November 19, 2005 - ILA Tailgate, Brooks Hall lawn on North Campus, Beginning three hours prior to kickoff: UGA v. Kentucky

Georgia Leadership Institute

The ILA has partnered with the Carl Vinson Institue of Government to provide a new program of leadership training for the heads of Georgia's state agencies and the senior managers who report to them. The Executive Leadership Program is one of five new initiatives under the Georiga Leadership Institute, championed by the Commission for a New Georgia and funded with $1.5 million from the govenor's office. The goal of the Georgia Leadership Institute is to expand the competencies and skills of current leaders in state government and develop future leaders among staff who demonstrate potential. The program's first session took place August 21-24 at the Terry College Executive Education Center in Atlanta and focused on personal leadership and team performance. The next session will be December 4-7 and will focus on improving performance in public agencies. The final session on ethics and values in public service is scheduled for April 17-18, 2006. The Executive Leadership Program will consist of a total of four classes of participants through 2007. The participating state agencies for the inaugural program include the Department of Corrections, Department of Economic Development, Department of Human Resources, Department of Revenue, Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority, Georgia Merit System, and Georgia State Financing and Investment Commission. More information about the GLI is avaliable at www.gms.state.ga.us/leadershipinstitute/index.asp.

The Terry College's Executive Education Center in Atlanta played host to "Recruiting 411," an informational program organized by UGA's Career Center and targeted at companies that recruit (or would like to recruit) UGA graduates. Among the Terry College personnel making presentations for the program were David Waters and Chris Neilands of the MBA Program, Jennifer Nash of the Institute for Leadership Advancement and Argy Russell of the Undergraduate Business Program at Gwinnett Center. There was also a panel discussion that included Terry undergraduate students as panel members. Jason Aldrich, the Career Center's director of employer relations, said the program was meant to be a "nuts and bolts" orientation for companies new to recruiting at UGA and for human resources personnel new to recruiting positions in their companies. Aldrich said there was naturally a heavy emphasis on the Terry College since many area employers look to its graduates for new employees. More than 50 representatives of Atlanta-area employers like Delta, Wells Fargo Financial Service, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Enterprise Rent-A-Car attended.

Welcome 2005-2006 ILA Graduate Assistants
The ILA would like to welcome back Matt Thompson, Ben Phillippi, Brooke Crawford and introduce our new graduate assistants Erik DeVriendt, Mike Hair, Jessica Hanks and Janice Marton for the 2005-2006 school year.

ERIK DEVRIENDT: Originally from Jacksonville, Florida this is Erik's first year in Athens. Erik joins the ILA as a graduate assistant working with the Leonard Leadership Scholars Program. Erik is an 11-month MBA student at Terry concentrating on leadership, management consulting, and marketing. Previously, Erik spent the last three years in Charlotte, working for Newell Rubbermaid as a corporate trainer and sales manager. Erik completed his undergraduate work at James Madison University and became associated with the ILA through former program director Dr. Melanie Lankau.

MIKE HAIR: Mike moved to Athens in July after working in both publishing and furniture industries in Atlanta to begin the two-year MBA program. Mike learned of the merit of the ILA during his research of Terry College of Business, and had a strong desire to participate in the various programs offered. He has had the wonderful opportunity to work with undergraduates in the ILA through the LEAD career services class. Mike says that he looks forward to what the next two years bring.

JESSICA HANKS: Jessica recenlty moved to Athens to pursue an MBA at the Terry College of Business. She currently works with distinguished executive in residence Pat Pittard for his Lessons in Leadership class. Jessica earned a degree in Economics and Spanish from Washington and Lee University in Virginia and has been working for Troutman Sanders, in Atlanta, as a legal assistant in the Telecommunications and Technology Practice.

JANICE MARTON: Originally from Rochester, New York, Janice moved to Atlanta in 1995 to attend Emory University and then to Athens in 2004. She is currently working with distinguished executive in residence Pat Pittard in his Lessons in Leadership class. Janice's previous experience includes work in Public Relations with a small PR firm in Atlanta, and most recently in Product Management at BellSouth. She is currently working on an MBA with a concentration in Marketing.

New! ILA Photo Gallery
Check out photos from various ILA events.

Scholars' Summer Pursuits
This summer, Class of 2006 scholars worked, studied, and volunteered all across the country and the globe. The four recipients of the Leonard Scholarship alone represented the LLSP on four continents: North America, South America, Europe, and Asia.

• Alex Bunn, (Marketing) who is noted for his commitment to health advocacy on the UGA campus, interned for COMCARE Alliance in Washington DC, a company that uses information technology to streamline the emergency response industry. The highlight for Alex was the opportunity to organize a large-scale fundraiser on Capitol Hill.

