Turknett Leadership Group and Greenleaf
Center for Servant Leadership Announce
Nominees for the 2014 Leadership
Character Awards
The Robert K. Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership and Atlanta-based Turknett
Leadership Group have announced the nominees for the 11th Annual Turknett
Leadership Character Awards. The awards will be held on Wednesday, September 24,
2014 at the Sheraton-Atlanta and will recognize individuals who represent the best in
leadership character in Georgia.
Since 2003, the annual Turknett Leadership Character Awards have recognized Georgia
leaders who demonstrate character in leadership based on alignment with the
Leadership Character Model, a model developed by Bob and Lyn Turknett in 1995. The
model represents character as a scale with integrity as the base and respect and
responsibility balanced on either side. Nominations were accepted in six categories:
CEO/President/Managing Partner – Large Company, CEO/President/Managing
Partner – Small Company, Executive/Manager, Non Profit, Education and “Inspiritor.”
The Awards ceremony will be a part of the 24th annual Greenleaf Center Servant
Leadership Conference.
Top nominees in each category are selected by the five-person Advisory Board. Members
of the 2014 Advisory Board include Ann Cramer, Senior Consultant with Coxe Curry &
Associates; Tom Crawford, owner of Crawford Corporate Coaching; David Ratcliffe,
former President, and CEO of Southern Company; Conchita Robinson, President and
CEO of C Robinson Associates, Inc.; and Dr. Betty Siegel, President-Emeritus of
Kennesaw State University.
Nominees in the CEO/President/Managing Partner - Large Company Category are:
 Kessel Stelling, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer – Synovus
 George Turner, Chief of Police – Atlanta Police Department
Nominees in the CEO/President/Managing Partner – Small/Medium Company
Category are:
 Claire Lewis Arnold, Chief Executive Officer – Leapfrog Services, Inc.
 Layne Davlin, Founder and Chief Executive Officer – Einstein HR
 Maggie DeCan, President and Chief Operating Officer – The HoneyBaked Ham
Co.
 Essie Escobedo, Chief Executive Officer – Office Angels
 Robert Gloer, President and Chief Operating Officer – IOU Central
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Cleve Hill, Managing Partner – Bettis, Hill & Vann Attorneys & Counselors at
Law
Jo Kirchner, President and Chief Executive Officer – Primrose Schools
Dixie McCurley, Partner – Trusted CFO Solutions
Judy Mozen, President – Handcrafted Homes
Susan Richards, Chief Executive Officer – Steelbridge Solutions
Moira Vetter, Founder and Chief Executive Officer – ModoModo Agency
Nominees in the Executive/Manager Category are:
 Letty Ashworth, Director of Global Diversity – Delta Airlines
 Henrietta Barnes, Chief Financial Officer – AnyTrax
 Pedro Cherry, Vice President of Community & Economic Development – Georgia
Power
 Michael Fisher, Chief Technology Officer and Senior Vice President – Convergys
 Carol Godfrey, Vice President – Southwire Company
 Bob Greenberger, Partner – Habif, Arogeti & Wynne, LLP
 Meredith Hodges, Vice President of Human Resources & Regulatory – Gas South
 Ken Marlin, Director of Construction and Engineering – AT&T
 Erin McMillan, Director of Dealer Support – AutoTrader.com
 Dianne Miller, Director of AT&T's Construction and Engineering Service Centers
– AT&T
 April Ray, Chief of Staff – AT&T
 Dee Reid, Director of Restaurant Operations and Support – Chick-fil-A
 Bill Ridgway, Senior Vice President – YP
 Sean Vojtasko, Executive Vice President of Operations – BlueWave Computing,
LLC
Nominees in the Education Category are:
 Kim Bearden, Co-Founder – Ron Clark Academy
 Jeanne Henry, Executive Director – Georgia School Boards Association
 Rubina Malik, Instructor – Morehouse College
 Dr. Faye McIntyre, Dean of Richards College of Business – University of West
Georgia
 Luma Mufleh, Founder and Head of School – Fugees Family, Fugees Academy
 Patrick Noonan, Professor and Associate Dean - Goizueta Business School of
Emory University
 Jeffrey Rosensweig, Director Global Perspectives Program – Goizueta Business
School of Emory University
 Lisa Sills, Deputy Director for Support Operations – Georgia Tech Research
Institute
 William Underwood, President – Mercer University
 Lana Wachniak, Professor and Regional Commissioner – Kennesaw State
University
 Paula Wallace, President and Cofounder – Savannah College of Art and Design
Nominees in the Non-Profit Category are:
 Melinda Childs, Manager of Network Operations Center – Georgia Public
Broadcasting
 Gail Conyers Cleckley, Senior Director of Investments and Operations – United
Way of Greater Atlanta
 Laura Davidson, Vice Chair – Project Management, Inc.
