“Leadership Athens County was a really beneficial and rewarding experience. As a transplant into the community around 2009, the LAC program helped open my eyes to the hard-working people living and working in Athens county. My time in LAC passed by quickly. However, I truly appreciate the relationships I was able to forge through the program. LAC helped shed light on the needs that exist within our community. It brings to life the community resources and organizations that are available to assist with those needs.
LAC provided me with a deeper respect for leaders at many levels. It has helped me to better understand leadership traits and management styles that have helped me in my day to day challenges. As a Director of Higher Education Sales at LearningMate, I frequently interact with a variety of leaders. I also work with many different personality types and management styles. Even though much of the program focuses on local county leadership, I quickly realized the overlap into the business world. I have been able to put many of the lessons that I learned into practice. I’ve learned a lot about myself during my time in LAC, but I also learned a lot about others. I have met many great friends and local leaders and gained a lot of respect for all of the pieces that go into making a community safe, thriving, and successful.
A community is really only as good as it’s local leaders
– and Athens county is on the right track, because there are some very strong leaders that participate in and support this program. I look forward to future alumni events, miss the friends I made in the program, and hope to help other future community leaders during their time in LAC in any way I can. If you’re on the fence about joining the LAC program – take my advice and just do it! I promise you won’t regret the time you put in, the people you will meet, the places you will visit, the discussion and learning opportunities you will have, as well as all of the new things that you will learn.”
Jason Fields, Director, Higher Education Sales | LearningMate, Leadership Athens County Class of 2013-2014
“Leadership Athens County was a truly rewarding experience. I continue to use the contacts from my classmates and growing list of alumni as resources, personally and professionally. It taught me to be a contributor rather than a spectator. I would highly recommend this program to community-minded people of all ages, walks of life, and career paths.”
Wendy Jakmas, Former President Athens Area Chamber of Commerce, Leadership Athens County Class of 2007-2008
“I’m working with our school’s Interact club this year. My Leadership Athens County experience has been a really huge help in presenting questions and possible connections to the officers. They’re developing an action project now to do a children’s book drive for young kids. They are also working out the logistics of gathering books, distribution, strategic partnerships, etc. Thanks for giving me tools to make it more valuable for them!”
Mark Chapman, Athens City Schools, Social Studies teacher, Leadership Athens County Class of 2015-2016