINGTON
In conversation with Diana
Morrison, founder and president of
Ad Specialty Services
Note: This interview was edited
for space and clarity. For more
of our conversation, visit
savannahnow.com/beacon.
Being raised by a Depression-era mother made a lasting impression on
Diana Morrison, who maintains that leadership is not something you do,
but rather a culture you create.
Morrison, a native of Clarkston, Georgia, near Stone Mountain, learned
from her mother the intrinsic value of sharing time, labor, and expertise not
just to succeed in business but to help uplift others. She carries those lessons to
the office daily as the president of Ad Specialty Services, a thriving promotional
products and apparel company she founded in Savannah more than 30 years
ago. A bona fide business leader, Morrison was only the third woman to serve
as chair of the Savannah Area Chamber of Commerce in its now nearly 215-year
history. She’s started more than 40 mentorship groups in the city and serves
on countless boards, including United Way, YMCA of Coastal Georgia and the
Armstrong Foundation of Georgia Southern University.
How were your ideas about
leadership shaped by your
upbringing?
I was raised by a group of women. My
mom was widowed twice. I was raised by
women who were taken out of high school
to come home and work the farms during
the Depression. If you had this and I didn’t
have that — they all supported each other
in mentoring, shaping, and supporting.
It shaped who I think is important in life,
and that people care about other people.
You started your business in the
trunk of your car. How did you go
from trunk to go-to promotional
products supplier?
I had my daughter when I was just
over 18. I was a single mom before she
was three, so getting a job without a really
nice pedigree behind me was not the
easiest thing in the world. My soon-tobe
ex-husband [knew] this man who did
customized branded products. I walked
into his office and spent a day with him,
and I came out with a trunk full of catalogs.
I knew that I had to sell $450 worth
of product every day to eat, and I didn’t
come home until I did every day.
So [I built] one customer at a time, and
eventually, I got to the point where I couldn’t
keep up. Many people feel like they have to
be huge to be successful and have notoriety.
The book Small Giants [by Bo Burlingham]
changed my life because now, I don’t really
want to be bigger. I just want to be better,
and so that’s what we strive to do every day.
You offer flexible working hours.
Was this an important benefit for
your employees because of your
experience?
It was, but also because of my past
where everyone supported everyone.
We’ve [offered] flexibility that allows [employees]
to be the parents that they want
to be and have the work-life balance that
they want, and also feel that they’re contributing
to their household income.
What’s the difference between
being a business owner and a
leader?
I don’t know that there is a difference. I
think a lot of people resent what they call
“leadership” because some people don’t
18 BEACON
lead. They try to push or pull, and I
think that true leadership is giving
back your time and your expertise and
allowing them to do their jobs.
How do you define a good
leader?
No matter what you do, I just don’t
feel like leadership is a thing you do.
It’s a way of life and it’s a culture that
you create around yourself to allow
others to sit with you and learn from
you, or to have you sit with them and
teach.
Have you had to fight any
stigma as a female executive?
Absolutely. I’ve been asked a lot of
times who I had to sleep with to hold
the gavel [Chamber of Commerce
chairperson]. My answer always was,
‘You know who I had to sleep with to
get there and hold that gavel? Myself.’
Is the Savannah community
receptive to women leaders?
Yes. If you asked me that 25 years
ago, I would’ve said no.
What’s changed?
Eleanor Roosevelt’s theory. Add value,
speak when you know what you’re
talking about and you know it’s relevant,
and it’s logical, and it’s correct.
Why did you want to serve as
the chamber president?
I didn’t want to be a woman that
took the gavel as the third woman in
201 years because I was a woman and
they needed one. I didn’t want that. I
just wanted to be there to show that all
women are not there just to be pretty
and giggle. I wanted to be taken very
seriously — and I really have this drive
for people to understand the value of
small businesses in this country. And
women-owned small businesses.
I get asked all the time, ‘Diana, 20
years ago, how did you get around
the table with the business guys with
white shirts?’
And my answer is always the same:
if you run your mouth too much, people
don’t want to hear you. If you have
something to say that has value, say
it. If what comes out of your mouth is
practical and logical, it will always be
respected, and that is an Eleanor Roosevelt-thing
from day one for me.
What was your greatest
accomplishment as president
of the chamber?
Putting small business on the map
in front of big business. Helping them
to understand our value and also our
challenges. Most small businesses
don’t really know what they need to
know. Nobody coaches us after about
our fifth year of business. The city
helps you get started ... and then they
have nothing for you.
Did you model your leadership
after anyone?
You know how much I love Eleanor
Roosevelt, but I also have many local
mentors and leaders I admire: Dr. Joe
Buck, Dr. Bill Cathcart, Jenny Gentry,
Gail Eubanks, Marjorie Young. There
are so many, I could list a book’s worth.
Why do you admire Eleanor
Roosevelt so much?
It’s kind of like this: my humble beginnings
came from the wrong side of
the track. Got pregnant in high school.
Didn’t have the opportunity to go to college.
I was raised in the ’50s and ’60s by
a single mom — and that wasn’t accepted
then. And here is Eleanor. Ugly as a
mud fence. Had a husband who couldn’t
keep his pants zipped up and was in the
public eye. Died with a woman at her
side before it was OK for same-sex relationships.
Yet she was asked as the only
woman to sit around the table to form
the United Nations because she was
logical and practical, and she knew that
when she spoke, what came out of her
mouth had to have value.
What is an under-valued or
overlooked leadership trait?
Mules. All I ever hired were race
horses — because they were like me. A
race horse can never do anything but
race to the end. They can’t figure out
how to do the things it takes to get to
the end. But, it takes a mule to take the
idea you have and figure out how to
make it successful and sustainable.
What is a business owner’s or
community leader’s greatest
asset?
The respect and trust of human collateral.
You can’t buy that.
What always gets you through
tough times or hard decisionmaking?
Prayer.
What legacy do you want to
leave in the Savannah business
community?
This is probably the most important
thing to me in life, and I would love for
it to be on my tombstone if I’m buried,
but I don’t really want to be buried; I’d
rather be cremated. ‘She replaced herself.’
Because if you’re doing good work,
and you have a value in the community,
and you hold on to that and you never
give it away to somebody who comes
behind you, you failed ultimately. Because,
it wasn’t sustainable.
September 2019 BEACON 19
Rethink
the Rules of
Engagement
To realize our city’s potential, our leaders
need to seek input from unexpected corners
BY SARA E. MURPHY
When voters approved the
1-cent Special Purpose Local
Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) VI
in 2015, $7.25 million was earmarked
for the Pennsylvania Avenue
Resource Center (PARC),
which opened in July of this year
at 425 Pennsylvania Ave. A sleek,
modern facility planned and
built within a year, PARC offers
a menu of culinary training, nutrition,
fitness, youth, computer,
and arts programs through a
variety of partner organizations
to serve eastside neighborhoods
long-bereft of community spaces.
Adult and family memberships
are free, which gets people
who need the services through
the front door. But, to create a
stream of currently unbudgeted
operating funds, a membership
fee is being considered for 2020,
which may price some of the
core constituency of low- and
fixed-income citizens out of the
market—unless said fee is administered
on a sliding scale.
At present, no quality, affordable
child care services are available,
and after-school programs
do not yet extend to children
younger than middle schoolaged,
so single parents may opt
out of a much-needed resource.
Plus, the hours of operation
(Monday-Friday, 9 a.m. – 7 p.m.;
Friday, 9 a.m. – 6 p.m.; and Saturday,
9 a.m. – 2 p.m.) make it hard
for working parents to partake of
all but the slimmest of offerings
during their downtime.
So, how does something so
well-intentioned and much-needed
fall just shy of actually fulfilling
the needs of the community?
The multiple points along the
decision-making process that got
us here — county commission
and city council meetings, intermittent
District 3 town halls —
is dizzying to navigate for even
the most well-informed citizen.
Almost all commission, council,
and board meetings are scheduled
during the work day and
downtown where parking is limited
and access for people with
disabilities is challenging. The
reality is when people in power
only seek to meet the minimal legal
requirements to invite public
participation, the process often
omits the very people, the vulnerable
and marginalized, who
are the intended beneficiaries.
Whether the oversight is intentional
or inadvertent, the results
can spawn myriad problems,
from program failure to political
backlash.
Frankly, it’s long past time to rethink
the rules of engagement. So,
we asked a few citizens to offer our
leaders their suggestions on how
to build a better public meeting.
SIOBHAN EGAN
20 BEACON
Make Space for a Diversity of Voices
Be Inclusive
The first step is to agree that all stakeholders in a decision
should be involved. It’s not enough just to invite people, cess’ becomes an abstract thought,” says
“Without money and resources, ‘ac-
though. Declaring an open meeting doesn’t go far enough, Smith. To build a better meeting, leaders
should consider different constitu-
nor is it sufficient to hold that meeting at city hall and advertise
it on Facebook and in the Savannah Morning News. encies’ needs when it comes to timing,
“People in power are typically not representative of the transportation, childcare, accessibility,
people for whom they’re designing policy,” says Charity Lee, religious strictures, and more. And it’s
founder of the ELLA Foundation. ELLA aids those who have always a good idea to offer food and refreshments.
been affected by violence, mental illness, or the criminal justice
system. “If you can’t pay your own private therapist $150 Through partnerships with licensed
to $300 an hour, and you have no insurance and are barely care providers, cities such as Ithaca,
getting by, you’re certainly not sitting down at a community New York, and Pittsburgh, have begun
meeting or a think tank.”
offering child care at city council meetings
so that young, working families
Anthony Smith, a spoken-word artist with the Spitfire
Poetry group observes that “the people who suffer the material
consequence of policy are always the people missing cording to an article by Rebecca Ritzel,
could remain politically engaged, ac-
from the table.” Smith, whose stage name is Jive English, is a a freelance journalist for Next City, a
military veteran who has experienced homelessness. He has nonprofit organization that reports on
been involved with such causes as Black Lives Matter Savannah
and Shine Inc.’s Annual Walk for Homelessness.
novation in cities throughout the world.
social, economic and environmental in-
Critically, Smith says, you have to be open to the notion These changes have been spurred, she
that the next great idea will come from unexpected corners. reports, by younger and more diverse
In one of his spoken-word poems, he muses, “Those curse groups of candidates running and winning
council seats.
words from that bum on the corner are starting to sound a
whole lot like wisdom these days.”
To truly engage marginalized communities,
you have to go to them, even
Oftentimes, the composition of the people in meeting
rooms looks a lot different than the demographics of the if it means stepping far outside your
community because we still rely on long-entrenched patterns
of public engagement. According to a study by Boston “Leaders need to go to these com-
comfort zone.
University in March, analysis revealed that nationwide the munities and be ready for some pushback,”
Smith says. “There will be people
majority of individuals who attended public meetings tended
to be older white males, who were longtime residents who doubt your sincerity and intentions,
and you’re going to have to be
and homeowners and who voted in local elections. Because
they showed up, resulting decisions overwhelmingly favored dogged and persistent. You don’t know
their priorities, which often led to inequities.
how long it’s going to take for me to
Mashama Bailey, executive chef at The Grey and a former
social worker, echoes Smith: “A lot of black folks here build into your budget or your timeline.
trust you – it’s not something you can
don’t feel comfortable in a room full of white people.” Bailey You have to build authentic relationships,
and let people see you fulfilling
notes that in the hospitality industry, she works with people
we don’t see on Broughton Street or at Telfair Museums, or the promises you make.”
even eating in her restaurant, but they do go to The Grey “Leadership means leaving as few
looking for jobs.
people behind as possible,” says Peggi
Noon, director of Pegasus Riding
“There’s a certain disconnect and depressed state of mind
among people who don’t feel educated, or who haven’t had Academy Savannah, a nonprofit that
the same opportunities as those with a bit of money,” Bailey provides equine-assisted activities and
explains.
therapies for people with disabilities,
many of whom are low-income people
of color and for whom English is a second
language. Given the special needs of Pegasus’ client base, Noon also suggests that
wheelchair accessibility (including bathrooms) be a consideration in meeting locations.
Megan Ave’Lallemant, senior program director at Deep Center, observes how often
stakeholders are perceived as a problem to solve.
She emphasizes that when decisions are being made about young people, for instance,
they need to be in the room leading those discussions. “Young people should have a say
as to who is on the school board,” Ave’Lallemant says. “They should weigh in on how the
criminal justice system handles them. We need to center young people who don’t have a
vote and are often ignored.”
One of Deep’s projects involves teens conducting participatory action research in their
communities to identify what’s harming them. “In doing this work, we ask what structural
barriers and systems are leading to the root cause of a given problem,” Ave’Lallemant
explains. “So often, people prune the branches without addressing what’s sickening the
tree at the root.”
HOW TO BUILD A BETTER
PUBLIC PROCESS
Identify all of the
stakeholders. Before any
public engagement process
begins, elected leaders and
professional staff should
identify the different groups
and constituencies affected
by the outcomes of proposals
and decisions. Create
outreach plans to invite
children, teenagers, single and
working parents, teachers,
the formerly incarcerated
re-entering society, people
experiencing homelessness,
and more into the process.
Consider how stakeholders
receive information. Social
media and newspapers are just
two tools of communication.
Flyers, direct mail, public events,
church groups, book clubs,
libraries, nonprofit organizations,
after-school programs all
provide avenues by which to
reach potential stakeholders
and to create partnerships for
stakeholder engagement. Also,
take into account whether
stakeholders speak English or
another language.
Meet people where they
are. Council chambers,
offices and board rooms
may dissuade people with
valuable contributions
from voicing concerns
and sharing ideas. Hold
meetings within community
spaces, such as churches
and schools, to encourage
greater participation. Work
with groups to provide child
care and refreshments
to allow working families
opportunities to attend.
Provide at least a 72-hour
window for people who
need accommodations for
physical accessibility to
make requests. And although
livestreaming meetings is
available in some instances,
a video is no substitute for
being present to speak to an
issue that affects you.
Allow for question-andanswer
sessions outside
the limited timeframe
of meetings. Ensure that
stakeholders have plenty of
time to review proposals and
respond through email, online
and print surveys, and phone
calls.
“Confirmation
bias occurs
from the direct
influence
of desire
on beliefs.
When people
would like a
certain idea
or concept
to be true,
they end up
believing it to
be true. They
are motivated
by wishful
thinking. This
error leads the
individual to
stop gathering
information
when the
evidence
gathered so
far confirms
the views or
prejudices
one would like
to be true.
Once we have
formed a view,
we embrace
information
that confirms
that view
while ignoring,
or rejecting,
information
that casts
doubt on it.”
Source:
Psychology Today,
psychologytoday.
com/us/blog/sciencechoice/201504/
what-is-confirmationbias
Two Ears/
One Mouth
BY AMY PAIGE CONDON
To actually get better at
conversation, we have to
master those ‘soft skills’
In Dare to Lead: Brave Work,
Tough Conversations, Whole
Hearts, author Brené Brown
writes, “People are opting out
of vital conversations about diversity
and inclusivity because
they fear looking wrong, saying
something wrong, or being
wrong. Choosing your own
comfort over hard conversations
is the epitome of privilege, and
it corrodes trust and moves us
away from meaningful and lasting
change.”
So, how do we get better at
those tough conversations?
According to Celeste Headlee,
former host of GPB’s On Second
Thought and author of We Need
to Talk: How to Have Conversations
That Matter, we need to listen
more and talk less.
“Long before the smartphone,
human beings were crappy listeners,”
she says, pointing out
that people often recall only 50
percent of what they hear. “We
are better communicators and
collaborators than the world has
ever known, yet we choose not
to do it.”
Part of the problem, she says,
is that we do not lionize good
listeners. “We tend to admire
people who stand their ground
– and people who stand their
ground, they are not listening.”
Headlee leans on science for
understanding this quirk – even
though we were given two ears
to our one mouth. Because verbal
and audio functions take
place in different parts of the
brain, she says, we need to focus
more intentionally on listening
When we don’t
know what
to say or feel
uncomfortable,
‘ask questions
and let the other
person talk.
Don’t rush to fill
the voids.’
to have deeper conversations.
We can accomplish this feat by
both “listening to hear rather
than respond” and overcoming
a propensity for confirmation
bias steeped in partisanship and
judgment.
“Smarter people are more
prone to be influenced by their
bias than others,” she admits.
“You assume you are not. You
assume that you know what the
person is about to say. When
you are smart, and you have lots
of interesting things to say, you
want to share what you know.”
Having knowledge at our fingertips
in the form of portable
computers has only exacerbated
our innately poor communication
skills. Search engines create
a “knowledge illusion” that
makes people think they are
smarter than they really are, and
people who rely on social media
and quick searches tend to reinforce
their own opinions rather
than being open to facts and new
information. And, texting is not
your friend. “You cannot lead
through email,” she warns. “We
are not designed as animals to
get physiological benefits from a
text or Facebook message.”
But, says Headlee, we have a
biological superpower that can
help us break through the noise:
the ability to forge empathetic
bonds. “This is our fail-safe
against confirmation bias.”
Sharing our stories face-toface,
with honesty about what
we don’t know and owning our
mistakes allows peoples’ brainwaves
to sync.
“We create mind-melds,”
Headlee enthuses. “Hearing
other people’s voices allow us
to recognize their humanity. In
the end, people are transformed
by listening and being heard. It
becomes self-reinforcing. Your
body, your brain have better results.”
22 BEACON
GPA VALUES
OPPORTUNITY
SAFETY
The Georgia Ports Authority supports
more than 439,000 jobs across the
state, including 39,000 in Chatham
County.
INTEGRITY
RESPECT
COMMUNITY
CREATIVITY
OPPORTUNITY
THE GPA MISSION: to empower entrepreneurs, strengthen industries,
sustain communities and fortify families by relentlessly striving
to accelerate global commerce.
GAPORTS.COM
THINK PIECE
The Weight
of Words
The language we
use can signify
whether someone
belongs … or not
24 BEACON
This past April, Derek Minard was named chief of Savannah Fire Rescue. The
announcement came just two months after a study by the University of Georgia
shed light on the department’s “workplace climate challenges, including
low morale; dissatisfaction with pay; perceptions of inequity in regard to promotions,
discipline, and transfers; poor communication; and distrust of senior
management.” As eyes turn to Chief Minard to see how he leads the department
through these first challenging months, our ears listen for the tenor of his words,
specifically whether he seeks to create a more inclusive department.
