Class Celebrates Completion of the only Regional Leadership Development Program
The Leadership Southern Maryland (LSM) Board of Directors announced today that they celebrated LSM’s seventh class during a graduation ceremony on May 1, 2015, at the Swan Point Yacht and Country Club in Issue, Md. The 2015 graduating class includes the following leaders from the region:
Diana Abney, health officer/medical director for the Charles County Dept. of Health
Tom Barnett, director for the Calvert County Dept. of Community Planning and Building
Dana Burke, director of career development at St. Mary’s College of Maryland
Kelsey Bush, coordinator of local management board and youth for St. Mary’s County Govt.
Lindsay Frazier, senior project analyst for Booz|Allen|Hamilton
Gerald Gardiner, Jr., Emergency Management Manager for the St. Mary’s County Dept. of Emergency
Services & Technology
Tom Garrison, retired Navy Captain, Senior Director, Systems Development & Integration Operation for
BAE Systems
Robert Goodman, retired Navy captain, independent consultant and investor
Tim Gowen, director of Naval Aviation Center for Rotocraft Advancement
Darla Hardy, director of nursing resources for MedStar St. Mary’s Hospital
Amber Hughes, director of human resources for The Patuxent Partnership
Donna Jordan, owner of House of Dance and COO/Cofounder of Jordan Research & Development
Dana Levy, vice president of nursing services and chief nursing officer for the Univ. of Md. Charles
Regional Medical Center
Kelly McMurray, associate vice president of planning, institutional effectiveness and research for
the College of Southern Maryland
Agnes Miller, contracts manager for PSI Pax
Brendan Moon, chairman for the Charles County Board of Appeals
Walt Nilsson, senior pastor for Cornerstone Presbyterian Church
Dan Parker, owner of Travel Leaders
Christina Payne, director of human resources and recruitment for Precise Systems
Tom Phelan, Director, Air Vehicle Programs, T&E Division, Wyle Aerospace Group
Anne Powers, community volunteer
Chris Powers, retired Naval Aviator, Principal Systems Engineer for The Johns Hopkins
University Applied Physics Laboratory
Sharmella Riggs, acquisition manager for the P-8A aircraft systems Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft
Division
Nancy Schertler, stage lighting designer and community activist
Fred Severson, Vice President – Lexington Park Operations, Imagine One Technology &
Management, Ltd.
Julie Simpson, executive director for Port Tobacco River Conservancy
Karen Smith Hupp, assistant vice president of community relations, College of
Southern Maryland
Stephanie Taylor, research development test and evaluation deputy team lead for Research
and Engineering Development (RED-INC)
Mike VanMeter, department head for Ground Acquisition and Telemetry Antenna Branch Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division
Kristine Wilcox, senior communications and multimedia specialist for AVIAN LLC
Stephanie Witte, owner/operator, Chick-Fil-A at First Colony Center
Mark De Luca, president of the LSM board of directors, addressed the graduates this way: “Over the past nine months, you’ve
“Sharmella Riggs, acquisition manager for the P-8A aircraft systems Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, graduated as a member of Leadership Southern Maryland’s Class of 2015 and offered remarks on behalf of her graduating class at the ceremony held on May 1.”
been exposed to the opportunities and challenges facing our region. You didn’t just read about them, you experienced them firsthand.” Helen Wernecke, LSM’s executive director, added that “We are confident that these newest graduates will apply their LSM experience in positive and dynamic ways to benefit the region.”
During the program, LSM participants engaged with recognized leaders in education, healthcare, government and industry, focusing on leadership development by highlighting pertinent regional issues: the environment, housing and human services, healthcare, economic development, the defense industry, education and workforce development, and diversity/multiculturalism.
Leadership Southern Maryland is a nine-month tuition-based program specially designed to develop leaders from the Southern Maryland area for regional collaboration. The LSM program is dedicated to building a cadre of informed regional leaders, prepared to address common issues and bring long-term benefit to their neighbors and communities and incorporates a cross-section of the region to include diversity of geographic location, profession, ethnicity and gender.
For application information, please contact Helen Wernecke, executive director, Leadership Southern Maryland, 240-725-5469 via email helen@leadershipsomd.org or visit www.lsmlead.org.
Picture Caption “Sharmella Riggs, acquisition manager for the P-8A aircraft systems Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, graduated as a member of Leadership Southern Maryland’s Class of 2015 and offered remarks on behalf of her graduating class at the ceremony held on May 1.”