Leadership Wilmington Announces 2020 Class

WILMINGTON, N.C. (August 16, 2019) – Leadership Wilmington, a program of the Wilmington Chamber of Commerce, kicked off the inaugural leadership development program on August 8, 2019. 30 Wilmington business and community leaders compose the 2019-2020 Leadership Wilmington class.
 
The objective of the ten-month long Leadership Wilmington program is to educate, challenge, and motivate leaders to utilize their skills to work for the betterment of our community.  The ten-month program consists of eight all-day sessions, an orientation social, a two-day retreat to begin the program, Work on Wilmington, and a graduation ceremony. The class project, Work on Wilmington, is a “hands-on” event that provides class members an opportunity to put their leadership, decision-making and teamwork skills to work.
 
This year’s diverse class brings a wealth of experience to share with the Wilmington community and their classmates. (A full list of class members follows.) Orientation was held on Thursday, August 8th at the Wilmington Chamber of Commerce, where the class was introduced to the scope and content of the Leadership Wilmington program and to their fellow program participants. Following the Orientation, the 2020 class joined fellow Leadership Wilmington alumni to recognize the Karl Davis Outstanding Alumni and the 2019 Outstanding Class Member of the Year award winners.
 
The Karl Davis Outstanding Alumni Award is named in memory of Leadership Wilmington alumnus Karl Davis of WECT. This year’s award went to Judy Budd, Associate Publisher at the Greater Wilmington Business Journal and WILMA Magazine. Budd was nominated due to her continued commitment to community service and the development of future leaders. She is a testament to the type of alumni the Wilmington Chamber Foundation intends to build through the Leadership Wilmington program.

The 2019 Class of Leadership Wilmington overwhelmingly nominated Chandler King, Field Services Operations Manager at GE Power, for the class member of the year award. King’s contributions to Leadership Wilmington went above and beyond and he continues to demonstrate a commitment to community service.
 
Pictured from left to right: Chandler King, Field Services Operations Manager, GE Power; Natalie English, President & CEO, Wilmington Chamber of Commerce; Judy Budd, Associate Publisher, Greater Wilmington Business Journal and WILMA Magazine; Charlie Mattox, Market President, BB&T
 
The Leadership Wilmington class of 2020 will begin full-day sessions once a month, beginning in September and continuing through April following an overnight retreat at Oak Island on August 22-23.  Each session will focus on a different topic: Arts & Culture; Environment; Education; Health & Human Services; Infrastructure; Diversity; Growth & Development; Justice, and Politics & Government.
 
For more information about Leadership Wilmington, contact Meaghan Lewis at 910.762.2611 ext. 206 or lewis@wilmingtonchamber.org.