The new chief did not respond to requests
for comment, but according to Savannah’s
Fox28 WTGS, Minard was quoted as saying,
“I am a person that is inclusive, so I look to
the youngest firefighter all the way up to every
level of the organization to be involved.”
He may have his work cut out for him.
Of the 330 employees of Savannah Fire
Rescue, only 5 percent are female (and onethird
of those women fill administrative/
clerical roles), and fewer than 23 percent are
African American, Hispanic, or multi-racial.
To lay out the welcome mat for greater diversity
within the department’s ranks, he
should start with renaming classifications.
Between the “captain” and the “advanced
firefighter” categories is the “master” firefighter—a
designation that has been used
off and on in Savannah since 1797, when
the city council elected 10 fire masters to
better organize fire scenes and services.
During this time, fire services were provided
by volunteer citizens and enslaved Africans.
When the first officially organized fire
department was formed here in 1825, one
or more of its members were given the title
of “Masters of Engines.” These members
were authorized to administer “prompt and
immediate correction” whenever a slave
“disobeyed or otherwise offended.” By 1828,
Savannah Fire Rescue’s volunteer force consisted
of 178 enslaved men, 96 free men of
color, and 17 white men.
As more white volunteer companies
formed, conflicts with African-American
firefighters over apparatus and monetary
rewards increased, and many black firefighters
were driven away. By 1871 Savannah
Fire Rescue was staffed entirely by
white volunteers. The department would
not reintegrate until 1963, when the local
NAACP chapter negotiated with city officials
to hire six African-American college
students: Purdy Bowers, Lewis Oliver,
Theodore Rivers, Porter Screen, Cordell
Heath, and Warnell Robinson.
The last time the term “master firefighter”
was discussed was in 1976, when the
rank was brought back into use after the
city conducted a Classification and Compensation
Study. Other than departmental
restructuring, no reason is given for the
term’s reappearance, and it has been in
use ever since. Knowing the history of the
word “master,” freighted with the weight
of history and enslavement, it’s hard to
imagine black firefighters not taking issue
with its continued use, especially when
considering Atlanta, Macon, Hilton Head,
and most other surrounding cities have
replaced “master” with “lieutenant” — or
never used “master” in the first place.
The continued usage of this language
illustrates how the vestiges of the past
can remain embedded in our present. .
— Ariel Felton
Q&A
Great
Expectations
In Conversation with
Diane Jackson, founder of
Young Men of Honor
BY SARA E. MURPHY
Diane Jackson knows a
thing or two about cultivating
leaders. Fifteen years ago,
she founded Young Men of
Honor, a nonprofit organization
dedicated to inspiring
and enabling young men —
especially those from socially
and economically challenged
families — to realize their
full potential as productive
citizens.
I recently sat down with
Jackson to talk about her
work, her leadership, and
what Savannah needs to do to
nurture its next generation of
leaders. When I first called to
set up the interview, Jackson
was surprised that I wanted
to talk to her.
Note: This interview was edited
for space and clarity.
When Beacon’s writers and
editors met to discuss this issue,
several people brought up your
name. Why didn’t you think you
were an obvious choice for a
discussion on leadership? Do you
see yourself as a leader?
No.
Really? How would you define
leadership?
A real leader is someone who pushes
others forward. Certainly, there are times
when you have to be at the forefront,
but real leaders are always trying to push
others to excel. It’s not all about giving
orders. Take the young men with whom
I work. I know what I want them to do,
but as women, we have to plant an idea
in people’s minds and make them think it
was their own. We have to give them the
idea that will help them do better in life.
I think you just described
yourself, though! Are you still
going to stick with this line that
you’re not a leader?
(Laughing) When I look at leaders, it
seems like they have so much more education,
political involvement, and things
like that. I’m just a mama.
You’re a mama who did
something big.
My pastor once told me, “Remember
wherever you go, make a difference.” I’ve
seen so much stuff that pressed my heart,
and I learned that the village really does
help.
You’ve heard the old African proverb,
“It takes a village to raise a child.” I got
to experience the village because when I
came up, neighbors and other community
members were involved in your life.
That has changed. People are afraid of
saying something, because society has
decided that it’s not their business. We
should never be afraid of children, but I
understand why people are hesitant.
JOHN CARRINGTON
26 BEACON
How did you start
working with children in
the first place?
My husband always worked
with children, and he told me,
“Somebody’s got to.” My mother
used to sweep the streets at 5 and
6 o’clock in the morning, just
speaking to the children. They
needed to know that somebody
cared, and what she said to them
may have been the kindest word
they heard all day.
There was an article in 2000
in the Savannah Morning News
called “Lives Lost,” saying that
40-some kids had been killed on
the streets of Savannah. It did
something to me. There were
children in the picture who had
gone to school with my children,
who had been to my home,
and now they were dead. And I
started thinking, what could I
have done differently to help, or
to change the outcome? We always
think it’s somebody else’s
job. We complain, but what are
we doing?
Not long after that article, a
young man who had been shot
ran past our house. My husband
was outside at the time but didn’t
realize what was happening. It
turned out the young man was
trying to get to the home of a
relative who was a nurse. He
thought if he could get there,
he would get help, so he passed
people who would have helped
him. The next morning, he was
found dead on his family member’s
doorstep, reaching for her
door. Can you imagine reaching
for help and finding nobody
there? How many of our children
are reaching for help in the same
way?
How does that experience
inform what you do with
Young Men of Honor?
I tell the children in our program
that their environment
doesn’t determine who they are,
that where you begin isn’t nec-
‘Can you
imagine
reaching
for help
and finding
nobody
there? How
many of our
children are
reaching for
help in the
same way?’
essarily where you end. I’ve seen drug dealers! I’ve
seen people killed! But it doesn’t make me a drug
dealer, a murderer, or a thief. Even though you’re
around all of this, and you may have some family
members in that life, you don’t have to conform to
that environment.
In the Young Men of Honor program, we have
a motto: “I will remember the past, embrace the
present, and look to the future with great expectations
of success, for we are somebody, we are men
of honor.” Then we do a call and response: “Minute
to minute, hour by hour, if we lose our faith, we lose
our power. Minute to minute, hour by hour, if we
lose our history, we lose our power. And if truth is
the light, then knowledge is power. But if it is to be,
then it’s up to me.”
So, you’re trying to raise up better
leaders?
Yes. These are the leaders of tomorrow. If they
stay in the state they’re in, can you imagine what
our future leadership will be like? These are the
children who are often left out of field trips and
such, often because of behavioral problems. What
incentive do they have to do better? If we don’t listen
to them and include them at the table, there
are some folks standing on the corner who will.
What do you want Savannahians to know
about why the people you serve are not
included in the decisions that affect them?
What needs to happen to get them to the
table?
When decision-makers are trying to come up
with solutions to the gang, drug, and violence issues
we face, the people who are affected should be
part of that process. People always say to me, “Oh,
you’ve done so much for these young boys,” and I
say, “These young boys have done so much for me.”
They have taught me a lot. But you can’t learn if
you don’t listen.
Consider the city’s summer camps. The upper
age limit is 13. What happens to those in-between
kids? They’re too young to work, so what are they
doing? In single-parent homes, that parent has no
choice but to go to work, and those kids have a
whole lot of time on their own with nothing to do.
We have this gap, and guess who’s looking to fill it?
The people on the corner.
What practical steps can decisionmakers
take to make it possible for
the communities you serve to be more
engaged?
Childcare at meetings, and some snacks on the
side. If there’s food, we all come out! (laughing)
September 2019 BEACON 27
Headed for
an Evolution
From The Prince to The Servant Leader, what we seek in those
who lead changes over time, but the ability to adapt may be
one of the most desired qualities of all
BY NANCY R. FULLBRIGHT
When Dr. John Banter, associate director of
Georgia Southern University’s Office of Leadership
and Community Engagement, teaches
courses on leadership, he has students write their
definition of the hard-to-nail-down descriptor at
the beginning of the semester.
“It’s an interesting exercise,” he says. “We revisit
it at the end of the semester to see if their definitions
changed, and typically they have.”
Just as students’ ideas evolve, so to have leadership
theories. Banter notes that although leadership
has always been around, writing about it in a
formal way has changed over time.
“The Great Man Theory of the 19th century
is how things truly started. The traits of leaders
were intrinsic to what they were naturally gifted
or born with. Intelligence, gender, even height
were all things that would be looked at as making
you a leader,” he says. “I often tell students that
the Great Man Theory is why we talk about the
Napoleon Complex. Because he was shorter, people
questioned his leadership.”
Although remnants of the Great Man Theory
are often visible in many of our modern and individualistic
assumptions about leadership, theories
about leadership have continued to evolve.
No longer is the history of the world simply the
“biography of great men,” as historian and writer
Thomas Carlyle claimed in 1840. Subsequent
theories have focused on individual traits and
behaviors, situational factors, the relationships
between a leader and her followers, and the
collaboration required to address challenging
situations.
Trait Theory
Whereas the Great Man Theory
believed great leaders were born
with those innate characteristics,
the Trait Theory hypothesized
that great leaders exhibited essential
traits, such as initiative, tenacity,
creativity, charisma, confidence,
and honesty and integrity.
However, researchers eventually
determined both leaders
and followers exhibited these
traits, although leaders typically
demonstrate more self-confidence
and extroversion. And
although certain traits are characteristic
of strong leaders, not
everyone who possesses these
traits becomes a leader.
“In recent history, when studying
charismatic presidents and
those in the public eye, traits such
as charisma may be determined
to be a leadership trait under this
theory,” says Banter. “While traits
enhance the leader and are used
in the ways they lead, they are not
truly leadership qualities.”
Behavioral Theory
Since traits were ruled out
at as an indicator of an excellent
leader, researchers began
studying the external behaviors
of leaders. Again, the ageold
struggle of nature versus
nurture was considered. Are
you born a leader or can you
learn to lead? Under the behavioral
theory, the answer
was both.
Behavioral theory examined
both task-oriented leaders,
who focus their behaviors on
the organizational structure,
and people-oriented leaders,
who are more concerned with
motivating employees with encouragement,
coaching, and
mentoring.
“Behavioral theory was not
just focused on the leaders, but
on the people they were leading,”
Banter notes. “How can
leaders influence other people,
and how can they share the direction
to accomplish goals?”
28 BEACON
Transformational
Leadership Theory
The biggest change in leadership
theory came about in
the late ’70s, when James Mc-
Gregor Burns’ book, Leadership,
outlined both transactional
leadership, which is based on a
“give and take” approach, and
transformational leadership, a
process by which leaders and
followers work together to help
each other advance to a higher
level, change the organizational
structure, and ultimately develop
followers into leaders.
Burns believed transactional
and transformational styles of
leadership were mutually exclusive.
Transformational leaders
enhance morale and motivation,
serve as a role model, and help
followers understand their crucial
role in the overall organization’s
success.
“Transformational leadership
is more about a reciprocal process
and getting your employees
on board,” says Banter. “It takes
into account the values and motives
of people and brings everyone’s
ideas together to move the
organization forward.”
Adaptive Leadership
Theory
A typical chain-of-command
style leader expects to direct those
who report to her, who in turn filter
down certain actions to those
reporting to them. While that
style may have worked 50 years
ago in a no-questions-asked environment,
it is not so in a modern,
ever-evolving workplace.
The idea of adaptive leadership
— a theory that frames
leadership in challenging and
constantly-changing environments
— was developed by Dr.
Ron Heifetz and Marty Linsky
at Harvard University. It focuses
on how adaptive leaders respond
to changing environments with
creative solutions in ways that
empower all employees.
“The biggest change since the
beginning of leadership theory
is there’s more of a focus on the
relationship between a leader
and their followers,” says Banter.
“A leader’s role is no longer
based on what you were born
with but how you can rise to the
challenge and also empower the
people you’re working with to
meet the challenge.”
So, for someone who studies and teaches leadership, what
exactly makes a great leader?
“A good leader is someone who can take people from where
they are and move them ahead in their own personal and
professional development while also accomplishing the
goals that are set. Leaders also have to deal with the context
and culture where they’re leading. What works in Savannah
may not work in New York,” says Banter. “You have to be a
thermostat rather than a thermometer. Don’t just take the
temperature; set the temperature.”
ALL ABOARD!
You don’t have to run for office
to have an impact on the future
of our community. Here’s a
rundown of the various boards,
commissions, and authorities
that help shape policy, influence
elected officials, and make
development decisions
Compiled by Meaghan Walsh Gerard
CITY OF SAVANNAH
To apply for consideration to any City
of Savannah board, commission or
authority, go to savannahga.gov/392/
Boards-Commissions-Authorities.
Qualified applicants will be considered
and appointed by the council.
AGING SERVICES
ADVISORY COUNCIL
crc.ga.gov/departments/aaa/
aaacouncil.html
Comprised of volunteers representing
seniors, persons with disabilities, and
caregivers residing in the Coastal
Georgia region. Advocates for aging
population and at-risk seniors.
CHATHAM AREA TRANSIT
AUTHORITY (CAT)
catchacat.org
One citizen is appointed to the
board that oversees and makes
recommendations regarding public
transportation.
CHATHAM ENVIRONMENTAL
FORUM
savannahga.gov/2586/
Environmental-Forum
Seeks consensus to community
environmental issues.
CHATHAM-SAVANNAH
AUTHORITY FOR THE HOMELESS
homelessauthority.org/get-involved/
Develop and oversee implementation
of comprehensive plan for public and
private agencies to effectively address
the needs of people experiencing
homelessness in our community.
CIVIL SERVICE BOARD
savannahga.gov/2588/Civil-Service
Hear appeals from disciplinary
action against an employee when
it is alleged the action is taken for
political or religious reasons. Must
be a Chatham County resident for at
least five (5) years.
COASTAL REGION METROPOLITAN
PLANNING ORGANIZATION BOARD
(CORE MPO)
thempc.org/Core
CORE MPO Board has the primary
responsibility for the formulation
of transportation-related policies
in support of the overall goals and
objectives for the CORE MPO MPA.
September 2019 BEACON 29
BY BETTY DARBY
Thirsty for power? Eager for influence?
Want to have a hand in running things, saying
“yay” or “nay” to developers, committing
public dollars, courting new industry?
Well, one route is the ballot box. Run for
office, convince 50 percent of that portion
of the populace that votes plus one voter to
select you, and you’re in. Now, you’re most
likely part of a public panel instead of an individual
officer, and you have to scrape and
claw with other members of your council,
board or commission to get what you want
done, done. You’ve gone through the public
exposure of a campaign, you’ve had the
public sit in judgment on any conflicts of
interest you might have, and, if you want
to stay in office, you must remember that
you are answerable to those same voters for
your actions.
Hmm, ultimately, power doesn’t sound
all that powerful, does it?
There’s another way. Skip the electorate
altogether and angle for appointment to one
of dozens of local and state boards, commissions
and authorities. Doesn’t sound as
exciting as being elected a leader? Consider
the following major developments:
• Armstrong State University, for 85
years a Savannah institution, is now a satellite
campus of Georgia Southern University
in Statesboro.
• Memorial Health University Medical
Center, for 60-plus years the safety-net
hospital for the indigent in Chatham
County and surrounding area (not to mention
the only Level 1 trauma center closer
than Jacksonville or Charleston) was sold
to a for-profit healthcare corporation.
• The deepening of the Savannah River
channel will keep the economic behemoth
that is the Port of Savannah viable with its
high return on investment and environmental
impacts.
These are some of the most important decisions
made in local civic life in recent years,
and their impact will resonate for decades.
And they’re the work of appointed boards
composed, with few, if any, exceptions of
people who have never faced a voter.
Appointed boards, commissions, panels
and committees abound, and they range
from the ornamental to the Machiavellian.
The most powerful ones tend to be state
ones, appointed by the sitting governor, but
local ones carry clout as well, such as the
Chatham County Hospital Authority.
Some of these appointments, both local
and state, are to mundane boards and pro-
Leade
vs. Po
Real power often comes
without public accountability
30 30 BEACON
rship
wer
COASTAL REGION
METROPOLITAN PLANNING
ORGANIZATION CITIZENS
ADVISORY COMMITTEE (CAC)
thempc.org/Board/Cac
Fifteen (15) members consisting
of the following: Unincorporated
Chatham County (3), City of Savannah
(3), City of Bloomingdale (1), City
of Garden City (1), City of Pooler (1),
City of Port Wentworth (1), Town of
Thunderbolt (1), City of Tybee Island
(1), Town of Vernonburg (1), City of
Richmond Hill (1), and Effingham
County (1). The Citizens Advisory
Committee (CAC) membership is
made up of appointed local citizens.
COASTAL WORKFORCE
DEVELOPMENT BOARD (CWDB)
worksourcecoastal.org/about/board/
Provide education or training opportunities
that will assist regional
workers in achieving a family sustaining
wage while providing employers
with the skilled workers they need
to compete in the workforce.
CULTURAL AFFAIRS
COMMISSION
savannahga.gov/949/Cultural-
Affairs-Commission
Advisory body charged with the responsibility
of recommending a comprehensive
plan and program for a community
cultural arts services program.
DOWNTOWN SAVANNAH
AUTHORITY
savannahga.gov/2597/Downtown-
Savannah-Authority
Encourages construction of new
parking facilities and provides
financial incentives for private
projects which have economic
benefits to the downtown area.
ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY
AUTHORITY
eoasga.org
Seeks to reduce conditions that
cause poverty by working directly
with poverty-level individuals
throughout Chatham County.
ETHICS BOARD
savannahga.gov/2599/Ethics
Reviews complaints filed against
elected officials of the City; if such
complaints involve impropriety of
elected officials and violation of the
provisions of the Ethics Ordinance,
and if such violations affected the
elected official’s ability to carry out
his/her official duties.
GREATER SAVANNAH
INTERNATIONAL ALLIANCE
internationalsavannahusa.org
A demographically broad
representation of the community
and economy in the Savannah
Metropolitan Area with an interest in
international issues.
September 2019 BEACON 31
HISTORIC DISTRICT
BOARD OF REVIEW
Must include one small business
owner with an architectural
background.
thempc.org/Board/Hbr
Makes decisions on new
construction and any changes to
historic structures in the city’s
historic districts.
