Memphis, Tenn. – Tennessee is sending seven leaders from across the western part of the state—including Lindsay Frilling of Union City, Rob Goad of Martin and Lori Nolen of Huntingdon– to the Delta Regional Authority’s Delta Leadership Institute. They will join fellows from seven other states and participate in the 10-month DLI Executive Academy program to help further their skills in community leadership and policy development to promote regional collaboration and local economic growth across DRA’s eight state region.
Frilling is the Chief Executive Officer of Obion County Joint Economic Development Council and Goad is Project Management/Grant Writer for the Northwest Tennessee Development District. Nolen is the executive director of the Dixie Carter Performing Arts Center in Huntingdon.
Frilling said, “I am honored to have been selected as a member of the Executive Academy. Our first session concluded recently and I am humbled to not only have met 50 exceptional leaders from across the Delta but to have already exchanged ideas for each of us to implement in our communities immediately. We are all very excited about the next 10 months of the academy.”
Tennessee’s fellows will attend six sessions across the region, visiting each of the eight states in the Delta Regional Authority footprint. They will engage in policy and program development, advocacy training, case-study discussions, and on-the-ground field experiences aligned with the Delta Authority’s priorities for the region. Those priorities include: transportation and infrastructure; workforce training and education; entrepreneurship and disaster resilience for small businesses and communities; public health; policy and governance; and culture and tourism.
The fellows, who were selected by Gov. Haslam and DRA leadership, represent a diverse cohort of community leaders. The class includes seven members from Alabama; eight from Arkansas; five from Illinois; five from Kentucky; seven from Louisiana; eight from Mississippi; four from Missouri; and seven from Tennessee.
Tennessee’s 2017-2018 DLI Executive Academy fellows are:
- Gwyn Fisher of Memphis | Regional Director for the Tennessee Department of Economic & Community Development
- Lindsay Frilling of Union City | Chief Executive Officer of Obion County Joint Economic Development Council
- Rob Goad of Martin | Project Management/Grant Writer for the Northwest Tennessee Development District
- Moses Goldmon of Jackson | Executive Vice President & Chaplain for Lane College
- Gwendolyn Kilpatrick of Mason | Mayor of Town of Mason
- Lori Nolen of Huntingdon | Executive Director of The Dixie Carter Performing Arts Center
- Theresa Woodard of Cordova | Owner, TWMed Consulting, LLC