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Fifty-two community leaders successfully completed Leadership DeKalb—a 10-month training program that educates and connects leaders to issues facing DeKalb County and the metro region. The graduation took place during the closing retreat at Stone Mountain on June 8.

Doug Hooker, executive director of the Atlanta Regional Commission, was the keynote speaker for the graduation program of the class of 2012.

“Leadership DeKalb helped me grow both personally and professionally,” said Emory Morsberger, president of the Stone Mountain CID and graduate of the class of 2012. “Through this program, I had the opportunity to learn about the key issues facing DeKalb County. Getting to know an incredible group of current and future DeKalb leaders makes me more effective in my own responsibilities and expands my ability to make positive change in my community.”

Members of the class represented DeKalb County’s corporations, professional services, health industries, education, social services, government and more.

The graduating community leaders from the class of 2012 are:

Al Adams, president, Adams Transfer & Storage Company Inc.; Latanza Adjei, assistant to the executive vice president, Georgia Power; Barry Amos, city manager, city of Stone Mountain; April Atkins, AICP, community affairs specialist, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation; Joe Basista, director, Department of Watershed Management, DeKalb County; Morcease Beasley, Ph.D., executive director, Race to the Top (RT3) for the DeKalb County School District; Jeremy Berry, J.D., attorney, McKenna, Long, & Aldridge, LLP; Sherry Boston, J.D., DeKalb County Solicitor General, DeKalb County Solicitor General’s Office; Sean Brumfield, Ed.D., executive director, Atlanta Center for Civic Engagement & Service Learning, Georgia Perimeter College; Ginny Byrd Porter, state director, Research Associates; Susan Carini, executive director, Emory Creative Group, Emory University; Matt Coleman, director of cause branding development, American Cancer Society; Jean Douglas, executive director, Women’s Resource Center to End Domestic Violence; Sally Eggleston, chief marketing officer, Senior Connections; Patti Garrett, commissioner, city of Decatur; Claudette Grant-Joseph, workforce and career development officer, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Nina Hall, special assistant to the CEO, DeKalb County; Milano Harden, president and founder, The Genius Group Inc.; Susan Harris, VP, administrator, DeKalb Medical; Stacey Hydrick, J.D., State Court Judge, DeKalb County State Court; Vaughn Irons, chief executive officer, APD Solutions; Paul Jacxsens, large line of business Director, Kaiser Permanente; Laura Keyes, senior principal program specialist, Atlanta Regional Commission; Adriene Kinnaird, executive director, oncology and cardiac services and the Comprehensive Sickle Cell Center, Grady Memorial Hospital; Randall Kirsch, principal, Jackson Spalding; Susan Laird, team lead, business and community relations/cooperative agreements, Centers for Disease Control; Jason Lary, marketing and promotions manager, Jason Lary Management; Katherine Mason, director of communications, Leadership DeKalb; Susan McCauley, principal, DeKalb School of Arts, DeKalb County School District; Claire Miller, assistant director, Child & Youth Services, City of Decatur; Paedia Mixon, executive director, Refugee Resettlement & Immigration Services of Atlanta; Emory Morsberger, president, Stone Mountain CID; Robert Naddra, news editor, The Champion Newspaper; Matt Nagel, APR, Georgia Tech spokesperson, Georgia Institute of Technology; Lisa Newbern, chief, public affairs, Emory University, Yerkes National Primate Research; Center; Andy Pascual, J.D., assistant district attorney, DeKalb County District Attorney’s Office; Bill Piercy, J.D., partner/attorney, Berman, Fink, Van Horn P.C.; Michelle Potter, community relations manager, DeKalb County Community Service Board; Brian Pruitt, executive director, SALA Learning & Development Centers Inc.; Carolyn Rehling, vice president, business, Southeast Region, Sprint/Nextel; Jonathan Robinson, CFP, senior financial associate, Oppenheimer & Co.; Brian Shadix, director of career services, DeVry University; Patty Shewmaker, J.D., partner, Lynch & Shewmaker, LLC; Drew Slone, J.D., associate, Smith, Gambrell & Russell; Lena Stevens, resource conservation coordinator, City of Decatur; Richard Swindle, Ph.D., SVP – Atlanta, Mercer University; Hien Ta, project manager, Ta Engineering LLC; Jamie Tiernan, controller, Gas South; Duncan Van Pelt, vice president/general manager, Executive Adventure; Denise Warner, J.D., senior law clerk, staff attorney, DeKalb County Superior Court; Marie Watson, P.C., president – attorney, Marie Y. Watson & Associates, P.C.; Caroline Wood, chief of staff, City Schools of Decatur.

The Class of 2012 will put their training in action through the Leadership DeKalb Community Pledge Project to address key issues facing DeKalb County, promote the strengths of our diverse citizenry and collaborate with other local leaders for positive community change.

This is the 26th class of graduates giving the organization more than 1,050 alumni of the Leadership DeKalb program.