HISTORIC PRESERVATION
ADVISORY COUNCIL
savannahga.gov/2601/
Preservation-Advisory
The appointee should be a
well-acquainted member of the
community and have knowledge
in some of the following areas:
National Register nomination,
historic tax incentives,
streetscapes and urban design,
historical research and surveys, or
presentation.
HOUSING AUTHORITY
OF SAVANNAH
savannahpha.com/
To address the housing needs of
Savannah’s low-income population
while focusing on the educational,
job training and economic selfsufficiency
needs of the residents of
public housing neighborhoods
KEEP SAVANNAH BEAUTIFUL
keepsavannahclean.com/about/
Shall include representatives from
the news media, businesses, city
government, civic associations,
and neighborhood groups. Works
with the city in developing a
program to control litter and assist
beautification efforts on streets,
sidewalks, parks, and private
property.
METROPOLITAN PLANNING
COMMISSION (MPC)
thempc.org/
Makes studies of present and
future development; assists local
government in translating study
results into plans, policies and
programs; recommends zoning
ordinances and subdivision
regulations.
PARK AND TREE COMMISSION
savannahga.gov/764/Park-Tree-
Commission
Active advisory council to the
Mayor and Aldermen and the
official voice to the Mayor and
aldermen on behalf of the citizens
on issues affecting scenic parks
and the urban forest. Must be a city
resident.
vide the holder nothing more
than the opportunity for public
service. But a handful of state
boards involve independent revenue
streams, paid staffs of their
own, and real estate holdings.
Seats on those boards are coveted
political appointments.
Consider, for example, the
Board of Regents for the University
System of Georgia. Those
terms are for seven years – meaning
the governor who fills an appointment
is extending his or her
political influence years beyond
his or her own four-year term
(which can stretch to a maximum
of eight years if he is re-elected).
This board has 19 members, one
per congressional district and five
more at large. Current chairman
is Savannahian Don Waters.
If you wonder just how seriously
power circles in Atlanta
take these appointments, you
need look no further than the
first few weeks of Gov. Brian
Kemp’s administration. The
Kemp administration stepped in
and nullified 64 appointments
made by outgoing Gov. Nathan
Deal as he left office, including
three on the Board of Regents,
on a legal technicality – a clear
reminder of the changing of the
guard and the political value of
those appointments. Kemp later
reappointed one of three Regents
but made his own picks for
two of those seats.
Another example: the funding
to enable the upcoming expansion
of the Savannah Convention
Center on Hutchinson
Island was tied to restructuring
its governing board. The newly
formed Savannah Georgia Convention
Center Authority of 11
members includes six appointed
by Kemp, with the other appointments
divided among the
local legislative delegation and
the presidents of the Savannah
Economic Development Authority
and Visit Savannah. All
but one of the members is a Savannahian;
the exception is Lori
Smith, Kemp’s chief operating
officer.
The Georgia Ports Authority
board has 13 members, with
staggered four-year terms, and
Kemp has already made his first
appointment to that panel.
Which boards among local offerings
are the heavy hitters? Remember
to look for an income
stream that does not require approval
by an elected body, control
of real estate, and a staff to
support its work.
The Savannah Airport Commission
ticks off all three of those
power boxes. It is a five-member
board appointed by Savannah City
Council for overlapping five-year
terms, with the mayor serving in
an ex officio role. You can trace
some of the history of the board
members as you approach the
airport via the grid of streets connecting
all those chain hotels – the
commission named many of those
new streets for then-members.
The Savannah Economic Development
Authority is another
land/money/staff power broker.
Its 19 members serve five-year
terms and are selected on an
alternating basis by the Savannah
City Council, the Chatham
County Commission and the
SEDA board itself. This 19-member
panel courts new industrial
prospects for the region, extends
bond funding and manages industrial
real estate.
The Metropolitan Planning
Commission board wields a lot
of influence, but lacks the independent
income stream that
would make it a powerhouse.
Still, it’s plenty powerful if you
are a developer or someone who
lives with the consequences of
development – although decisions
can be overruled by the
elected bodies. It provides the
staff for zoning- and development-related
studies for the city
and unincorporated Chatham
County. It also provides staffing
for the Historic District Board
of Review, which is an impactful
panel for a tightly defined area of
downtown Savannah.
If you are starting to think
there are lots of these boards,
you’re right [see sidebar]. On its
website, the City of Savannah
lists some 31 agencies to which it
has the power to appoint about
32 BEACON
184 individuals. (The number is
a bit vague, because some positions
are specified for council
members themselves and other
appointments are in unspecified
regional capacities.)
Chatham County lists 41 boards
and authorities to which it appoints
members, some exclusively
(such as the hospital authority)
and some along with other entities
(like SEDA). Again, some of those
appointments are restricted to
commission members themselves.
As you browse through
the membership lists of these
boards, you notice names tend
to be repeated. If you’ve got the
clout to land one prime post,
you’ve probably got the clout to
land another. Waters, for example,
participated in the Georgia
Southern/Armstrong acquisition
as a Regent and the Memorial
sale as first the chairman,
then a member of the hospital
authority. Stephen Green is
on both the Savannah Airport
Commission and SEDA board.
Ted Kleisner is on both the
Downtown Savannah Authority
and the airport commission.
So, how do you get on these
boards? There’s more involved
than a willingness to serve. Let’s
face it, people don’t tend to appoint
their political foes, and instead
tend to fill the power slots
with party faithful, their own
political supporters, influential
business figures and the like.
The powerful boards tend to be
HOW TO RUN FOR PUBLIC OFFICE
City of Savannah
savannahga.gov/1698/Election-Information
Chatham County Commissioners
chathamcountyga.gov/Government/Commissioners
State of Georgia
georgia.gov/blog/2017-07-05/how-run-public-office
overwhelmingly male and majority
white. Money helps – the
people who make highly publicized
charitable donations tend
to show up on these panels.
The City of Savannah runs
the available appointments on its
website and even offers a link to
an application. It would be surprising
if going that route actually
landed you on the SEDA board
or airport commission or MPC,
of course. But you’ll find plenty
of other boards and panels of less
prestige that still do interesting
work, be it fighting litter or advocating
for cultural resources.
Would you like to attend the
meetings of any of these groups?
Odds are good that you can – most
are covered by Georgia’s Open
Meetings Law (although remember,
that’s a pretty fragile law because
it can only be enforced by
those in a position to break it or
by legal action). The sheer number
of them alone means most boards
and panels are unattended by
members of the general public and
news media.
In the end, you have a mixed
bag – panels of well-meaning
citizens armed with good intentions
struggling to give public
input into the minutia of governing,
and political patrons
who are well insulated from the
wrath of the public and let the
politicians who appointed them
stand at arm’s length from the
decisions they make. Whatever
else it may be, it isn’t dull.
PENSION BOARD
Administers the City of Savannah
employee retirement plans.
PILOTAGE COMMISSION
Licenses pilots, prescribes rules
and regulations, sets fees and
imposes penalties, sets and collects
penalties for vessels refusing to
take pilots or mistreating pilots.
Must include shipping agents,
exports, or merchants, or others
engaged on or familiar with marine
shipping and the requirements of
the Port of Savannah.
SAVANNAH AIRPORT
COMMISSION
savannahairport.com/business/
about/our-team/
Responsible for the operation,
development and maintenance of
municipal airport; and independent
authority with its own staff
and revenue sources. Must be a
Chatham County resident.
SAVANNAH-CHATHAM
BOARD OF HEALTH
gachd.org/board_of_health_
members_and_pu_2/
Determines the health needs and
resources by collecting, analyzing
and evaluating health data
pertaining to the health of the
community.
SAVANNAH-CHATHAM
COUNCIL OF DISABILITY
ISSUES
Facilitates and coordinates
community efforts to improve
the quality of life for citizens with
disabilities for the City of Savannah
and Chatham County through
advising local leaders.
SAVANNAH/CHATHAM
COUNTY HISTORIC SITES AND
MONUMENTS COMMISSION
(HS&M)
thempc.org/Historic/Smc
Recommends plan and cost
estimates for the erection of
any monuments or substantial
restoration of same in the City or
County and may hold title and pay
for same.
SAVANNAH ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY
(SEDA)
seda.org/home
Conducts a program of industrial
and port development for the
City of Savannah and Chatham
County, and is self-funded. No one
holding public office or receiving
compensation from either public
entity can serve.
September 2019 BEACON 33
Undercover
Bosses
Finding dedicated people to serve is the challenge
– and an opportunity to build a base of strong leaders
for years to come
BY MOLLY CLANCY
From September through November
last year, Suzanne Kirk worked around
the clock. October is Breast Cancer
Awareness Month and, as the immediate
past board chair of the Susan G. Komen
Foundation of Coastal Georgia, Kirk
tried to be at every Big Wig fundraiser.
“We could have several every single week
throughout those months,” she recalls.
On top of running regular board meetings,
overseeing financials, and planning
events, she spent her evenings meeting
donors and sponsors and serving as the
face of the organization. It’s hard for Kirk
to quantify the number of hours she dedicated
to the organization. “Depending on
the cycle of events, it fluctuated dramatically,”
Kirk says.
Julie Olsen, a principal at Workplace
Advancement Strategies, which consults
nonprofit boards on development and
human resources, estimates that volunteer
board members, especially chairs,
may dedicate anything from a few hours
a week to several dozen a month to community
organizations. That level of time
34 BEACON
and energy commitment can
lead to burnout.
“People might join not understanding
the responsibilities
of the board,” Olsen cautions.
“So, start with what it means to
be on the board before you think
about your contribution. As a
board member, you are responsible
for the financial and ethical
operations of the organization.”
“Give, Get or Get Off”
Nearly all of the 800-plus
nonprofit organizations in Savannah
are run by working volunteer
boards. Prospective board
members must truly understand
the role they play, beyond altruistic
measures. Yes, you may be
making a positive impact on your
community, but there’s also the
personal benefit of networking
and resume-building. But, are
they also willing to pay close attention
to financial documents
and insurance policies, commit
to training and fundraising on
weeknights and weekends, donating
their own funds in addition
to time?
Colleen Campbell Bozard of
the Georgia Center for Nonprofits
speaks explicitly about those
responsibilities, “We need people
to not just attend but participate.
That means coming to the meetings
prepared. Reading the reports.
Doing any homework necessary
so they can really engage
in good debate and discussion.”
According to Bozard, board
members have two roles: governance
and support. When they
are governing they serve as a
collective, setting the direction
of the organization, providing financial
oversight, and ensuring
that financial and staff resources
are available to accomplish the
organization’s mission. In the
support role, they act as an individual
providing technical assistance
and boots-on-the-ground
efforts to the professional staff.
“When board members say,
‘Oh, we’re just volunteers,’ it
doesn’t convey how critical a
board is to the success of the organization,”
she counsels.
That support function increases
dramatically for small
nonprofits where the board
needs to both govern and manage
the day-to-day functions of
the organization. There are more
than 800 active 501(c)(3) organizations
(excluding houses of
worship, schools, parent-teacher
organizations) in Savannah listed
with the Georgia Secretary of
State. Of those, 215 – 25 percent
– operate with revenues under
$200,000, meaning they likely
have a one or two staff members,
if any staff at all. Filling a nonprofit
board is no longer a matter
of calling on neighbors and
friends, Bozard warns.
“In the old days, we took
warm bodies to fill seats,” she
says. “Today, nonprofits are so
much more accountable. It’s really
important that they look at
the strategic plan and what skills
and expertise they need to move
the plan forward.”
Mission Driven
Tying the work back to the
mission of the organization can
mean the difference between
an engaged, vibrant board and a
bunch of people nodding their
heads around a conference table.
“Look for ways to get board
members involved in generative
discussions on important
topics. Take a minute to have
a staff person tell a story about
something that made an impact.
Start the meeting knowing why
you’re there,” says Bozard.
In her time on the board of
the Komen Foundation, Kirk
instituted board development
practices like annual reviews
and onboarding to move the organization
in the right direction.
“Any organization is fortunate
to have someone who is passionate
about the mission who
wants to help,” Kirk explains,
who own passion was fueled by
her mother’s battle with breast
cancer. “Board commitment is
a different type of engagement
that’s not for everybody. That’s
where the organization has to
balance what they need [with]
who wants to serve.”
SAVANNAH HOSPITAL
AUTHORITY
savannahga.gov/2612/Hospital-
Authority
Arranges the contractual
agreements between Candler
General Hospital and purchases of
hospital authority bonds used to
finance the building of the complex
off DeRenne Ave.
SAVANNAH RECREATION
COMMISSION
savannahga.gov/349/Parks-
Recreation
Serves as an advisory body on
recreational programs and facilities.
SAVANNAH RESOURCE
RECOVERY DEVELOPMENT
AUTHORITY
savannahga.gov/1810/
Sustainability-Resource-Page
Must be Chatham County resident.
SAVANNAH ZONING
BOARD OF APPEALS
thempc.org/Board/Szba
Rules on appeals from decisions of
the zoning administrator and hears
and rules on requests for permits
which require the board’s approval.
Must be city resident and not hold
public office.
TOURISM ADVISORY
COMMITTEE
savannahga.gov/1479/Tourism-
Advisory-Committee
Makes policy recommendations
impacting parking and routine
tourism-related traffic activities,
the enforcement of tourism
management regulations, and
other related issues. Appointed
by respective neighborhood
association or industry.
TRAFFIC CALMING COMMITTEE
savannahga.gov/1897/Traffic-Calming
Improves safety and resident quality
of life and livability by reducing
the impact of vehicular traffic on
residential neighborhood streets by
modifying driver behavior through
education, enforcement, and
engineered traffic calming solutions.
September 2019 BEACON 35
Pathways to L
Whether in business, politics, or the community,
every leader blazes his or her own trail
BY PATRICK LONGSTRETH
MEET OUR
LEADERS
The
Entrepreneur
For anyone aspiring to leadership – or called to serve by circumstances – it’s always good to
talk with the people who came before you, to learn from the triumphant moments and the missteps.
We asked four local leaders to share their insights on …
When did you know it was
the right time to step into
a leadership role?
Edminster: I was producing
a lot of events in the Starland
District, art events, concerts, etc -
and I remember thinking: none of
these business owners know each
other. That is still my number one
priority in leadership, to make
connections between people and
provide space for them to flourish.
Hopson: When I heard gun
shots behind my house. I relocated
to Savannah almost 5 years ago
and had no idea how challenging
things were here. There was no
other choice for me.
Papy: I took a look at Savannah,
at this place that I had been
forever warned was a place that
you got stuck in, and I decided
that might not be true. I decided
I wanted to belong to a community,
that I wanted to come back
home and do whatever I could to
push the ball forward. This place
is worth fighting for, Savannah’s
people are worth fighting for,
even when that is hard as hell.
Morris: Leadership is a role we
step deeper into with every day
that passes. I was first inspired by
the difference an individual can
make when called to lead by my
grandfather, Joe Upchurch, who
described to me at an early age
and in vivid detail the efforts he
and others close to FDR [Franklin
Delano Roosevelt] made to bring
this country out of the Great Depression,
conquer Nazi fascism
and win World War II. If not for
true leadership, this country and
the world could have gone down
a very, very dark path.
How well did your education
and academics prepare
you for leadership?
Edminster: Academics were
only helpful when they encouraged
creative and critical
thinking. The social life around
academics was crucial though! In
high school I learned early on you
could make your life a lot easier
if you befriended the janitors and
secretaries. They are the ones
running the show. Part of leadership
is being able to understand
where power is said to be and
where power really is. School was
helpful for eroding the myth that
power is always at the top.
Hopson: I believe it has more
to do with my personality than
anything else. I’ve always spoken
out and advocated for those who
can’t or just don’t have the tools
to do so themselves.
Papy: Other than the wisdom
that comes from navigating
student loan debt, I think college
served as a vehicle for a smalltown
Southern kid to expand
beyond what was expected or
possible, to learn how to be intellectually
curious, and the humility
that comes with learning about
the world as a young person.
Truthfully, being back home and
learning how to work within this
community in all its nuances
and complexities has been a far
greater learning experience.
Morris: Yes. Academic rigor
prepares the mind to see the
big picture and focus on true
achievement. I really don’t think
particular classes or subjects
prepare you for a leadership role.
But, mentors within a university
can be very instructive and helpful.
Teachers who share their life
experiences and make the course
work come alive can leave lasting
impressions on our youth.
Some people suggest that
the loss of privacy and the
intrusion of social media
prevent them from seeking
leadership positions. How
has social media affected
your professional life?
Edminster: Social media has
blended the idea of professional
and personal life. We have to
work overtime now to make our
personal lives more professional
or our professional lives more
personal. Both are difficult, and
we lose the privacy of an insulated
personal character. On
another note, social media has
been critical to helping me create
myself and is a huge influencer
for how folks see me, and for the
most part it’s been really won-
Clinton
Edminster
Owner,
Starlandia Art
Supply
The
Organizer
Cynthia
Hopson
Vice-president,
Edgemere/
Sackville
Neighborhood
Association
36 BEACON
eadership
The Change
Agent
Coco Papy
Director of
Development
and
Communications
Deep Center
The
Spokesperson
Robert Morris
Chief
Communications
Officer
Georgia Ports
Authority
derful getting to connect with so
many people.
Hopson: Well, I don’t want to
date myself, but, when I began
my working, social media wasn’t
what it is today. That said, I’ve
kept up with the changing technology
and use it to reach target
audiences in all aspects of my life.
Papy: Social media is a tool, and
tools can be used for good, bad,
annoying, and effective. When it
works well, it can act as a catalyst,
a vehicle for solid information
and a way to exchange ideas in a
digital town square. When it’s bad
...well, I mean, we’ve probably all
seen what it looks like when it’s
bad. What I am most concerned
about right now, especially as we
move into election season, is the
proliferation of bad or distorted
information being shared, and how
algorithms meant to connect us to
our interests have now seemingly
hardwired us for obfuscation and
ineffective noise.
Morris: Social media has
allowed our team to reach
customers and stakeholders in
new and dynamic ways. Because
social media is becoming more
and more a part of our world, it
becomes increasingly difficult to
separate our social and professional
lives. The best we can hope
for is that our employees leverage
their personal social media to
enhance their business pursuits.
Some of the barriers to
elected leadership are personal,
some are financial.
Would paying our elected
leaders a professional salary
ensure more responsive,
effective leadership?