• Over a period of 8 weeks, Joseph Antonio (Accounting) participated in a Cross Cultural Solutions program in Ayacucho and Lima, Peru. His work was aimed at providing educational and recreational activities for children in one of Lima's poorest communities, teaching English courses at an all-girls school, coaching basketball, and reaching out to the local inmate population.

• Evan Pellegrino (Accounting) spent his summer studying at the Istituto Filipin, a private Italian boarding school, in Paderno del Grappa, and found Italy quite a unique experience, as he learned just how the cultural differences of our two nations spread throughout business.

• In pursuing his degree in Chinese Studies, Evan Randall (Risk Management/Insurance) enrolled in Columbia University's full-immersion language program at Peking University in Beijing. Though his time in Beijing was devoted entirely to language training, Evan was also able to visit Tibet for 10 days, including a variety of sites from Patola Palace in Lhasa to Everest Base Camp.

Read the full story here

LLSP's 4th Amazing Student

Chloe Thompson was highlighted as UGA's Amazing Student in August. Chloe is from Lithonia, Georgia and is in her senior year at UGA. Chloe's achievements and awards include Leonard Leadership Scholar, Foundation Fellow, member of the Tate Honor Society, Rotaract UGA, International Business Society, and LeaderShape Institute. Chloe has also volunteered at the Boys & Girls Club, Athens Homeless Shelter and with the WOW Playground Project. Through her Foundation Fellowship Chloe has had the opportunity to travel to such places as Costa Rica and Vietnam, being a student of international business she says these experiences will help her succeed in her career goals. She named ILA's Vikki Clawson as her favorite professor. Chloe said, "Dr. Clawson is a living example of the things she teaches in class. She leads by example and always keeps her word. She really takes a personal interest in her students and makes it her business to see that they succeed. I never felt like she was there solely for the paycheck. I always felt that if something mattered to me, then it also mattered to her. She still sends the class encouraging quotes just in case we ever feel uninspired." After college Chloe plans to become an investment banker and then to pursue a career in law.

Upcoming Scholar Events

Epworth by the Sea Junior Class Retreat - January 20-22, 2006, St. Simons Island, GA

Corporate Site Visit to Synovus - November 4, 2005, Columbus, GA

L.E.A.D. Welcome Back

On August 30th, the L.E.A.D. Program held its annual Welcome Back social at Sons of Italy. The event, which kicks off the new school semester, had one of the largest crowds of any L.E.A.D. Program social. Approximately sixty new and returning L.E.A.D. students gathered in the outside pavilion at Sons of Italy to socialize and catch up with other L.E.A.D. students, faculty and staff. The L.E.A.D. officers introduced themselves and discussed their plans for the upcoming year. The L.E.A.D. program looks to continue its success in 2005.

Raj Shah, an agribusiness major and second year L.E.A.D. student from Lawrenceville, is this month's student spotlight. Raj, who is actively involved on campus as secretary of the Arch Society as well as Site Leader Coordinator for Alternative Spring Break, spent ten weeks this summer completing an internship at Zamorano University in Honduras. During his time, Raj worked closely with the Peace Corp; primarily with youth and business development, teaching children English in the mornings and Art in the afternoon. At night, he taught literacy classes to help the citizens read and write in Spanish. Raj says that "the basic concept of reading and writing is something we take for granted and still after this summer I cannot fathom life without being able to read or write."

Raj also worked on many long-term projects during his stay in Honduras. He assisted in building a marketplace and taught the local community basic marketing techniques such as pricing goods and quality food control. Seeing a need for special education, Raj helped educate children with disabilities because of the lack of facilities available to assist with their special needs. He also helped build a health center with the Honduran Minister of Health in a community with no water or electricity. As the fundraising leader, Raj showed a movie to 212 local children who had never watched a movie before. Raj says that day was one of the happiest days of his life. Furthermore, the event raised enough money to help sustain the health clinic for two months. Raj also had the opportunity to teach leadership in the local elementary school as well as attend the national conference on socioeconomic development and business social responsibility.

Raj is the past president of Collegiate 4-H and also served on the general board of the Indian Cultural Exchange. He has also been a 4-H camp counselor at Rock Eagle for the past three summers.

Upcoming L.E.A.D. Events

Annual Ropes Course - Saturday/Sunday, September 24-25, Lake Herrick

Athens Area Animal Shelter - During the month of September, the L.E.A.D. program will be assisting the Athens Area Animal Shelter. Volunteers will be walking, playing, and bathing the dogs at the animal shelter.

Hurricane Katrina Relief Effort - October 2, 2005 The L.E.A.D. program will be hosting a carwash to benefit the victims of Hurricane Katrina. The carwash will be held from 12 to 4pm at the Wal-Mart Shopping Center on Epps Bridge Road. There will be two shifts with up to 15 people working each shift.

Fall Hail and Farewell - Friday, December 2, 330pm