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King, Prosser graduate from Leasership Southeast Georgia
0608 leadership SE Georgia
Graduates of the 2016 Leadership Southeast Georgia class are, front row, left to right: Jesse Bentley, Leigh Ryan, Robbie Cheek, Margaret Van Houten, Mark Bennet, Phyllis Taylor, Drew Hunt, Kathryn Downs, James Ervin, Shauntia Lewis and Patti Downs; and back row, James Coughlin, Paula Kreissler, Dinah King, Randy McCall, Cecilia Russo, Willis Keene, Michelle Pfeffer, Dawn Morgan, Mandy Harrison, Julie Gerbsch, James Wilburn, Barbara Prosser, Ben Taylor, Steven Asplund, John Scott, Nick Puhala and Wade Herring. - photo by Photo provided

After five months of training, Leadership Southeast Georgia announces the 2016 graduating class. Leadership Southeast Georgia is a regional program designed to equip and empower community leaders to effectively promote positive growth while improving the quality of life in the Southeast Georgia Coastal Region.

This year, 28 participants spent one weekend a month in surrounding counties learning about topics that effect local counties such as healthcare, education, economic development and transportation. Attending from Effingham County were Dinah King of Georgia Power and Barbara Prosser of the Effingham College and Career Academy.

All of the participants live or work within Bryan, Bulloch, Camden, Chatham, Effingham, Glynn, Liberty, Long, McIntosh and Screven counties, which together are known as Georgia’s Coastal Region.

Beginning in January 1999, leaders representing the business, local government, and education communities set about the difficult task of creating a regional strategic plan for community and economic development.

A regional leadership program brought together citizens from each of the 10 counties in the coastal region was envisioned as a means to reinforce the regional capacity to address challenges and capitalize on common opportunities. (The 10 counties of Bryan, Bulloch, Camden, Chatham, Effingham, Glynn, Liberty, Long, McIntosh, and Screven and 35 municipalities comprise the Coastal Georgia region.) The program content focused on the assets of the area, as well as potential threats to those assets.