Edminster: It’s quite simple;
you just pay them more. There’s
nothing difficult about that. I think
you simply just pay local leadership
more money. I have a very public
opinion on this, and lots of folks
will tell me that leadership should
work for it, or that they don’t
deserve it, but they’re missing the
point. You get what you pay for. If
we want good leaders, we need to
pay those positions better.
Hopson: Here in Savannah,
council members have to work
straight gigs because they’re not
paid enough. I believe if they
were paid enough to solely focus
on running our government it
would benefit everyone.
Papy: Solutions for me look
like a stronger union presence,
stronger dialogue on what a
living wage actually looks like,
what affordable housing looks
like, what affordable daycare
looks like, what upward opportunity
really looks like. Also, this
is unpopular, but I believe we
should pay our elected leaders to
work full time at a living wage. If
we wonder out loud why certain
people are left out of politics, it’s
because there’s a financial gap
that ends up prioritizing those
who are retired or wealthy or
business owners with flexibility
— and to have a whole representation
of leaders, we have to take
into consideration the fact that
many of us don’t share this reality.
I also firmly believe that with
that raise, comes term limits.
Morris: I believe true leaders
are not motivated by mere financial
reward but strive to make a
difference for our community
and our world.
CHATHAM COUNTY
BOARD OF ELECTIONS
Appointed by Superior Court Judge
elections.chathamcounty.org/Meetings
Functions as the superintendent of
elections and conducts primaries
and elections in accordance with
State law. The Senior Judge of
Superior Court of Chatham County
appoints the Board of Registrars
from a list of ten names submitted
by the Grand Jury.
BOARD OF ASSESSORS
Appointed by county commissioners
boa.chathamcounty.org/About-Us
Discovers, lists, and determines
the fair market value (FMV) of all
real estate and tangible personal
property within the county.
BOARD OF EQUALIZATION (BOE)
Appointed, by the Chatham County
Grand Jury
equalization.chathamcounty.org/
Governs the conduct and business
of the board of equalization as to
provide oversight and supervision of
tax assessment.
BOARD OF REGISTRARS
Appointed by Senior Judge of
Superior Court of Chatham County
voter.chathamcounty.org/
Registers voters properly, update
the county voter files daily, conduct
absentee mail-out voting, absentee
early voting, issue voter photo ID and
operate satellite early voting sites.
GATEWAY COMMUNITY
SERVICE BOARDS
Appointed by county commissioners
gatewaybhs.org/about-us.html
Service providers for children, youth,
adults, and families with mental
illness, developmental disabilities,
and/or addictive diseases.
LIVE OAK PUBLIC LIBRARIES
Appointed by county commissioners
liveoakpl.org/boards/regional
Governs a tri-county public library
system.
SAVANNAH-GEORGIA
CONVENTION CENTER
AUTHORITY
Appointed by governor and Chatham
County commissioners
savtcc.com/about-the-sitcc/
governance/
Enhances the economic and tourism
environment for Savannah, Chatham
County and the state of Georgia.
ANNUAL PAY FOR LOCALLY ELECTED LEADERS
Does the low pay for the hours
required of an elected leader dissuade
potentially good candidates, especially
younger professionals, from running for
office? Let us know your thoughts at
savannahnow.com/beacon.
State of Georgia
Senators and Representatives $17,342
Savannah-Chatham County
Public School Board $12,000
Chatham County Commission
Chairperson $57,000
Commissioners $25,000
Savannah City Council
Mayor September 2019 $57,000
BEACON 37
Aldermen $25,000
WE ARE MORE THAN ENGINEERS. LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS. SURVEYORS.
WE ARE STORYTELLERS. INNOVATORS. ARTISTS.
VISIONARIES. EXPLORERS. PROBLEM SOLVERS.
BankSouth Savannah Advisory Board Members (L to R):
Kay Ford, Julie Wade, Stan Strickland, Steve Eagle, Bill Daniel,
Raymond Padgett, Danny Falligant, Richard Coomer, Michael
Kaigler, Truitt Evanson, Joe Buck, Kathy Love and Laura Moore)
(Not pictured: Cheryl Dozier, Nancy Thompson, Jack Wardlaw,
and Ansley Williams)
Banking About You
Leadership About You
Meet BankSouth Savannah Advisory Board, a team of leaders
committed to putting the people of Savannah first.
www.banksouth.com
18 WEST BRYAN STREET
Savannah, GA 31401
208 STEPHENSON AVENUE
Savannah, GA 31405
40 BEACON
BankSouth. NMLS #688851. BankSouth Mortgage Company, LLC. NMLS #690971. BankSouth Mortgage is a wholly owned subsidiary of BankSouth.
FEATURES
A Leadership
Manifesto
We want leaders from our city
streets to our city and county halls
who inspire people beyond their
fears; who listen to hear, not to
respond or react; who let the ladder
down behind them; who know how
to set a welcome table; who possess
equal parts humility and humor; who
are lifelong learners; who evolve;
who know when to compromise and
when to set boundaries; who have
thick skins; who know where to find
the helpers, and who understand
that we can bake more pies, rather
than parse the leftovers.
Where do we find those people?
How do we lift them up?
How do we raise them?
September 2019 BEACON 41
42 BEACON
The
Mentors
Throughout mythology, a key character archetype is the mentor – a person who guides the heroine
(or hero) across thresholds and through a series of escalating tests. With advice, instruction, and
encouragement, the mentor helps the hero overcome her deepest fears and to accept the call to adventure.
Think Gandalf, Obi-Wan, Glenda the Good Witch.
They seem to have superpowers, even in real life, but what they really
possess are finely tuned instincts, vivid imagination, courage in crisis, and the
ability to inspire others to rise to the need of the moment – mad skills honed
by equal parts failure and fortune.
Herein, we talk with two former mayors, both of whom experienced triumphs and tragedies
as city leaders. Perhaps their wisdom will light the way for someone new to answer the call.
September 2019 BEACON 43
PROFILE
MOLLY HAYDEN
44 BEACON
Still at
the Table
Former Savannah mayor Edna Jackson
hardly rests in retirement – instead she
mentors future female leaders
BY JESSICA LEIGH LEBOS
Ever since she was a young woman,
Edna Jackson has never been afraid to
wade into the big issues — literally.
In 1960, along with eleven others,
Jackson spent the night in the Tybee Island
jail for swimming in the ocean, a crime for
people of color on Savannah’s whites-only
beach. That “wade-in” was just one of many
peaceful protests, voter registration drives,
and other effective efforts organized the
local NAACP chapter led by W.W. Law, the
beloved activist and nationally recognized
civil rights leader. As one of Law’s first
disciples, Jackson made history.
She made history again in 2011 when,
after serving three terms on the Savannah
City Council, she was the first (and
thus far only) African-American woman
to be elected to the city’s most prominent
public position. Often called “Madame
Mayor,” Edna Jackson was known for the
flower on her lapel and unflappable composure
during a tenure marked by violent
crime, a city manager scandal, and a federal
investigation and subsequent incarceration
of a police chief.
Her administration is also credited
with simplifying city procedures for small
businesses, increasing the police department
budget for recruitment, and tirelessly
advocating for solutions that would
“bring everybody to the table.” Her reputation
for consensus building has not
waned since she lost her bid for re-election
in 2015. While she continues to serve
on several boards and travels around
the region as a WomenHeart Champion
health educator, Jackson has also been
supporting the next generation of Savannah
political leadership.
“Edna is a treasure of our community.
When she could have stepped back in
her retirement from civic life, she instead
readily accepted our invitation to serve as
a board member,” says Murem Sharpe of
Georgia’s WIN List, a political action committee
that recruits and trains progressive
women candidates and elected officials
statewide. “Women running for election
and re-election, from city to county to state
to federal office, regularly ask for Edna’s
savvy advice, which she offers with tireless
generosity and unparalleled knowledge.”
Amanda Hollowell, who completed
Georgia’s WIN List Leadership Academy
in 2017, admires how the septuagenarian
leads by example.
“For me, being able to watch Mayor
Jackson is always a blessing. You can learn
so much from someone by just being in
their presence,” says Hollowell, who currently
serves as the Georgia state director
September 2019 BEACON 45
of the national women’s advocacy non-profit 9to5.
“Also, her fearlessness is awe-worthy — that has inspired
me to stand in my power.”
When Jackson is not attending a community
meeting or guest speaking, she prefers to relax
in the house that she has lived in since 1971, near
Savannah State University where she received her
B.A. and Masters’ degrees and worked as an administrator
for over 30 years.
Though the former Madame Mayor may not be
wading into political waters herself anymore, she
has no intention of leaving the beach. She invited
Beacon over for a glass of sweet tea to discuss Savannah’s
biggest challenges, why it’s OK to lose an election
and what it will take to lead Savannah into 2033.
As someone who has been a leader in this
community since you were a teenager,
what do those coming up need to
understand about leading Savannah?
I was fortunate because I was trained by good
mentors like W.W. Law and Judge Eugene Gadsden.
They taught me that integrity is the most important
quality in a politician, that you could never
allow anyone to buy your vote, to buy you to get
your support. That you should always be in a position
to speak up and speak out.
You have to be doing it for the right reasons. Just
because you want to run, it doesn’t mean that you
will make a good public official. You just can’t proclaim
yourself a leader.
What makes a good public official?
You have to show you really believe in the people
and the community, and that you want to make
positive changes. It’s about being true to what
you’re standing for. When a crisis happens like the
Augusta Avenue shooting [in 2014], you have to
maintain peace and remind everyone that we are
One Savannah.
Honestly, I didn’t even want to go into public
office. [Former mayor] Floyd Adams talked me into
it during his first campaign for mayor. That time,
I ran and lost for alderman-at-large, but it didn’t
matter because it wasn’t about me — it was about
helping the first African-American mayor of Savannah
get elected. That was done by people who
didn’t necessarily want to sit up on that council but
who wanted to elect officials who had integrity and
commitment to the community.
Savannah’s City Council was first
integrated under [former mayor] John
Rousakis, and you were the first female
African-American mayor. We have had
a diverse city council for almost three
decades. Now what is the challenge in
leadership?
We need leaders who aren’t just looking out for
themselves. I think what’s been happening is that
some people elected have the mindset of “what am
I getting out of it” instead of what’s good for the
MOLLY HAYDEN
city. When I was alderman-at-large, a fellow city
council member said my son, Kevan, is an aeronautical
engineer and he ought to be appointed
to the Airport Commission. I said, “No way, that
would not be appropriate!” But you have other
council members who would have no problem
with that today.
Being mayor is about moving nine people in the
same direction. A good leader is going to take the
time and get everyone on the same page before
any final decisions are made. You have to be a good
listener. You have to be able to determine whether
it’s time to move forward or continue to talk.
Former mayors Floyd Adams and Dr. Otis Johnson
set the example of what true leadership in
Savannah should look like: The diversity of large
businesses, small businesses and residents working
together. We don’t have that now. You look
at Savannah, maybe housing is desegregated, but
now what we have is gentrification. It used to be
African Americans and whites living downtown.
Now it’s not about black or white, it’s about working-class
people not being able to afford to live
there.
How should our leaders address that?
You have to make decisions based on the people
who are living here. There needs to be more
dialogue. I did not do everything right when I was
mayor, but when I look at what’s happening now,
46 BEACON
Edna Jackson’s
walls
are filled with
memories.
up Savannah and the region to other countries to
bring companies to our area and provide jobs, and
that board needs better representation as well.
Affordable housing is another big issue. Everyone
can’t buy a home, but everyone deserves a decent
place to live. That needs to be a top priority
and it goes hand in hand with employment.
We also just need more people looking out for
people, the masses. Simple as that.
how our people — and by that I mean black, white,
polka dot, what have you — it is not right that
they cannot afford to live downtown. We made it
so people would be comfortable anywhere and we
talked about it. I don’t hear these discussions continuing.
How does one maintain composure when
issues get heated? Is it OK to alienate
people?
My attitude was always, “let’s talk about it.” We
may not come to the same conclusion, but I have
respected you enough to hear your side, and you
have respected me enough to hear my side, and we
can know where each other is coming from. We
might be able to negotiate and use a piece here,
a little piece there so that everyone can be a part
of the whole. I think that’s more important than
making a fast decision.
What are the three most important issues
facing Savannah today?
First, economic development. One of the best
things Savannah ever did was create SEDA [Savannah
Economic Development Authority], but I feel
that the board should better represent the people.
It needs more diversity and more residents that
have an interest in the kind of businesses that they
want to come to the community and how we keep
it here. The World Trade Center has also opened
It’s financially difficult to run for office,
and these days there’s also a price to pay
for putting yourself out there. How can upand-coming
leaders maintain morale?
It’s so different now with social media. People
have become cutthroat. They’re not kind to each
other, I’ve never seen people so nasty. I’m not going
to lie, it’s hard. You have to have a tough skin. You
have to stand up, you have to push. Sometimes you
have to go against the guard.
You have to set your goals. What do you want
to accomplish — not for yourself, but for the city
of Savannah? If you have something to offer to this
community, then go for it!
Also, find a mentor. Someone you admire, not
necessarily in politics, but a leader. Someone who
can teach what you need to know, but not necessarily
what you want to hear. If you’re going to be
a good leader, you need to surround yourself with
good people — I call it my “kitchen cabinet.” Your
true friends won’t ask you for anything, and if they
see you moving in the wrong direction, they’re going
to sit you down and tell you. That’s what my
true friends do; they have my back, sides and front.
You also have to realize you don’t always win.
You have to accept losses. If you maintain integrity,
it’s OK to lose. You take it and use it to get to where
you want to go.
It’s important to remember that you can still
be a leader without having a title. If you’re doing
something positive for the people, you will be recognized.
Look at the ribbon-cutting we just had
for the Pennsylvania Avenue Community Center; I
know I was a part of that, and that’s very satisfying
to me.
Was it hard to lose your re-election
bid in 2015?
Yes, only because of the people. Some of my supporters
were upset, because we’d worked so hard.
But I know we lost for the right reasons: Because I
didn’t change for the sake of a few people. Because
my position was for the many and not just a few.
I believe I earned the respect of even more people
because of how I handled the loss. My grandmother,
Sadie Branch, always said, “Your name is
all you have, use it for the right thing.”
God has a way of showing you that you need to
slow down. I feel like if I had won, I would be dead.
Because I was working too much, not saying “no.” I
didn’t know how to stop.
September 2019 BEACON 47
Strong
Mayor
For ‘Mayor Joe,’ the tough moments
offer the best opportunities to serve
BY AMY PAIGE CONDON
Full disclosure: I am not unbiased when it comes
to former Charleston Mayor Joseph P. Riley Jr.
As a graduate student back in the early 1990s, I
wrote to him for advice on the topic of scattered-site
housing for a research paper. He answered the letter
and connected me with key staff. Later, while working
as an urban planner, I heard Riley speak at a conference,
and I carried the piece of paper on which I
took notes with me from Fort Worth to Miami, until
it softened so much from folding and unfolding over
the next 16 years, it fell apart and faded away. In that
former life, Riley was somewhat of an oracle to me
on everything from new urbanism and historic preservation
to the dignity of the dispossessed and the
magic of water. Still, with all the awards and accolades,
he appeared humble and gracious, even when
confronted by his critics.
I have been told it’s not a good thing to meet
your heroes. That may be true in some cases, but
not in Riley’s. He’s every bit as gracious and humble
in person, even as he talks about the lessons gained
from such tempests as Hurricane Hugo in 1989 and
the murders of nine members of Mother Emanuel
in 2015, bookends of his 40-year tenure as the Holy
City’s mayor.
His office, on the second floor of a 19th century
building that bears his name, is simple, filled with
more books than photos – and those are of family,
not celebrities and other marquee politicians. He
works from a desk that, with the flip of a switch,
raises when he needs to stand. Behind him, stacked
with papers, is the antique secretary used by his
grandfather and restored as a gift from his family after
he retired from public service. On the wall next
to it hangs a watercolor, painted as a “thank you”
48 BEACON
September 2019 BEACON 49
MOLLY HAYDEN
to Riley from the author and historian
David McCullough. He had just
started reading McCullough’s latest
book, The Pioneers, and was moving
back and forth between it and David
W. Blight’s biography of Frederick
Douglass.
“I enjoy history because it’s interesting,
but it’s also teaching you,”
he says, peering out a window that
overlooks his hometown, founded
in 1670. “History doesn’t just happen,
people make it happen – they
can make good things happen or bad
things.”
Riley has made his own mark on
history, running and getting elected
to the South Carolina House of Representatives
in 1968 at the age of 25,
just one year after he graduated from
the University of South Carolina law
school. He served three terms, but
with a young family, he wanted to
be home more often instead of two
hours away in Columbia.
Riley had never thought of being
mayor, had never even been to
a city council meeting, didn’t know
what the job entailed, he admits.
But in 1975, some of the city’s African-American
leaders as well as
white business owners approached
him and said he needed to run to
help bring unity at a time of growing
racial unrest. His law partner at the
time, Riley laughs now, “described it
as a parade of people coming here to
urge me to run.”
“I was interested in racial progress,
and I think [they] could see
that, and it was kind of surprising to
them that a young, white guy from
downtown Charleston … well, I saw
it as an opportunity to be a bridge
builder,” he recalls.
He felt an obligation to his community
and promised his wife he’d
only serve one term if he won.
Famous last words.
One of the longest serving mayors
in U.S. history, Riley learned
all about the strong mayor-council
form of government on the job. Serving
as the city’s CEO was a job that
he clearly loved, and still does. As
he speaks about both the demands
and the honor, he grows animated,
talking with his hands, voice rolling
like a preacher’s, bright blue eyes
sparkling beneath frosted eyebrows.
He shares the intensity with
MOLLY HAYDEN
50 BEACON
which his community weathered Hugo, a Category
4 hurricane, telling of how he called in political
chits with the power company, got food delivered,
swept the muck from his own home, and never let
up until there was some normalcy restored.
“I didn’t want to miss any deadlines,” he says,
resolute.
Despite the hardships, Riley saw the storm,
something he could not control, as an opportunity
for his staff to serve the citizens when they needed
it most. He told his team then that “if we do the
best job that any city ever did, then the goodwill
of the community and a sense of achievement is
something you will carry for the rest of your life.”
Riley’s disaster response became a model for the
country. Three years later, when South Florida was
pummeled by Hurricane Andrew (Category 5), Riley
marshalled city staff and sent a team to Miami.
