Senior Leadership Academy Graduates 19 from the Program

“I consider Senior Leadership Academy to be a great gift.  As Charles Kauderer once told me, it is Athens best kept secret.  Each week, I went home Thursday afternoon brimming with new insights and/or information,” stated Cyndy Harbold, a recent graduate of the program.  The 2013 Senior Leadership Academy came to a close on Thursday, March 28.  Sponsored by the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) at the Athens Community Council on Aging (ACCA), the program lasted eight consecutive Thursdays beginning February 7, 2013.  

The Senior Leadership Academy is a community awareness program designed to develop informed, motivated, and committed retired and semi-retired persons in the greater Athens area.  The annual academy provides an opportunity to build relationships with fellow participants, explore current local issues, meet community leaders, and discover opportunities to contribute leadership skills and expertise to the well-being of Northeast Georgia. David Henry, also a 2013 graduate stated, “the program was able to show all the aspects of the community and also the relationship between each area. The awareness, through the leaders of the community, that business, education, government, arts, and medical are all tied together and dependent upon each other in the community makes Athens unique in my view.”

In addition to Harbold and Henry, 17 other individuals graduated from the 2013 Senior Leadership Academy.  They include: Jane Douglas, Mimi Dill, Wayne Dill, Don Sumner, Annette Barfield, Buddy Barfield, Carol Nimmons, Joyce Gravely, John Clary, Cathy Clary, Deborah Ellerson, Susan Curis, George Simpson, Annette Urquhart, Ellen Munday, Jo Ellen Oliver, and Shelly Hulland. 

Through 8 course sessions, individuals learned about local businesses, human services, government, education, health care, arts and humanities, and the University of Georgia.  “I was so excited and energized, filled with things I wanted to learn more about or opportunities in which I wanted to become more involved.   I am so grateful for the opportunity to join the group and to have been on the receiving end of this great program” stated Harbold. You can see pictures from the course by clicking HERE.

Athens Community Council on Aging (ACCA) would like to congratulate each and every one of the new graduates and encourage anyone interested in participating in next year’s program to give Emory Griffith a call at 706-549-4850.