Albany chamber graduates latest leadership class

ALBANY — Albany’s future got a little brighter Thursday night when the latest group of capable leaders graduated from the Albany Area Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for Leadership Development.

Sixteen future leaders were presented at a reception held at Albany’s Wynfield Plantation, marking the second class to complete the chamber’s leadership program.

The program itself, which consists of participants being paired with an established mentor from the business community, is designed to give students a chance to develop key leadership attributes such as effective delegation; effective networking; understanding personal leadership style; strategic planning; political savvy, influence and negotiation; image, and the media.

And while the program is certainly beneficial to all participants, it’s also an important program for the community, which will need competent and capable leaders in the future.

“The right leadership is absolutely critical for the sustained prosperity of our community,” said Albany Area Chamber of Commerce interim President Barbara Rivera Holmes. “Finding, developing and engaging that talent is something to which our chamber is committed. I’m so proud of our 2016 graduating class and of the commitment they’ve made to advance themselves, their businesses and our community.”

The leadership program actually began last August, and in addition to monthly group meetings, each participant was paired with a professional mentor, who provided guidance and one-on-one skills training.

It is the mentor/protegee relationship that chamber officials say they feel sets the Institute for Leadership Development apart from other leadership programs.

“The mentor-mentee relationship is the keystone of our program and one of its most unique components,” said Holmes. “I’m so appreciative of our mentors and the time and passion they commit to guiding and developing our class participants.”

Bridges Sinyard, who is the chair of the chamber’s Leadership Development Committee, said mentorship also pays long-term dividends for the students.

“The participants find the mentoring aspect very beneficial,” Sinyard said. “I think that’s about the most important thing that the participants come away with. Most of the relationships that are built will go on forever. ”

Indeed Daa’iyah Salaam from Albany Technical College said she gained invaluable information and advice from her mentor, Barry Cohen.

“I loved the mentor/mentee relationship,” said Salaam. “The chamber designed it for the student to get the most out of the relationship. It pushes you to really get to know the person and extract all the information you can from them. I really do enjoy having a mentor.”

Salaam also said the leadership program as a whole was not only very beneficial to her from the standpoint of learning important skills, like team building and effective decision-making, it also put her in touch with other professionals she might not have had contact with elsewhere.

“I liked the networking,” said Salaam.

Joining Salaam in his year’s class were 15 other individuals representing a wide variety of different occupations, including Stephen Harrell from Draffin Tucker, Jason Percy from KingsMark Private Financial Advisers, Chase Harvard from AB&T National Bank, Chris Courson from Sasco Chemical Group Inc., Adam Hutchins from Hutchins Clenney Rumsey Huckaby, Jill Creech from SB&T, Steven Pruitt from Watson Spence, Tim Barbree from Easter Seals Southern Georgia, Cory Lee from Central Monitoring Services, Payne Hughes Jr. from Thrush Aircraft, Emily Dent from Mauldin & Jenkins CPA, Kristen Schuette from the Albany Convention and Visitors Bureau, and Julie Dennison, Marcia Smith, and Sabrina Caldwell from Marine Corps Installations East.

The chamber is currently accepting applications for next year’s class, which will begin in August.