“Our police department made the first arrest in
Homestead for looting,” he says with a smile.
Twenty-six years after Hugo, as Riley approached
his final year in office having announced
his retirement, his community rose to the occasion
once again. Around 9 p.m. on the evening
of June 17, 2015, a gunman murdered nine people
in Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church,
“Mother Emanuel,” the oldest black church in the
South. By midnight, Chief of Police Greg Mullen
and Riley were standing side-by-side in front of the
church, trying to navigate the community through
its heartbreak.
“I do believe it is a hate crime. It will be investigated
as a hate crime,” Chief Mullen told reporters
on the scene.
“The only reason someone could walk into a
church and shoot people who were praying is hate.
The only reason,” interjected Riley, balancing both
his public role with private grief.
“It was very important, and we knew it was very
important, to tell what happened,” he says now. “It
was essential that the African-American community
see that we would not sweep anything under
History books
share shelf
space with
awards.
MOLLY HAYDEN
the rug … It wasn’t lunacy. It was
hate.”
He acknowledges that, while
progress on race relations have
been made since he campaigned
nearly 50 years ago to get the
first African American elected
to the South Carolina legislature,
we have not done a good
enough job teaching the history.
“We don’t know the brutal
harshness of the Middle Passage.
We don’t know the brutal harshness
of enslavement and the tragedy.
We don’t know that, and we’ve
never felt that or honored it.”
Much of what occupies this
76-year-old’s time these days is
teaching that history through
something he envisioned nearly
20 years ago during his inaugural
address – an International African
American Museum on the site of
Gadsen’s Wharf where more than
100,000 enslaved men, women
and children first stepped foot
on U.S. soil nearly 400 years ago.
He has led the $25 million private
fundraising effort to match $50
million in public funding from the
city, county and state. He is on the
homestretch for the final $5 million.
The push for the museum has
not been without controversy, but
he has held fast to its promise.
“What I try to do [is first] understand
the hearts of my citizens
and work for initiatives … things
that you have confidence – reasoned
confidence, not whimsical
confidence – that, if you get
there, if you achieve it, and it
might be controversial now, but
if you get there, then your citizens’
hearts will be fulfilled,” he
explains, cautioning against hubris
and arrogance and affirming
the art of intentional listening.
“You can listen to people in a lot
of ways. Through their eyes, you
can see how somebody feels. You
can listen through body language;
you can listen through letters to
the editor; through comments on
the street or in meetings. There is
a plethora of opportunities for a
leader to hear how people feel, and
your job is to get them to a place
where their hearts are fulfilled. I
knew that if we did it, everybody
would be so proud.”
September 2019 BEACON 51
CIVIL SOCIETY
Power
Brokers
Important decisions are often made behind the
scenes, at the fish fry, over friendly lunches,
through the connections forged by association
BY SARA E. MURPHY AND AMY PAIGE CONDON
In Columbus, Georgia, there was the storied “phone
booth” committee, the key five or six committed civic
leaders that if you gathered them in a phone booth they
could agree on what needed to be done, walk out, and it
would be done. In Miami, it was the elusive Non-Group
that could work behind the scenes to make things happen,
everything from organizing boycotts to passing bond
referendums.
In Savannah, this civil society is exemplified by the exclusive,
nearly all-male Irish-American organizations, with
roots leading back to the Emerald Isle; University of Georgia
alumni groups; civic clubs, like the Jaycees; black sororities
that transcend social constructs because of sisterhoods
strengthened through the civil rights struggle; hunting
and shooting clubs; and even a private ladies’ bridge group
made famous in “The Book.” At its best, this “third sector”
behind government and commerce fosters coalitions that
give voice to the community’s needs; at its worst, it can calcify
progress through patronage and the maintenance of
the status quo.
52 BEACON
SG-0003210060-01
Tearing Down Silos
One of the chief complaints
across Chatham County is that
the patchwork of governmental
jurisdictions does not work together
effectively – at great cost
to its citizens. The evidence: the
dissolution of the consolidated
police department and a spate of
incorporation efforts. So, while
individual groups may struggle
to crack Savannah’s armor of
influence, coalitions can muster
enough political power to break
apart silos to move efforts, projects,
and programs forward. Coalitions
also can better channel
the aspirations, priorities, and
needs of a community while coordinating
resources.
Jeb Bush, executive director
of the Forsyth Farmers’ Market,
says there’s no way his team
could provide all the services it
does for Savannah’s low-income
residents without collaborating
with broader civil society. Forsyth
is the highest redeeming
SNAP/EBT (food stamps) farmers’
market in Georgia and was
one of the first markets in the
United States to accept SNAP/
EBT. Moreover, SNAP/EBT users
receive half off of all the market’s
produce, allowing them to
purchase fresh, healthful, local
produce at affordable prices.
Bush highlights the market’s
participation in Healthy Savannah,
a coalition of more than 150
public and private community organizations
working to support a
culture of health. “We also work
with community groups surrounding
Forsyth Park, churches,
community centers, and other
nonprofits, many of whom serve
the same customer base we do,”
Bush explains. “We are one piece
in a very large puzzle.”
Creating Social Networks
Social media certainly has
created new associations that
can mobilize in short order
to address a problem. Case in
point: After anti-Muslim hate
groups launched a campaign
this summer to spy on and endanger
Islamic houses of worship
in Georgia, including the
Islamic Center of Savannah,
Imam Khuzaima Ilyas says his
congregation has been afraid
to attend prayer services at the
mosque, or to wear clothing in
public that indicates their faith.
“We are always hospitable
and welcoming,” Ilyas said, “so
when these people came to our
mosque and said they wanted
to come in and learn, of course
we let them in and spent hours
with them. We had no idea they
would spread malicious lies
about us.” The infiltrators falsely
claimed that the Islamic Center
of Savannah was a terrorist
training base, a charge that
could clearly incite violence.
The Islamic Center already
had a good relationship with
Savannah’s police and the local
FBI, according to the imam,
and the law enforcement agencies
have been helpful in responding
to the hate groups’
threats. At a deeper level, the
imam highlights interfaith services
and activities between his
mosque and Savannah’s Jewish
and Christian communities as
especially helpful in “warming
people who thought they were
really different from each other.”
All across social media, interfaith
groups and concerned
citizens raised awareness of the
threats.
“It has helped to bridge an
imaginary divide,” Ilyas explains.
-
54 BEACON
Compounded Interest
In addition to pooling society’s
political clout, coalitions
can also expand access to funding,
which is a constant struggle
for Savannah’s newer civil society
entrants. To wit, Healthy Savannah
recently secured a $3.4 million
grant from the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention,
a coup that the group’s individual
constituents almost certainly
couldn’t have achieved on their
own. The five-year grant, called
Racial and Ethnic Approaches to
Community Health (R.E.A.C.H.),
significantly expands Healthy
Savannah’s ability to serve the
full range of Savannahians who
could benefit from its programs
and has given a substantial boost
to the Tide to Town greenbelt
implementation.
Richard Reeve, director of financial
education for the Consumer
Credit Counseling Service
(CCCS) of Savannah, notes
that while a few local organizations
are backed by foundations,
the rest must work tirelessly to
fund their services. His organization
delivers professional
and confidential debt management,
housing counseling, and
consumer credit education to
all segments of the community,
regardless of their ability to pay.
Reeve says CCCS’s status as
a United Way member agency
helps, and similar mechanisms
would be tremendously useful
to nonprofit service providers
in Savannah and beyond. The
United Way, of course, is itself a
coalition that pools fundraising
and support efforts for charitable
organizations.
A challenge in Savannah, however,
is the sheer number of organizations
vying for limited funds
(see Undercover Bosses, page 34).
Joanne Morton is the Savannah-Chatham
Sustainability
Coalition’s (SCSC) director
of community engagements
and events, and she has been
running Savannah’s Earth Day
Festival for the last five years.
While many entities in Savannah
are working on environmental
issues, “the efforts right
now are fragmented and disparate,”
Morton said. “Every group
seems to be off in its own silo,
even though so many of us are
working toward the same goals.
You see multiple groups going
after the same limited pot of
money, even when they’re trying
to achieve the same thing. Why
don’t they work together?”
Noting that the environmental
challenges we face warrant
year-round attention, Morton is
building a coalition of nonprofit
groups to approach various
stakeholders in Savannah on issues
related to the environment
and sustainability, aiming to
“make earth day every day.”
Dark Side
Of course, as coalitions grow,
so, too, does their political power.
Left unchecked, that power
can be abused to achieve decidedly
selfish ends. An extreme
example: the billionaire Koch
brothers, who have organized
coalitions of mega-wealthy donors
over decades to fund super
political action campaigns
(PACs) and dark money groups
to manipulate public opinion
and swing elections.
The people who threatened
the Islamic Center of Savannah
earlier this year had themselves
formed a coalition. And, there
are always those who stoke the
fires, like the retired Woodstock,
Georgia, police chief, who spent
several years teaching anti-Muslim
hate classes to law-enforcement
officers around Georgia
for training credit.
“We need to work hard to use
the platforms available to us to
clarify misconceptions everybody
has about other groups or
organizations,” Imam Ilyas says,
“and to help smooth the tension
that arises from cultural differences.”
The challenge, then, for the
civil society is to build broadbased
coalitions that can leverage
political power and funding,
while upholding the intent behind
those two words: civil and
society.
September 2019 BEACON 55
CIVIL SOCIETY / IN THE CLASSROOM
Raisi
SIOBHAN EGAN
56 BEACON
ng Savannah
Student leadership
programs
foster hope and
opportunity
BY NANCY R. FULLBRIGHT
When Heysi Alvarez immigrated
to this country from
Honduras at the tender age of
nine, she admits she struggled
academically, culturally, and
personally.
“I had to learn English so that
put me in a shell. It was hard for
me to speak out for myself,” recalls
the oldest daughter of a single
mom. “I had to grow up and
find my own voice, quickly.”
Alvarez didn’t have high
hopes.
“Given my immigration status,
I thought my future would
be cleaning houses,” she admits.
“I didn’t know what the future
held for me, but I knew I had to
look out for myself.”
And then she got involved in
Gulfstream’s Student Leadership
Program (SLP). After graduating
from the program and Groves
High School in 2014, she ended
up landing a job at the company
that taught her and other high
school students about the foundations
of leadership.
“Now I work at a corporation
that not only is a good place to
work, but it also helps the community,”
says Alvarez, a senior
technician in Gulfstream’s Human
Resources Data Quality
department. “SLP gave me the
right influence at a time when
you are vulnerable to the wrong
influences. It became my backbone.”
All over the world, youth
leadership programs provide
September 2019 BEACON 57
young people with the knowledge
to build leadership skills
and increase opportunities for
empowerment. Programs take
myriad forms, including advocacy
groups, peer education,
service-learning, mentoring
programs, and local government
youth advisory councils and
boards, all in the name of boosting
young people’s self-esteem,
social skills, and problem-solving
skills.
The need is great. Based on
data from the United States
Census Bureau, there are 73.3
million people under the age of
18 living in the United States,
22.4 percent of the total population.
The national high school
graduation rate stands at 84.6
percent while the poverty rate
is at 18.4 percent. In Chatham
County, kids under the age of 18
fare a bit better—86.6 percent—
when it comes to graduating but
face a crippling poverty rate of
24.2 percent.
That’s why any and all efforts
to build up children in this community
are necessary. Herein
are but a few of the programs
giving a lift to our future.
Half of all girls
between the
ages of 10 and
13 experience
bullying.
Starting at age 9,
their physical activity
starts to decline.
Girls on the Run
Maria Center, executive
director of Girls on the Run
(GOTR) Coastal Georgia and
Lowcountry, wants to dispel a
misunderstanding.
“This is not a track club. Running
is merely a vehicle,” she
says. “Our ultimate mission is to
inspire girls to be joyful, healthy,
and confident. We use an experience-based
curriculum that
creatively integrates running.
Our vision is a world where every
girl knows and activates her
limitless potential and is free to
boldly pursue her dreams.”
The after-school program
targeting third through eighth
grade girls is a national program
that was founded in 1996 in
Charlotte, N.C. The local council
has been in place for about
13 years and is on track to serve
1,500 girls in the 2019-2020
school year across Bryan, Bulloch,
Chatham, Effingham, and Liberty Counties
in Georgia, and Beaufort and Jasper Counties in
South Carolina.
The ten-week program meets twice a week for
an hour and a half each time. Sessions start with a
snack and then the girls participate in interactive
activities, running games, and deep-dive discussions
into topics designed to help them navigate
the changes of growing up and entering adolescence.
In addition to developing and executing a
community service project, girls also participate
in a 5K race, an event that typically draws 4,000
cheering community members.
“One of my favorite topics the girls discuss is
‘What is Real Beauty?’” says Center. “We look at
magazines and advertisements and try to instill in
them that it’s not your face, it’s what’s in your heart
and head. Beauty comes in all shapes and sizes and
every color in the rainbow.”
Other topics include self-respect, respecting
others, responsibility, the importance of work,
conflict resolution, and the art of negotiation.
“We also teach goal setting, which is fundamental
to any success in life, and that’s where the 5K
comes in,” says Center. “They gradually build up
their stamina and this is a goal they can work toward
and experience a sense of achievement that
will bleed into other areas of their lives.”
According to Center, half of all girls between
the ages of 10 and 13 experience bullying, and their
physical activity starts declining when they turn
nine, a decline that continues throughout adolescence.
“There are risky behaviors that can be avoided
if these girls have a positive outlet and positive
messaging with caring adults guiding and helping
them. With our poverty rate, a lot of these kids
don’t have these influences. That’s why it’s needed
in a community like this with a high proportion of
disadvantaged children.”
Moving forward, Center says GOTR is looking
at new models, such as Saturday/Sunday programs,
to serve girls who can’t meet during the school
week or have transportation issues. The group
also recently worked with the National Center on
Health, Physical Activity and Disability to develop
curriculum adaptations and resources for girls
with sensory, physical, and cognitive disabilities
and will be offering this new curriculum spring of
2020.
Fees are based on a sliding scale of anywhere
between $40 (for those who receive free school
lunches) to $185 (full fee). That includes trained
coaches, 30 hours of high quality structured learning,
all materials and supplies, snacks, T-shirt, water
bottle, registration and finisher’s medal and discounted
registrations for family members.
For those interested in registering, coaching,
or volunteering, call 912-349-1528 or visit
gotrcoastalgeorgialowcountry.org.
58 BEACON
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M.A.L.E. Dreamers
The M.A.L.E. (Motivated Aspiring
Leaders of Excellence)
Dreamers at West Chatham Middle
School, a mentoring program
for middle school boys, came
about because Robert R. Jordan,
Jr., a seventh-grade special education
teacher, saw a need as the
only male teacher at his school.
“I found myself gravitating
toward the boys to talk to them
about social problems and how
to think things through,” recalls
Jordan, whose background is in
clinical social work. “These boys
need someone to mentor them.
I thought about it over the summer
before the 2015-2016 school
year and brought the idea to my
administrator. Over a period of
time, it just developed.”
Initially, Jordan inducted 15
boys into the program, a number
that’s since grown to more
than 60. Students in the no-cost
program benefit from being mentored
socially, behaviorally, or academically
by a team of a dozen
Dream Coaches, and participate
in a variety of activities, like touring
the Jepson Center, bagging
groceries at Salvation Army, hosting
a Mother-Son formal dance as
a fundraiser, or meeting state legislators
at the capitol in Atlanta.
“I got donated suits and bowties
and the Dreamers were
dressed from head to toe,” says
Jordan. “It’s important to expose
them to something outside the
norm. If we can capture their
attention in middle school and
show them options, then we can
impact what society is going to
look like.”
Jordan wants to spread
M.A.L.E. Dreamers throughout
the school district, targeting
middle schools, and ultimately
open a Dreamer Center for Boys.
Like his work at West Chatham,
Jordan says he would focus on
character, integrity, leadership,
scholarship, and citizenship, “all
of the areas boys can be an asset
and not a liability to society.”
His next campaign is to recruit
20 dedicated men to volunteer
with the program.
“Boy, if I had the funds like
SIOBHAN EGAN
60 BEACON
LeBron,” Jordan laughs. “I would
set up Dreamers programs around
this district and go in and train
staff and administration on what
mentorship looks like. Some of
the boys may move on to being a
mentor themselves, because once
you become a Dreamer, you’re a
Dreamer for life.”
To volunteer or for more information
on the program, call 912-
395-3650.
Savannah Youth
Ambassadors
Margaret Williams, assistant
director of Human Services for
the City of Savannah, says times
have changed drastically for
young people.
“With social media, kids can
be alone with their phones and
think they’re engaged,” she says.
“It’s so different from interacting
with real life.”
Savannah Youth Ambassadors
(SYA), a year-round initiative
of the City of Savannah’s
Community Services division,
aims to give young people that
real-life experience.
Established on the values
of social awareness, civic engagement,
and personal and
professional development,
SYA fosters youth leadership
and civic engagement through
City-sponsored training, cultural
exploration opportunities,
and community impact projects.
Targeting ninth through
12th graders, the program covers
topics like financial literacy, the
importance of voting, managing
communication and interpersonal
skills, and community service,
among others.
Last year, for example, students
participated in service
projects such as Slam Dunk to
Funk, a community cleanup
effort, and St. Joseph’s Smart
Living and Health Fair, where
they volunteered at the door
and assisted attending seniors.
Throughout the year, the group
also took field trips to the Georgia
Ports, International Paper,
Georgia Southern University,
and Savannah-Chatham Day at
the state capitol in Atlanta.
Robert R.
Jordan
mentors the
Dreamers of
West Chatham
Middle
School.
“We’ve designed the program
so that they can be actively engaged
in what goes on in their
community,” Williams says.
“This allows them to come to
the table and gives them confidence.”
During the school year, sessions
are held on the second
Saturday of the month from 10
a.m. until noon, and SYA summer
sessions are held Tuesdays,
Wednesdays, and Thursdays in
June from 8:30 a.m. until 2 p.m.
All program costs are covered by
the City of Savannah.
Participants must be a resident
of the City of Savannah and
enrolled in school. Last year, the
29 Ambassadors completed 892
leadership training hours and
423 community service hours.
“Workforce development and
workforce readiness is a huge
challenge and we want to prepare
students for that,” Williams
says. “Our ultimate goal is to
start them on a career path and
have the kinds of citizens we
want in Savannah.”