 Deborah Enoch, Program Director – The West Broad Street YMCA Savannah
 James Franklin, Chief Executive Officer – TechBridge
 Debra Gilbert, Technology Program Manager – Georgia Public Broadcasting
 Lucy Hall-Gainer, Founder and Chief Executive Officer – Mary Hall Freedom
House
 Brett Horton, Director – WinShape Retreat
 Veronica Maldonado, Program Director – Georgia Mentor Protégé Connection
 Val Porter, Director – Foundation Center Atlanta
 Laura Pritchard, Executive Director – Urban Perform
 JaKathryn Ross, Executive Director – Youth Entrepreneurs Georgia
 Tamara Spafford, Executive Director – Lionheart School
 Monica Thorton, President and Chief Executive Officer – Women in Technology
 Stacey Wiggins, Development Director – Georgia Public Broadcasting
Nominees in the Inspiritor Category are:
 Susan Bell, Managing Partner – Ernst & Young
 Darrah Brustein, Founder and Partner – Equitable Payments
 Jackie Cannizzio, Director – Judson Collegiate and Legends Pro-Am Challenge
 Don Chapman, Past Chair – Georgia Tech Foundation
 Beth Holder, Trustee and National Campaign Co-Chair – Agnes Scott College
 Teela Jackson, Vice President of Talent Delivery – Talent Connections, LLC
 Erin Levin, Producer – Imba Means Sing
 Robin Lucas, Special Education Advocate – Milestone
 Tricia Molloy, Leadership Speaker – Working with Wisdom
 Janet Scott, Attorney – Smith, Welch, Webb & White, LLC
 Dr. Neil Shulman, Author – Corporate Kid Movement
 Leigh Strong, Volunteer – Junior League of Atlanta
Kent C. "Oz" Nelson, former CEO of UPS will receive the third Lifetime Achievement
Award for character in leadership. The award recognizes leaders who exemplify the
highest standards of character and integrity over a lifetime of service to an organization
and to the larger community. Read more here.
The awards will be presented under the auspices of the Greenleaf Center, a nonprofit
[501(c)3] with international reach. This year’s awards luncheon will be held as part of
the Greenleaf Center’s 24th Annual International Servant Leadership Conference at the
Sheraton Atlanta Hotel, September 24, 2014. The conference, which convenes those
interested in building the understanding, awareness and practice of servant leadership,
is an ideal venue to celebrate great leaders of the community.
Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership, Bob and Lyn Turknett, and the Host
Committee invite everyone in the community to attend the Leadership Character
Awards. Host Committee members include:
Cathy Callaway Adams - Federal Home
Loan Bank Atlanta
Roz Alford - ASAP Solutions Group, LLC
Ron Alston - Suntrust Bank
Susan Bell - Ernst & Young LLP
*Paula Lawton Bevington - Bevington
Advisors, LLC
Veronica Biggins - Diversified Search
Bob Collins - Zep Inc.
*Karen Robinson Cope - NanoLumens,
Inc.
Paulette Corbin - North Highland
Charlie Crawford - Private Bank of
Buckhead
Tracy Crump - Foundation of Wesley
Woods
Tom Darrow - Talent Connections, LLC
Kathy Dowling - ASAP Solutions Group,
LLC
*Nellie Duke - Georgia Women's
Institute
Mary Ellen Garrett - Merrill Lynch
*Jim Geiger - Cbeyond, Inc.
*Larry Gellerstedt - Cousins Properties
Incorporated
Kym Harris, Ph.D. - Your Sweet Spot
Consulting
Stephen Hennessy - Hennessy
Automobile Companies
*Sandy Hofmann - Gadfly
Phil Jacobs - Pendleton Consulting
Group
Glen Jackson – Jackson/Spalding
*Stuart Johnson - Barnes & Thornburg
LLP
Sharon James Jordan – AIG Property
Casualty
*Elizabeth Kiss, Ph. D. - Agnes Scott
College
Bob Littell - Littell Consulting
*Milton Little - United Way of Greater
Atlanta
Susan O'Dwyer - Habif, Arogeti &
Wynne, LLP
*Michael Petrik - Alston & Bird LLP
*Heather Rocker - SEI-Atlanta LLC
*Alana Shepherd - Shepherd Center
Christine St. Clare - St. Clare Advisors,
LLC
*Ann Stallard - Graphic
Communications
Elizabeth Levy Ward - Thought Partners
Emelyne Williams - Georgia Power Co.
Sam Williams - Metro Atlanta Chamber
*John Yates - Morris, Manning & Martin
LLP
Members marked with an asterisk are former winners of a Leadership Character Award.
Alana Shepherd received the 2013 Lifetime Achievement Award.
For ticket information, visit http://www.leadershipcharacterawards.org/leadershipcharacter-model/greenleaf-conference. UPS will be the presenting sponsor for the 2014
Awards, and Kroger, GV Financial, and CMIT Solutions will also sponsor. For additional
information about sponsorship, please click here.
About the Leadership Character Awards
Since 2003, the Turknett Leadership Character Awards have recognized Georgia leaders
who display character in leadership based on alignment with the Leadership Character
Model, a model developed by Bob and Lyn Turknett in 1995. For 10 years, the Awards
were presented by Turknett Leadership Group. The 11th Annual Leadership Character
Awards will be presented under the auspices of the Greenleaf Center for Servant
Leadership and will be held on September 24, 2014 at the Sheraton Atlanta.
About the Robert K. Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership
Founded in 1964, the Greenleaf Center is an international nonprofit organization that
serves students, individuals, workplaces and the community by growing servant-leaders
through education and programming. Robert K. Greenleaf was the author of "The
Servant as Leader," a landmark essay that coined the phrase "servant-leader" and
launched the modern servant leadership movement. Today the Greenleaf Center
nurtures students, enhances workplaces and builds the servant leader community
through education, leadership development and conferences. To find out more, please
visit www.greenleaf.org.
About Turknett Leadership Group
TLG’s expertise is Leadership. With over 25 years’ experience, TLG is Atlanta’s premiere
resource for Executive Coaching, Talent Assessment, Leadership Team Development,
Culture Assessment and Change, and more. Through an approach grounded in science
and guided by the Leadership Character Model™, TLG helps organizations hire the best
people, identify and develop high potentials, and create high-performing cultures.
Contact:
Bianca Wirth, Consulting Services Coordinator
bwirth@turknett.com
770.270.1723
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