For more information on how
to apply or how to sponsor SYA,
call 912-651-6520 or visit Savannahga.gov/SYA.
Student Leadership
Program
In probably one of the best examples
of a public-private partnership,
Gulfstream partnered
with the Savannah-Chatham
County Public School System in
2008 to help students graduate
high school. The resulting Student
Leadership Program (SLP)
has now evolved to be so much
more.
“We’ve grown the program
to 600 ninth through twelfth
graders with the goal of giving
local students the opportunity
to connect with business leaders
and help foster their own leadership
identity,” says Chris Nowicki,
public affairs and community
investment consultant. “Businesses
and private industry have
a priority to partner with the
public school system to achieve
its mission so public schools
don’t have to do it alone.”
During the six leadership
sessions held throughout the
school year, students learn
about personal leadership development,
time management,
conflict resolution, working in
teams, making first impressions,
financial literacy and dining etiquette.
In addition, between
their junior and senior years in
the program, students take a
trip to Washington, D.C. to give
them a broader perspective on
leadership.
“We focus on giving them experiences,
like taking them to
military installations or a twoyear
or four-year or technical
college to see what experiences
they could have there,” Nowicki
says. “Students also begin to understand
what it takes to manage
your money and write a résumé.
All of those things are going to
be crucial to their success.”
There is no cost to the program
other than the students’
commitment, notes Nowicki,
and all 11 public high schools offer
it. Nearly 600 students apply
each year for 150 slots. To date,
more than a thousand students
have graduated from the program.
“It doesn’t matter what part
of town you’re from, this reaches
every school and brings every
student together,” says Nowicki.
“Young people are prone to
building a wall around themselves
and saying they can’t. My
passion is getting them to bust
that wall down and become a
sponge to learn everything they
can.”
With the school district’s successes
over the past dozen years,
Nowicki says it’s time to re-evaluate
and revamp the program’s
focus. A steering committee of
business leaders is examining
the model and students’ input
will be solicited over the next
year to re-imagine the program
and maintain relevance. A new
SLP will be relaunching in fall
2020.
To apply or to learn about how
you can volunteer with the SLP
program, visit discoverslp.com.
September 2019 BEACON 61
SIOBHAN EGAN
Deep Center’s ART Team
One of Savannah’s newest
youth leadership initiatives is
courtesy of the Deep Center, a
local nonprofit known for its
creative writing workshops.
“Young people were stepping
up in our normal program spaces
and taking leadership roles
naturally. Checking in on their
peers, offering to help the teaching
artists, things like that,” says
Megan Ave’Lallemant, senior
program director. “Young people
at all levels would write these
super passionate pieces and have
such big things to say and then
bump into ceilings they didn’t
create.”
As a result, Deep established a
Youth Leadership Team in 2017
with two pathways: the Slam
Team, a competitive spoken
word team giving voice to Savannah’s
stories, and the Action
Research Team (ART), a group
of five students working as researchers,
artists, creative writers,
and organizers to identify
Heysi Alvarez
excelled in
the Gulfstream
Student
Leadership
Program.
policies and systems adversely
affecting our communities and
advocate for change.
“When we’re talking about
youth leadership, we’re asking
young people to be the experts
of their own lives. They are at
the epicenter and are directly
affected by it, so they are the experts,”
says Ave’Lallemant. “Our
goal is to help young people
use those powerful stories they
write to critique the issues they
see surrounding them and then
connect that to action they can
take to transform the problem.”
This year, the team developed
a central research question
that is impacting young people:
how do dealings with the Savannah-Chatham
County Public
School System’s discipline policies
and practices address root
causes and accountability processes?
ART members have collected
stories and surveys and
built a simulation about how
different policies don’t always
address root causes.
According to Ave’Lallemant,
the simulation is a no-win game
with the ultimate goal of building
empathy by demonstrating and
communicating a visualization of
what it’s like to be a high schooler.
This fall the self-proclaimed
group of “artivists” will hold an
Advocacy Day to get the simulation
in the hands of community
leaders in a position of power and
hopefully inspire change. And
that, says one student, is the definition
of leadership.
“Leadership goes hand-inhand
with teamwork and we are
all leaders,” says Hennessys Ortiz,
a senior at New Hampstead
High School. “If we can bring
our findings to the table, we can
all work together to help advocate
for a solution.”
There are five students on Deep’s
current Action Research Team, but
Ave’Lallemant expects that number
to grow. Interested high school
students can email writewithus@
deepcenter.org or call 912-289-7426
for more information.
62 BEACON
Continuing a
Savannah Tradition.
Hodgson Memorial Chapel
7415 Hodgson Memorial Drive
Savannah, GA
T (912) 927-1999
Garden City Chapel
2794 Highway 80 W
Garden City, GA
T (912) 964-2862
www.bakermccullough.com
CIVIL SOCIETY / ON THE FIELD
Discipline +
Knowledge +
Accountability =
Success
For ‘Coach Cam,’ it’s more
than sprints and tackles
BY ANTHONY GARZILLI
There’s a fierce competition among members of
the Jenkins High School football team, one of Savannah’s
ascending programs.
The Warriors, under third-year coach Jason Cameron,
have won 21 games the last two seasons, including
the first undefeated regular season in school history in
2017. The team has reached the quarterfinals of the Class
AAA state playoffs each of the last three years. That success
has garnered the program recognition (Cameron
was named the Savannah Morning News football coach
of the year in his first season as head coach), and its
players have been highly sought-after by major colleges.
With 16 players having committed to play in college
during the last three years, including four commits this
season and two more expected to accept offers during
the school year, the competition naturally appears to be
about who can be the best on the field.
Not quite. Under Cameron’s leadership, the Warriors
have focused as much on success in the classroom
as they have on the field.
Cameron, 33, said as a coach and teacher he wants
his players to be prepared for the next steps in life, not
just for the next Friday night football game.
“It goes further than football,” said senior Taurus
Simmons, who has committed to play at West Virginia
University.
64 BEACON
September 2019 BEACON 65
PHOTOGRAPHY BY BEAU KESTER
Combined with being a stickler
for discipline (make sure you
adhere to the school dress code
and don’t even think about being
a second late to practice or a team
meeting), Cameron said the Warriors
have made attaining good
grades and having strong SAT
scores as necessary as outscoring
their opponents. Akelo Stone, who
has committed to play at Georgia
Tech, has earned a 3.3 core GPA
and scored a 1,200 on his SAT. Joah
Cash, who is weighing offers from
several universities, earned an
1,100 on his SAT. He plans to study
oceanography in college. And Daylan
Dotson (Alabama A&M), said
after not thinking much about
studying as a younger student, he
took Coach Cameron’s tutelage to
heart and has improved to a 2.9
core GPA and scored a 970 on his
SAT.
Dotson said his teammates will
joke with each other on bus rides
about who is getting the better
grades and who scored higher on
the SAT. The motivation, Dotson
said, comes from Cameron’s leadership
and guidance. He’s holding
the team accountable because he
wants what’s best for them.
“In 10th grade, I didn’t take
studying and being accountable
serious,” said Dotson, a senior
linebacker and defensive lineman.
“But I saw that my teammates
were good, but they didn’t
go to a major college because they
didn’t have top grades. For me, I
came to Coach Cam. I wanted
to start studying and bring my
grades up so that I can be a successful
young man.”
Said Cash: “I never had anybody
to push me; I never wanted to do
anything. But as soon as Coach
Cam came here, he provided us
with tutors and he mentored me.”
Cameron, also a special education
teacher, thinks the team
thrives on wanting to be the best
in the classroom.
“One of our senior athletes got
a 1,200 on the SAT, in their minds
they want to get a 1,200. It’s more
than sprints or tackles,” he said.
“Daylan wants to be considered
the best student on the team;
Ronald Cooper (Navy) wants
to be the best student, which is
starting to breed an excellence in
the classroom.”
Cameron honed his work ethic
by watching his family put in the
long hours necessary to support
one another and from the guidance
by his own caring coaches.
He grew up in Cliffside Park,
New Jersey, nurtured by a working-class
family: his father worked
seven days a week, driving a school
bus Monday through Friday, then
he drove a taxi on weekends. His
dad woke up at 4 a.m. on Saturdays
and worked until 6 p.m. He
did it again on Sundays. His mother
worked as a secretary but always
made sure she drove Cameron to
each of his athletic competitions.
The tenets of life success that
Cameron instills in his players
grew from this household. Hard
work and discipline were the
starting points to living well.
In Cliffside Park the children
knew they were going to attend
the Cliffside Park School District
and everybody knew coach John
Brunelli. Brunelli, who is in the
state’s coaches hall of fame, taught
at Cliffside High for 42 years and
was a longtime baseball and football
coach. It was under his tutelage
that Cameron learned what it
meant to be a leader.
“Coach Brunelli is like my second
dad,” said Cameron, who
played three sports in high school.
“Just showing how much he cared
about us. He didn’t have any kids of
his own, but he constantly said that
we were his children.”
Brunelli didn’t shower his student-athletes
with any poignant
sayings, but he preached discipline
and respect. If the team arrived
for an away game and the
locker room was clean, then they
weren’t leaving until they left it as
clean as when they had arrived.
That attention to detail stuck with
Cameron, and if there’s a singular
maxim for leadership, to Cameron,
it’s a doctrine of discipline—a
word he mentioned more than 10
times during a wide-ranging interview.
Sitting in his office at Jenkins
High, which is just off the gymnasium,
with football practice
just minutes away and players and
coaches darting in and out, he
chuckled before expanding on another
point about guiding his players.
“I sound like a broken record,
but it all reverts back to disciple,”
said Cameron, noting the team
charts unforced errors such as too
many men on the field and offsides
penalties and false starts. “If you are
disciplined in all parts of your life,
the scholarships are going to take
care of themselves, and while we
are getting that notoriety individually,
we will win some games.”
The importance of restraint and
self-control was evoked early in his
tenure as Jenkins head coach. Cameron,
who also learned from Jose Rebimbas,
his basketball coach at William
Paterson University in Wayne,
New Jersey, returned to Cliffside
Park after graduating from college in
2008. There, he coached basketball
and football at the high school while
he taught at the elementary school.
He coached in his hometown for
three years before he arrived in Savannah,
where his wife Brooke was
raised, and served as the Jenkins offensive
coordinator for five seasons
before taking the head coaching
duties in 2017. It didn’t take long for
Cameron to make an impression on
his players. In fact, all it took was one
weight-training session.
To get the program moving
in his direction, he scheduled a
weight-lifting session on the first
Monday in May after he was hired.
The school bell rang at 2:30 p.m.; the
training was slated to start 20 minutes
later. At 2:50 p.m., with most
of the players ready to get to work,
the coaches locked the door. Three
returning starters arrived a minute
late. They knocked. The doors remained
closed.
“I told them to go home,” Cameron
said.
The tone was set. The rest of
the team was impressed. Their
new leader wasn’t messing around.
“That really opened my eyes,”
Dotson said.
“He sent them home,” Simmons
said. “He’s not playing.”
Cameron said being on time is
an aspect of being accountable.
And once the coaches earned
their players’ respect, they saw the
players start holding their teammates
to certain standards.
“The team started policing each
66 BEACON
other and held each other accountable,”
Cameron said.
“That’s when, in my mind,
they are getting it.”
Simmons and Stone said
what makes Cameron a good
leader is his willingness to engage
with the players and to
show them how to do something
instead of just yelling
and screaming about what
should be done. They appreciate
Cameron and the staff’s
willingness to teach the finer
points of techniques on the
field and to stay involved in
their lives off the field.
“There’s a difference between
a boss and a leader. A
leader is going to show you
how to do it; a boss is just going
to tell you,” said Simmons, who
plans to study animal sciences
at West Virginia.
For the last two years, Cameron
has set up biweekly progress
reports with the team’s
teachers. He created a form
that the teachers fill out, indicating
if there were any disciplinary
actions taken and how
the students are doing academically.
The form is signed by the
teachers and returned by the
players to Cameron. The coach
and the staff then see if a tutorial
or any extra help is needed.
During the offseason, instead
of four days of workouts, the
team trains for three days and
leaves Wednesdays open for
mandatory tutor sessions. The
upperclassmen have ACT and
SAT prep classes run by the
school’s National Honor Society
students.
Little things have proven to
make a difference.
Cameron said a player tutored
on how to use a graphing
calculator saw his SAT
score climb to an 1,100 and
his college football offers rose
from two to 15.
“If we are not successful in
football, he’s going to make
sure we are successful in life,”
Simmons said.
“It sounds cliché, and I’m
sure everyone says it,” says
“Coach Cam,” “but student
comes before athlete. And it’s
the truth.”
September 2019 BEACON 67
A
Deeper
Bench
BY ALLISON HERSH
THE CIVIL SOCIETY
To quote JFK:
‘Leadership and learning are
indispensable to each other’
Columbus State University’s Leadership Institute, a professional,
research-based executive consulting and training program,
asks a provocative question: “How deep is your bench?”
An old sports metaphor that refers to the depth of talent and the
ability to call upon the strengths of up-and-comers – not just
the veterans and the superstars – to lead the team. Through its
decade-plus work with corporate and government clients, the
institute has affirmed that visionary and strategic leadership is
essential from the executive suite to the front office. Without
that infrastructure in place, businesses – and communities – experience
leadership voids.
We like to think that leaders are born, which absolves us of
our individual responsibilities when it comes to what Melinda
Gates calls “the moment of lift,” but leadership is, in many ways,
a learned skill that can take a lifetime to master. In Savannah, a
number of organizations seek to educate and empower the next
generation of leaders by providing vital opportunities to pass
the torch from today’s visionaries to tomorrow’s changemakers.
Still, to build a deeper, more inclusive bench for our city,
county, and region, we need existing programs to grow beyond
networking, to re-institute community-based projects, develop
participants’ affinity for collaboration and, ultimately, encourage
them to take their learned leadership skills into the public
sphere by serving on boards and commissions ... and running
for office.
LEADERSHIP SAVANNAH
Leadership Savannah inspires
professional growth by providing
a wide range of learning
experiences for emerging
leaders. Designed to offer a
deeper understanding of the
issues affecting the Savannah
community, this year-long
program prepares participants to
be creative problem-solvers who
can tackle the city’s current and
future challenges.
Limited to 42 individuals, every
Leadership Savannah class
features a curated cross-section
of emerging community leaders
who reflect the city’s diverse
industries and talents. The
program’s distinguished alumni
include local luminaries in a wide
range of fields, from business and
education to government and the
arts.
Organized by: The Savannah
Area Chamber of Commerce
Did you know? The Savannah
Area Chamber of Commerce
originally launched Leadership
Savannah in 1961 to educate
future leaders about important
local issues. Today, it is one
of the nation’s oldest and
most respected communitybased
leadership development
programs.
Cost: $2,750 per person
Financial assistance: A limited
number of $1,000 need-based
scholarships are available.
To apply: savannahchamber.
com/leadership-savannah
68 BEACON
LEADERSHIP SOUTHEAST
GEORGIA
A five-month, regional program,
Leadership Southeast Georgia
focuses on empowering
community leaders through a
strong emphasis on conflict
resolution, self-awareness and
critical thinking. The underlying
message of this popular program,
which is now in its twentieth year,
is the interconnection between
the Peach State’s coastal
communities.
Participants from Bryan, Bulloch,
Camden, Chatham, Effingham,
Glynn, Liberty, Long, McIntosh
and Screven County spend one
weekend a month traveling to
surrounding counties to take a
deep dive into regional issues.
Together, they explore topics
ranging from education and
healthcare to transportation and
economic development.
Organized by: Leadership
Southeast Georgia
Did you know? Leadership
Southeast Georgia participants
have toured dozens of sites across
the area, including the nuclear
submarine base in St. Mary’s, Fort
Stewart in Hinesville and a working
farm near Statesboro.
Cost: $2,000 per person
Financial assistance: Limited
need-based scholarship funds
are available to provide partial
assistance.
To apply: lsega.com/nominate
SAVANNAH JAYCEES
The local chapter of the
International Junior Chamber of
Commerce, the Savannah Jaycees,
was chartered in 1942. During
the organization’s first 50 years,
members led the charge for the
adoption of the city’s councilmanager
form of government in
1954, decentralizing voting in
Chatham County even before
the 1965 Voting Rights Act was
signed, building the Savannah
Civic Center, and raised more than
$50,000 for the restoration of the
Forsyth Fountain in 1985.
While its membership and
influence waned in the 1990s, the
new crop of young professionals,
ages 21-40, have re-energized the
chapter through the Leadership
Now series of expert lectures by
industry leaders, online training
and certification, a Toastmasters
program to hone public speaking
skills, community improvement
projects, and a vital network
of alumni that includes county
commissioners and corporate
trailblazers. In 2020, Savannah
Jaycees will host the statewide
convention.
Organized by: Savannah Jaycees
Did you know? The Jaycee Hut,
101 Atlas St., just underwent a
complete renovation to bring its
dated 1980s interior into the 21st
century. The “hut” will be available
for affordable rental by local
nonprofits and individuals.
Cost: Open to young professionals,
ages 21-40, for $245.50 annual
membership fee
To apply: savannahjaycees.com
NEIGHBORHOOD LEADERSHIP
ACADEMY
A grassroots leadership development
initiative designed to create more
engaged, more informed citizens
capable of elevating the community,
the Neighborhood Leadership
Academy explores communitybased
topics and unites established
and emerging leaders from across
the area with a focus on advocacy,
critical thinking and problem-solving
skills.
This 12-week program at Savannah
State University is open to citizens
who want to develop effective
advocacy skills and broaden their
understanding of community issues.
Upon graduation, participants are
encouraged to assume leadership
roles within local neighborhood
associations, boards and other
groups working to effect positive
change in Savannah.
Organized by: Step Up Savannah
Did you know? Every year, the
Neighborhood Leadership Academy
accepts a cohort of 25 participants
from a diverse pool of applicants
with varying backgrounds and
leadership experience levels.
Cost: Free
To apply: stepupsavannah.org/nlaapplication
Want to Be a Mentor?
One of the best ways
to “pay it forward” is to
serve as a mentor, sharing
hard-earned life experience
and priceless work-related
knowledge with others.
These local programs offers
creative ways to get involved
and support future
generations of leaders in
Savannah.
Frank Callen Boys and Girls Club
Help local students with homework, teach children to read, coach a sports team or
join a field trip. bgcsavannah.org
Junior Achievement
Visit local classrooms to energize students about future career opportunities,
entrepreneurship and financial literacy. georgia.ja.org
Junior League of Savannah
Volunteer with non-profit agencies and community-based programs to support
education and childhood development. jrleaguesav.org
SCORE Savannah
Mentor aspiring entrepreneurs and small business owners by offering free services
and valuable resources. savannah.score.org
September 2019 BEACON 69
THE BRIDGE BUILDERS
70 BEACON
What Would
Howard Do?
When Howard Morrison passed away on January 24 of this year, the greater Savannah
community lost one of its greatest connectors. A native son, Morrison traveled far and wide from
the coastal enclave of his birth. And yet, after a career in banking in Atlanta, he returned during
retirement to the family farm out on U.S. 17 – although retirement hardly trucked with Morrison.
His boundless curiosity, egalitarian ethos, wit and wisdom enjoined people of all stripes and
persuasions on causes as diverse as technology and the environment, women’s health and historic
preservation, energy innovation and youth enrichment, ginger and turmeric. Stalwart programs
we now take for granted, such as the Oceans Exchange, Creative Coast, Savannah Children’s
Choir, and Loop It Up, all began in conversation with Morrison.
“What would Howard do?” is not an uncommon question heard as people continue to process
such loss. So, we went looking for the bridge builders, the ones who exemplify his legacy of
wonderment, solution-oriented focus, and uplift. Although the nine people featured on the
following pages by no means represent an exhaustive survey of this community’s helpers, it’s a
start toward spotlighting the kind of spirit and leadership this community so sorely needs. Think
of this, then, as a conversation-starter, which is exactly what Howard would do.
Contributors Amy Paige Condon, Meaghan Walsh Gerard, and Andrea Goto
Photography by Molly Hayden Image of Howard Morrison by Steve Bisson
September 2019 BEACON 71
The Advocate
LaToya Brannen
A Savannah native, LaToya Brannen thought she knew
her city. But like most people, she really only knew the
small community that surrounded her. “It’s easy to work,
go home, go to church, live in your little bubble and think
‘if it doesn’t affect me, I don’t care about it,’” she admits.
Volunteering changed all that, widening Brannen’s sense of
community and revealing the real needs of the people in her
city and the resources available, though often untapped.
In 2010, Brannen’s volunteer work on the community investment
panel for United Way of the Coastal Empire opened
her eyes to the extensive work Savannah’s nonprofit organizations
do for the people of this city. Once aware of these
services, she began directing others to them.
Over the years, Brannen’s list of volunteer experiences
has grown to include Second Harvest, Komen Race for the
Cure, Faith and Ministry in Action, and Savannah Black
Heritage Festival, just to name a few.
From volunteerism came activism and advocacy. While
working for the Department of Public Health as economic
support consultant, Brannen, a single mother, connected
people to health-care related resources. “I’m passionate about
women being able to receive affordable health care,” Brannen
enthuses. “If a woman doesn’t have children, she isn’t eligible
for Medicaid. We need to do a lot of advocacy, education and
lobbying towards helping women get health coverage.”
Brannen’s federally funded position ended this past summer,
but her work was hardly done. She recently stepped
down from her board position at Step Up Savannah to serve
as a facilitator for the organization’s neighborhood leadership
academy, and she was quickly recruited as one of two Savannah
chapter organizers for 9to5 Georgia, a nonprofit agency
that supports working women, including advocating for equal
pay, the Family Care Act, and voter registration. As part of an
8-week community internship program through 9to5 Georgia,
Brannen works with six young women ages 15-18. “We
talk about civic engagement, voter rights, districting, what is
power and who has it — things of that nature,” Brannen says.
“We teach them basic strategies to help uplift voices and really
understand what is happening in our local communities.”
For Brannen, everything comes back to volunteering, and not
just a few hours here and there, but offering up a real commitment
of time, energy, and resources. “People ask me why I do all
this volunteer service,” she begins. “I do this so that the next generation
of my family can see that it’s possible to do these things
— so that my little cousin, my nieces and nephews know what
it means to help out … I know the feeling all too well of being
paid just enough to not be eligible for certain benefit programs,
but not being paid enough to make it paycheck to paycheck. If
there’s any way I can give, I’ll do it.” —Andrea Goto
72 BEACON
The Seeker
Marjorie Young
Three years ago, Marjorie Young temporarily walked away
from the successful small business she had built over two
decades while raising her daughter on her own and walked
toward a more meaningful and intentional work/life balance.
This metaphorical move began with a physical journey,
walking the El Camino de Santiago—a 500-mile pilgrimage
across Spain. Young first learned of the El Camino when she
saw The Way, a 2010 film about the walk. “It just marinated
in my head for a couple of years,” Young recalls. Then, in
2016, she realized she “needed the headspace” to think about
the next step for her business, and a solo trek at El Camino
would afford just that.
“The pilgrimage gave me 40 days to think—to listen to
God, and find answers about life and business,” Young says.
“It was profoundly impactful. My biggest problem for 20
years was thinking I could do everything by myself. But I
went to Camino by myself, and I met people along the way
and survived because of those relationships.”
Consequently, Young sees collaboration as making both
business and life easier. Young has grown her own team and
each person works remotely and is cross-trained, making it
possible to take time out for family. She also partnered with
former competitor Cecilia Russo as a way for both business
owners to “actually have a life.” This allowed Young to
embark on the pilgrimage and it gave Russo the time off she
needed when she got married. “We’re on this planet for life,
not to work,” Young notes. “If you can incorporate them
together, it makes for a much better existence.”
Young recalls hearing Howard Morrison speak about what
he called the “5-person rule,” which means supporting a new
small business by introducing them to five people who can
help them in some way. “We have an incredible small-business
community in Savannah where we mentor and help
each other along the way,” she says. “A healthy small-business
community means a healthy city.”
This year, Carriage Trade Public Relations will celebrate
an impressive 25 years of business in Savannah. This success
puts Young in a position to give back, which she does
wholeheartedly. “Part of my mission is to help people start
businesses,” Young says. She does this as an SBDC mentor,
by producing an online program, “Open for Business,” that
interviews prominent CEOs for tips, and authoring a book
to be released this year called The Reputation Matrix: How to
Create a Word-of-mouth Marketing Strategy.
“I wrote it because every day I’m talking to small-business
owners who are calling me with questions,” says Young. “This
book is a road map for them.”
—Andrea Goto
September 2019 BEACON 73
The Counselor
Dr. Zke Zimmerman
In 1961 at the age of 16, Dr. Zke Zimmerman parked the delivery
truck he was driving and walked away from his job with
the Orangeburg, South Carolina, school system. Still a student,
he was ferrying brand new textbooks and microscopes
to the all-white high school and picking up the well-used
cast-offs for drop-off at the black high school that he attended.
At the time, black students were charged rental fees for
the used supplies, so he asked what the white students paid.
“Not only were they not paying more; they were not paying
anything,” he recalls.
He walked straight to the local NAACP office and became
one of four student leaders for the local civil rights movement,
working through high school and college to desegregate
lunch counters, bathrooms, and schools. By the time he
graduated with a degree in mathematics, both the 1964 Civil
Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act had been signed
into law.
That kind of fortitude was instilled in Zimmerman from
a young age. His father expected him to take responsibility
for his own decisions by the age of 12. A church deacon — a
farmer in town — called on him to serve as the Sunday school
superintendent.
“He had high standards he never backed off from,” says
Zimmerman. “We respected him and held him in high regard.
Those people you do that with, you don’t want to disappoint.”
Zimmerman, a Vietnam veteran and longtime educator,
might as well be talking about himself. Tall with a resonant
voice, his broad, welcoming smile radiates a warmth that
belies a takes-no-guff approach to youthful hubris.
He has mentored hundreds of young men and women,
from Colorado Springs to Newport News to Savannah, and
his MegaGenesis program has helped thousands of area high
schoolers to “connects the dots” from education to college to
career. At 100 Black Men, Zimmerman has contributed his
time and talents to the Youth Leadership Academy, where
teen-aged boys and girls hone skills in finance, situational decision-making,
communication, and etiquette. Over the past
nine years, 117 students have participated in the program; 115
have gone on to four-year colleges and two have entered the
military.
He expected no less from his own children, all 26 of them.
In addition to one biological son, the Zimmermans raised
more than two dozen teens, most of them former students
who needed a supportive family structure. On the day each of
them moved in, he told them, “One, I will be your father for
the rest of your life. That will never change ... And two, you
will go to college. That is non-negotiable.”
—Amy Paige Condon
74 BEACON
The Connector
Neel Foster
In the best-selling book, The Tipping Point: How
Little Things Can Make a Big Difference (2000), Malcom
Gladwell identifies three groups of people with a
particular set of social gifts. One of these groups he
calls “connectors.” Connectors are described as having a
large network of friends across a variety of social circles,
and they have a special gift for bringing people together.
Local artist Neel Foster is the definition of a connector,
though she may not identify as such. “I’m just
a person going through life,” she demurs. But that’s
the thing about connectors, they don’t work at linking
people or even seem aware they’re doing it—the quality
is intrinsic to their personality.
Years ago, Foster worked out of a studio in City Market
and taught art to children. But when she and her husband
moved to Wilmington Island in 1998, they built a studio
on their expansive property. Foster was concerned that
she’d lose some of her students, but a good friend encouraged
her, saying the familiar phrase, “Build it and they will
come.”
“I built it and sure enough, they came,” Foster says,
laughing. “I didn’t lose any students; in fact, I got more.”
She also opened the studio up to other artists, inviting
them to join her to create, chat, or simply hang out.
They, too, came. There are several regulars and others
simply come when they can—they’re a mix of people
from Foster’s neighborhood, church, book club, rowing
team, and Citizen Advocacy, for which she has been an
advocate ever since moving to Savannah in 1986. The
studio has also become a place for artists to give workshops
on everything from portrait painting to memoir
writing. “I think the studio is a magnet for people who
are looking for a place to be creative or just for a place
to be around creative people,” Foster says.
Upstairs, in the studio loft, Foster hosts a book club
that’s 20 years in the running. A new addition provides
space for a bicycle workshop for her husband, Savannah
native Don Stuber. The retired Gulfstream engineer and
former racing cyclist fixes up bikes and gives them to people
who need one. Out back, he tends to a healthy garden.
“Tomatoes end up in everybody’s house in the summertime,”
laughs Foster.
Foster and Stuber’s world may seem quaint—reminiscent
of a time when people made the effort to build
actual communities over virtual ones. But their world
is also quite big, just like their arms. “Sometimes I just
get a call from someone who has heard of my studio
and I say ‘Come on over, any old time,’” Foster says. “I’m
happy to share it.” —Andrea Goto
September 2019 BEACON 75
The Pathfinder
Brynn Grant
Here’s the thing: When you sit down to talk with Brynn
Grant, you better prepare yourself to be enlightened, challenged,
and inspired. Your brain’s synapses will start firing and
you’ll be a little dizzy when you leave. Days later, you’ll still be
thinking about the conversation.
We were going to talk about leadership, but somehow,
we got to talking about grief counseling for people who live
in communities that experience sustained trauma, which
morphed into creating pathways for people by meeting them
where they are, which then led to a discussion about the Savannah
Early Childhood Education Foundation.
“I’m just beginning to get involved … What’s fascinating,
they are working with Georgia Southern University’s education
department on real research, following those early
participants and their children so that they can see what kind
of effect that might be having in their lives …”
As the chief operating officer of the Savannah Economic Development
Authority (SEDA) and vice president of World Trade
Center Savannah, it’s her job to connect Savannah and the
surrounding region to the global economy. But, she gets that the
really juicy part of her work, is bringing the right people together
with interests and ideas, so that the greater community — all
parts of it — can thrive and benefit in a growing economy.
Her well of empathy runs deep. This mother of three knows
first-hand what it takes to grow strong from the broken places.
“I don’t know if you know who you really are until
you’ve really had to struggle … not that I wish that
on anyone ever. But, who I became …” She nods
and offers the knowing smile of one who has
discovered her own resilience.
Her special brand of resilience is a valued
commodity, as she’s been called in to provide
continuity and stability to such organizations
as the precursor to the Savannah Music Festival
and The Creative Coast. Her community
involvement extends to the boards of Leadership
Southeast Georgia and the Savannah
Technical College Foundation. Education
clearly is a passion, and she’s bullish about the
potential of the much-maligned Millennial,
often recommending her younger colleagues to
organizations who approach her to volunteer so
that those coming behind her have an opportunity
to flourish.
Grant says, “The greatest economic success
I’ve seen from an economic development
perspective always involves many committed
players moving in the same direction.”
—Amy Paige Condon
76 BEACON
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78 BEACON
The Motivators
Stacey Fuller and Jenna Bower
Stacey Fuller stepped up when she saw the need to
get a handle on litter and dumping in Savannah. “Don’t
wait for government officials to make a difference. Spring
into action and rally your neighbors to … We can’t do this
alone, we all need each other to care just a little. One simple
action can turn into a movement.”
It has. In just over a year, she and co-founder Jenna
Bower formed Savannah Trash Warriors, which has hosted
dozens of pick-up events and gathered nearly 1,000
bags of trash and recyclables — items that otherwise
would have ended up in area waterways.
“Originally, I wanted to start Savannah Trash Warriors
because I knew there were other residents in Savannah
that must be nerdy about picking up litter, but I didn’t
know how to find them,” says Bower. “We needed something
that could unite all of the trash warriors in the city,
so we could make a bigger impact … It can be hard to
tackle that huge pile of trash on your own, [but] in most
cases, these become a lot more manageable with a team
of people that are there to help.”
For such a small city, Savannah seems to have an
oversized trash problem. Litter is a quality-of-life issue
throughout the community — trash lining sidewalks,
wrappers stuck in bushes, junk floating in canals. It’s not
good for the environment, for wildlife, or for the psychological
health of a neighborhood. According to a Keep
America Beautiful report (2009), people litter when they
see litter: the broken-window theory. Eighty-one percent
of littering is intentional, and people will litter 2-3 times
more in an area that is already dirty.
Bower adds, “If you’re passionate about something and
want to make a difference, you probably aren’t alone in
your quest. Find people in your neighborhood [who] are
passionate about that cause and team up. There’s power
in numbers, and in this technologically isolated age,
getting to know your neighbors might just be the most
radical thing you could do.”
People’s behavior changes for the better when they
see someone else picking up trash. Those benefits exponentially
multiply with the health impacts of walking
around, spending time outside, and meeting new friends
who share the same enthusiasm. The Savannah Trash
Warriors provides that inspiration in addition to making
a measurable impact.
“We post our data of how many buckets of trash and
recyclables we pick up on each of our weekly outings,”
Fuller explains. “It helps to paint a story of the impact in
each neighborhood we visit for onlookers. Other folks
share their pictures that they take … and we post them to
our site. We try to share information on our group page
that we feel is educational to our mission. I think picking
up every Saturday morning speaks volumes to our commitment
to our cause.”
—Meaghan Walsh Gerard
September 2019 BEACON 79
The Curators
Peter Roberts and Austin Hill
Nearly three years ago, after Austin Hill
bought the historic building on the corner
of Whitaker and Taylor streets to house his
growing real estate business, he recognized
that the expanse of street-facing windows
could appear like dead space smack in the
middle of a vibrant corridor filled with
artists, designers, and shops. His suspicions
were confirmed at Design District meetings,
where neighbors expressed dismay
that an office was replacing an antique
shop.
“To me, it’s so sad to have such a wonderful
space and not use it to its highest
potential,” Hill recalls. “I wanted it to be a
lively space. I didn’t want it to feel like an
office.”
He and friend artist Peter Roberts met
for lunch at Soho South, where Hill posed
the question, “What do you think about
putting a gallery there?”
Hill, however, wanted it to be something
more. “I didn’t want it to be something I
made money off of … but something that
would help local artists and the local community.”
Roberts thought it was a great idea. “And
then [Austin] said, ‘Do you want to run it?’”
As a working artist, Roberts had coordinated
several silent auctions for local
nonprofits throughout the years, from Hospice
Savannah and the Historic Savannah
Foundation to the Downtown Neighborhood
Association. Through that process he
came to understand that “art, when paired
well with nonprofits, expands the audience
for the artist and the art collector. If you
can put that art on brand with a particular
nonprofit [mission], it becomes a threelegged
stool to raise more money.”
Their Location Gallery has shown more
than 200 artists in group and solo shows
and has raised funds for more than 20 local
organizations. The shows, often themed
with Roberts’ playful, cheeky irreverence,
imbues meaning into the works, and attracts
a large number of first-time buyers
who become regulars.
“Art can be a souvenir of the times,” says
Roberts.
Participating artists receive 50 percent
of the sale of their works, and the rest goes
toward the nonprofit, which helps artists
make a living and expands Hill’s capacity to
support local causes. It also has opened his
eyes to other community needs.
Says Hill, “One nonprofit I have ended
up loving is Deep Center, which I didn’t
know a whole lot about before … as much
community involvement as I have had.”
He and Roberts have since expanded to
include a satellite gallery at the LGBT Center
on Bull Street that shows works exclusively
by LGBTQ artists. They have hosted dual
openings between the two spaces to create
a synergy not only between downtown and
the Starland neighborhood, but also to build
awareness of the center’s activities.
“I never imagined that this space
would have become a space booked
a year out that attracts the crowd
and the diversity of the people in
this town,” Hill says with genuine
astonishment and excitement. “It
exceeded any ideas that I had.”
Hill initially did not see a direct
correlation between the real estate
business and the gallery, but it has
generated a connection between
art lovers and homebuyers. He
has listed homes for people who
wandered in to see the art and has
helped new homeowners find art
for their freshly painted walls.
Plus, it’s enlivened his own
daily routine. Hill’s office walls
are adorned by a floor-to-ceiling
Katherine Sandoz mural, a present
from his friends -- and a stunning
visual gift to people window
shopping along the street.
—Amy Paige Condon
80 BEACON
September 2019 BEACON 81
ESSAY
The leaders
we deserve
Only 68 of the 180 incumbents
in the Georgia House
of Representatives faced an
opponent in the last election.
Republicans scored a trifecta
in the state, winning control of
the governor’s office, the Senate
and the House.
Were the incumbents doing
such an outstanding job that
no one thought to run against
them? Did no Democrats run?
In a state where Democrats and
Republicans are virtually equal
in the percentage of registered
voters, is something else preventing
a balanced, competitive
political landscape?
All valid questions. But let’s
ask it a different way.
Must Georgia voters validate
someone already in office rather
than choosing between two
competing sets of ideas? Is voter
turnout so low because a): the
outcome is a foregone conclusion
or b): “none of the above” is
preferable to the candidates—or
candidate—running? Are these
candidates the best we can get?
Do we get the leaders we
deserve?
The answer to that is no. And
yes.
The No Votes
We do not get the leaders
we deserve because we deserve
better.
The bipartisan, cooperative,
get-it-done legislative bodies
that voters say they want are
not who they’re electing—but
not for lack of trying. Partisan
gerrymandering means that
even though votes fall more or
JOHN CARRINGTON
Rebecca Rolfes, president,
League of Women Voters of
Coastal Georgia
less equally between the two
parties, one side wins again and
again. In North Carolina, battleground
of the recent Supreme
Court decision, Republicans
won 50 percent of the vote in
2018 but got 70 percent of the
seats. That sort of egregious
manipulation means that the
other side stops running, and
discouraged voters stay home.
We get the same candidates, not
necessarily the best candidates,
not even new candidates.
The thing about elections,
as anyone who ran for class
president in sixth grade can tell
you, is that you can lose. Better
to rig the system to ensure the
outcome and the voters be
hanged.
All elected officials proclaim
sincerely that they are doing
what’s best for their constituents.
They believe, quite honestly,
that if they are re-elected,
if their party can retain control,
they can fulfill their agenda, and
all will be well. The temptation
to gerrymander is strong and
both parties are guilty of it.
Gerrymandering is the 21st
century technology-enabled,
legal (per the recent Supreme
Court decision) version of stuffing
the ballot box.
The Yes Votes
We do get the leaders we deserve
because we don’t demand
better.
If the system is rigged, we
need to petition, call, write
those in office to demand that it
be unrigged. We need an independent
commission to handle
political redistricting rather
than leaving it in the hands of
those who have been elected
and would like to make sure
they get re-elected.
Eight states now redistrict
via nonpartisan, independent
commissions. According to the
Brennan Center for Social Justice,
election outcomes in those
states more closely match actual
votes cast. In other words, a fair
and transparent redistricting
process yields fair and transparent
election results. In Georgia,
districts are drawn by the
legislature “as needed,” there is
no public hearing process and
no access to a ballot initiative
82 BEACON
that would allow voters to vote
for reform. The For the People
Act, passed by the U.S. House in
2019, would reform the entire
election process including the
prevention of gerrymandering.
The Democracy Act, proposed
by the ACLU, would amend
the Georgia Constitution and
put the issue to bed once and
for all. If you want to start that
petition drive for change, either
of those would be a good place
to start.
If we want better candidates,
we need to make it easier for
people to run. We will not
achieve true representation
until the elected look more like
the electorate. In Georgia, 72
percent of General Assembly
members are white, almost
three-quarters are male and
over 55. The adult population
of Georgia is 40 percent nonwhite,
over 50 percent female,
with a median age of 36.2.
Like promotes like, simple
human nature. That’s why the
most popular kid gets to be
sixth grade president. American
politics should not be a popularity
contest but without a
diversity of candidates, it is.
Image can outweigh qualifications.
The tendency to vote
for people based on the most
obvious of reasons—race, gender,
sexual orientation, age—or
the shallowest—looks, wardrobe,
weight, hairstyle—is a lot
less work than sitting through
repeated candidate debates and
making an informed decision.
The 2020 version of single-issue
voting is Instagram voting; a
candidate’s friends, followers,
likes, shares sway our decisions
because, in the social media age,
it’s easier to vote with “people
like me” than to make up our
own minds.
We deserve the leaders we
get when we forget that we are
citizens of a united country—
state, city, community—rather
than members of a loosely
organized virtual tribe.
Voting for Better
Not all politicians are leaders.
The system needs some
foot soldiers. To rise to the level
of leader is an exponential leap
that not everyone can make.
Everyone can’t be out in front
taking the arrows if there are no
archers behind them shooting
back.
For leadership, you need two
things, according to Plato. (Yes,
Plato.) In The Republic, he says
that there are only two qualities
necessary for statesmanship:
Truthfulness and expertise. In
the 2,400 years since that was
written, there’s still no arguing
with it.
Ask yourself a question: Do
I deserve this or do I deserve
better? The answer and its implications
for the future are up
to you, the voter.
If you want to petition for better
leaders, visit lwvcga.org or join
one of the league’s postcard-writing
efforts. They’ll even provide
the stamps.
American politics
should not be a
popularity contest
but without
a diversity of
candidates, it is.
September 2019 BEACON 83
ESSAY
The Blessings of
Moral Leadership
Many of us have served
under that boss. We all know
the one. The leader who expects
us to email them every detail of
our daily lives, yet who blames
us for not communicating. The
captain of our ship who leers
at us with the evil eye from
the back of the room when we
deliver a presentation. The boss
who seems to forget how to
speak in a calm tone whenever
we meet privately. Unfortunately,
these classically stereotypical
and disappointing bosses seem
to have missed out on the very
basic tenets of Leadership 101.
When I think of the horrible
bosses that I’ve been plagued
with, as have so many friends
and family members through
the years, I often wonder, “Why
do these seemingly intelligent
and often capable individuals
fail so miserably?”
As a rabbi, I usually head
straight to the Bible or later
Hebrew scripture when I’m
troubled. If we want to uncover
examples of quality leadership,
one trailblazer stands out above
all others in our tradition. We
call him Moses.
In this prophet, we discover
many examples that illustrate
his character and leadership
skills. For instance, in the book
of Numbers, Moses asks permission
from God to actually
instill a part of his very spirit
into 70 elders when he feels he
needs assistance in leading the
people. He’s willing to share his
responsibilities to the point of
offering a portion of his spiritual
strength. Too often, leaders
JOHN CARRINGTON
Rabbi Robert Haas, ,
Congregation Mickve Israel
crave the spotlight for themselves
alone. Too often, they
seek to stymie the other members
of their team, or worse,
steal credit for the accomplishments
of the many. Moses
eventually learns that sharing
responsibility invigorates the
community.
As if sharing his own spirit
wasn’t enough, he then demonstrates
an even more essential
leadership trait: gratitude.
When two men miss the official
spirit exchange ceremony, but
still walk through the settlement
successfully preaching the
ethical laws of God, complaints
arise over the veracity of their
audacity. Moses answers these
complaints by reveling in the
two men’s success rather than
berating them. He demonstrated
that a great leader truly
appreciates the success of those
for whom they serve. He reminds
everyone that the success
of these two men equates to
everyone’s success.
How often have we lived
with or worked for someone
who grows jealous because of
someone else’s success? These
leaders refuse to leave the shell
of envy, worried that an “underling”
will surpass them in
any way. They view another’s
achievement as a dagger in their
heart, sucking away the triumphant
spirit of anyone who
dares to overshadow them, as
opposed to a Moses who freely
shared his own spirit with the
70 elders.
Where and how did Moses
learn these skills? His own father-in-law
and mentor, Jethro,
set the example. When Jethro
sees all that Moses has accomplished,
far surpassing himself
as a leader, Jethro only feels
“nachas,” (pride) in his son-inlaw’s
becoming.
How much better would we
respond to a leader who revels
in our successes, promotes our
accomplishments, showers us
with deserved praise, encourages
us to reach for opportunity,
even if he or she understands
that those opportunities may
force him to work harder to find
our replacement? Likewise, how
much more respect would we
feel for our bosses if they shared
the burden of responsibility
with the rest of us?
84 BEACON
The Beacon Project aims its light on the Coastal Empire, illuminating
who we are as a region, leading us where we want to be, and the way
to get us there. Using research, expert analysis, and community voices
who are already looking ahead, we will offer paths and solutions for the
future. As a spotlight, each edition will isolate tough topics and explore
their complex perspectives and potential answers. We aim to
set forth a common set of facts with an in-depth exploration of the
ideas for the challenges and dreams for what Savannah can be in 2033
—the 300th anniversary of Oglethorpe’s landing.
THE BEACON PROJECT
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September 2019 BEACON 85
ESSAY
Talk to Me
People learn in different ways.
Some are book learners; they
were the ones who made the
good grades. Others learn from
experience. Unless they do it,
they don’t understand or believe
it. Others are people learners.
They soak up knowledge and important
life lessons by engaging
with other people. I am one of
those types, learning from other
people’s hard-won wisdom.
Judith Snow, a Canadian
writer, activist, and artist, who
passed away last year, first visited
Savannah in the early 1980s. She
returned several times over the
next 30-plus years, to enjoy a Tybee
rather than a Toronto winter,
and was often asked to speak
with church, community, and
civic groups about the power of
imagination. She always traveled
with a couple of personal assistants
and a powered wheelchair.
Because of life-long spinal paralysis,
she could only move two
fingers on one hand, but enough
so that she could manage the joy
stick that navigated her chair.
The inability of her body to move
never stopped her. With that
chair, those assistants, and a cornucopia
of curiosity, she traveled
anywhere she wanted, including
up the sides of mountains.
She could also move her
mouth and allowed her sharp
mind and quick wit to manage
any situation. Judith would ask
things like, “Is dependence the
opposite of independence? Is
dependence a crime? Is disadvantage
a crime? If not, why do we
act like it is?” What do you say to
someone who rolls up in front
of a class of 30 graduate students
and asks “Is adding a ramp to a
building an accommodation, or
does it correct a design flaw?”
Two very different ways to think
about the world. She wondered
aloud if we should encourage
JOHN CARRINGTON
Tom Kohler, former
executive director of
Chatham-Savannah Citizen
Advocacy and a co-founder
of Emergent Savannah
people to be independent or
should we help them envision
ways to create patterns of respectful
interdependence.
If we were going to focus on
how to create patterns of respectful
interdependence across
Savannah, what might those
conversations sound like and
who should be having them?
My friend Patricia Puckett
once heard Papa Snell, the
man for whom the community
of Snellville east of Atlanta is
named, say, “Snellville is nobody’s
hometown anymore. It’s not the
newcomers’ hometown, because
they just moved here; and, it’s
changing so fast that people who
grew up here don’t feel like it’s
their hometown anymore.”
Is Savannah headed toward
becoming no one’s hometown?
Whose voices promote corporate
commercialism over local culture
and community? Do we want to
be seen as the “Hostess City” or
the “Beloved Community?” If we
choose to be the Hostess City,
what do we, as a community,
receive in return? If we envision
the Beloved Community, what
would our growth, wages, and
city budget look like?
Many years ago, a friend of
mine said something that has become
truer the older I get: “The
fish aren’t swimming around
thinking about the water.”
His point is, we are all—personally,
culturally, and communally—swimming
around in our
own water and not thinking too
much about it. What if we held
some tough conversations that
would help us “think about the
water” here in Savannah?
Could we transform a city that
prides itself on charm and civility
and create space for those who
live on “thin” as well as “thick”
ice?” Could our civic meetings,
enlivened by different voices,
become vibrant and vital places
of public discourse? How could
we bring humility, curiosity and
deep listening into these rooms?
How might we explore privilege,
power, prejudice, assumption,
inequity? What attitudes and
actions would we need to revisit,
challenge, and change to move
toward respectful interdependence,
and rise above fear? Are
we willing to make an honest assessment
of patterns of diminishment
and oppression that stand
in the way of creating respectful
interdependence?
Imagine a city where people
from all of walks and wheels of
life ask, “What can people come
to mean to one another? What
can people come to mean to the
common good?”
Just imagine: a more beloved
community.
86 BEACON
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ACTION PLAN
Leadership
in Action
You want better leaders? Start by looking in the mirror
BY AMY PAIGE CONDON
In Twelfth Night, William Shakespeare wrote, “Be not afraid of greatness: some are
born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.”
Who among you, then, is unafraid of greatness?
Throughout this issue, we have sought neither to demonize those who have had the
courage to run for office nor king-make. We have tried, however, to illustrate how each
one of us has the opportunity and the honor to take responsibility for the future of our
community. Here, we offer a recap of what we can do collectively and as individuals to
assemble “a deeper bench.”
SEDA’s Propel Savannah: Strategic Economic Development Action Plan, released this past
spring, recognizes the importance of growing a new crop of leaders at all levels of the
community to break down silos, overcome status quo bias, and encourage people to take
on leadership responsibilities. To that end, we must:
AS A COMMUNITY
Establish a Leadership Institute:
We have the universities.
We have a wealth of corporate,
military, political, financial, and
activist veterans silly with practical
and strategic knowledge.
What we don’t have is a training
ground, such as The Leadership
Institute at Columbus State
University. It holds the annual
Jim Blanchard Leadership Forum
that offers time and insight
from some of the world’s foremost
leaders.
Require Tangible Community
Involvement: Somewhere along
the way, our professional leadership
programs have become more
about showcasing and networking,
and less about enacting tangible
change in our community.
Let’s bring back the requirement
for a community project, as well
as create a launch pad for greater
88 BEACON
civic involvement, such
as board participation.
Revamp Public Participation
Processes:
Our town halls, public
meetings, community
planning processes need
a makeover. The county
and municipalities need
to go above and beyond
the minimum legal requirements
to create a
more welcoming atmosphere
for community
engagement, including
offering child care,
getting out into the
neighborhoods, and
allowing for extended
question-and-answer
dialogue.
Reconsider the
Form and the Function:
There is a prevailing
attitude among
some in current leadership
that their responsibilities
end at their
jurisdictional borders,
and that creating more
jurisdictions within
Chatham County will
serve us better. That
route, we believe, is
the wrong direction,
because the chief complaint
from all corners
of the community is
that we have too many
silos. Ask the tough
questions: Should we
reconsider whether or
not the council-manager
form of government
best serves the interests
of our largest city? Is it
time for voters to contemplate
a strong mayor-council,
or a hybrid,
whereby a professional
administrator reports
directly to a single boss,
the mayor, instead of
trying to serve eight
or nine bosses? What
functions are ripe for
consolidation, e.g.
roads and bridges, water
and sewer, climate
resiliency, parks and
recreation, greenways
and trails, public safety?
AS INDIVIDUALS
Listen More, Talk
Less: We need to have
some tough conversations
in this community,
which means we
need to improve our
communication skills.
To do so requires that
we become much more
intentional listeners.
Improve Your News
Literacy: Question
everything, including
your own biases. Seek
out reputable sources
that challenge your
world view.
Build Bridges: Take a
cue from Diane Jackson
(p. 28) or Stacey Fuller
and Jenna Bower (p. 80).
If you see a need — say,
children hungry for
guidance or trash on the
street — don’t wait for
someone else to own it.
As leadership expert Brian
Tracy says, “Become
the kind of leader that
people would follow
voluntarily, even if you
had no title or position.”
Step Up: Don’t just
comment on a thread
or like a post and think
you’ve done the hard
work. That’s like yelling
at the batter from
the cheap seats. Volunteer
for a board seat,
apply for a city commission,
run for office.
Vote: Lionize the
qualities of truly great
leaders — humility, vision,
intention, commitment,
trustworthy,
balanced, inclusive, honest,
courageous, open —
and show up at the polls
to elect them to office.
September 2019 BEACON 89
OUR VIEW
Growth Only
Comes Through
Vision, Leadership
Think of the Savannahians
you respect the most, the men
and women who, whether you
know them personally or not,
you can’t say “no” to were they
ask you a favor.
Most of us can come up with
a handful quite easily. We know
who the real leaders are in this
community. They head private
companies or manage community
groups. They drive our
economy and enrich our quality
of life.
Imagine for a moment lining
them all up, shoulder to shoulder,
in military formation. Then
visualize the authority figure at
the end of the line asking for
volunteers to assume a more
prominent and comprehensive
role in leading our city and area.
Can you hear the command,
“please step forward”?
For many of us, how the
scene plays out in the mind’s
eye is disappointing: Many take
a step back.
Savannahians like to brag on
Savannah. We think of ourselves
as the cream that has no
need to rise; we’ve always been
the best. We look down our
noses at Charleston, at Columbus,
at Augusta, at Macon.
But we bemoan our infrastructure
issues and our poverty
rate and throw half-hearted,
feel-good solutions at the problems.
We hail the growth of employment
and opportunities
in our economy but neglect to
talk about the limited uptick in
high-wage jobs.
We routinely shuffle our best
and brightest through leadership
training programs only to
see most of them use the experience
as résumé-padding.
The recalcitrance is understandable.
To do more means
getting entangled in politics.
Agendas rule the day, and as
short as most of our memories
are, few of us forget or forgive a
slight.
Yet, there are those whose
influence and stature lifts them
above the pettiness. Columbus’
revival is largely credited to the
so-called “phone booth committee,”
composed of community
pillars like banking executive
James Blanchard and Aflac
CEO Dan Amos. The nickname
is a reference to the fact that
these difference makers were
so few in number they could all
meet in a phone booth.
Chattanooga had a similar
group of bellwethers. In
Charleston, longtime mayor Joe
Riley kept a kitchen cabinet of
advisors.
These groups shared a common
agenda: To chart a longrange
course for community
success without consideration
for special interests. Improvements
involved pain, and these
individuals were willing, even
eager, to suffer the inevitable
resentment and other drawbacks.
But they were able to
convey the vision to the broader
populace and parlay trust and
passion into success.
Most members could afford
to be so altruistic, of course.
They were independently
wealthy or led large businesses
and organizations that were
invaluable to their communities.
They had great margins for
error, or ire.
Savannah is home to those
of similar profiles. Unfortunately,
we’re not an epicenter
of corporate headquarters, so
we’re limited in our ability to
tap those potential talent pools.
But expertise attracts expertise,
and the fledgling Savannah
Logistics Technology Corridor
holds potential.
The sooner we can establish
that core of influential leaders
the better. Leadership is
an ecosystem: We need those
power brokers in place not just
to propel the city forward but
to identify and groom the next
generation.
Millennials and members of
Generation Z have grown up
with community service mandates.
They are predisposed to
step forward when challenged.
We just need the right leaders
to issue the challenge.
Savannah is Georgia’s next
bright spot in economic terms.
Who will guide us toward that
light?
The Our View column reflects
the perspectives of Beacon’s editorial
management and staff.
90 BEACON
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