Aug. 10, 23–Joshua Jones / Youth Violence Prevention Coordinator, City of Mobile

Prior to being named the Youth Violence Prevention Coordinator for the City of Mobile, Joshua has served as a Special Agent with the United States Secret Service, a Police officer with the City of Mobile for six years and eleven years as an Officer in the Army National Guard. He graduated in 2011 from the University of South Alabama with his bachelor’ and in 2017 from Liberty University with his masters. With over ten years of experience in Law Enforcement Joshua has emerged as a leading voice for 21st Century Policing Practices. In his current capacity he serves as the subject matter expert in violence prevention efforts surrounding the youth in the city. By utilizing his skill, knowledge and training in behavioral analysis, threat assessment and violent risk factor identification, Joshua has proven vital in the City’s ability to combat youth violence. Joshua is currently an active board member with the USA Black Alumni Association and an active USA Lifetime Alumni Member. He also serves on the board for Mobile United and is currently a member of the 2023 Leadership Mobile Class. He is also a 2017 graduate of Connect Mobile and recent inductee into the 100 Black Men of Greater Mobile. Joshua is currently serving as the President of Project THRIVE, the City of Mobile’s Non-Profit Trauma Informed Initiative. Over the years, Joshua has been given the Officer of the Month, Excellent Police Duty, Commanders Citation, and Chief’s Unit of the Year award from the Mobile Police Department. He has also received numerous awards during his time in the Alabama Army National Guard for his leadership and strategic prowess. He was also recognized by Mobile Bay Magazine in 2017 for his work with the Santa with a Badge initiative and as one of Mobile’s 40 under 40 class of 2023.

July 27, 23–Chuck Greene / President & CEO, AM/NS Calvert

Chuck Greene
President & Chief Executive Officer, AM/NS Calvert

Chuck Greene was appointed President & Chief
Executive Officer of AM/NS Calvert on September 1,
2021. Chuck joined AM/NS Calvert in the fall of 2018 as
Chief Operating Officer. In his new role as President &
Chief Executive Officer, Chuck is responsible for the
operations and strategic direction of the multibillion-dollar
steel processing facility in Calvert, which is jointly owned
by ArcelorMittal and Nippon Steel Corporation.
With over 30 years of experience in the steel industry, Chuck began his career in 1990
as a Process Automation Engineer participating in the design and start-up of new rolling
mill installations. Since then, he has held various positions over the years. Chuck
worked for 20 years at Gallatin Steel and was the General Manager of Operations for
the last 6. Following Gallatin, he was the VP of Operations at Byer Steel. Chuck has a
Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh. He and
his wife Katie reside in Mobile, Alabama.

July 13, 23–Earl Ingram, II / District Governor, Rotary District #6880 “Official Visit”

thrive.

Dr. Earl Ingram, District Governor – 2023-2024

Earl Ingram has been active in Rotary International since 1982, serving as club secretary for the West Point, Georgia Rotary Club, club secretary and president (twice) for the Troy, Alabama Rotary Club, Director of International Youth Exchange, and Assistant Governor at the District level. He has served on local school and municipal airport boards, been active in professional societies, and been honored with recognition and awards from military, professional, and community organizations.

He completed a B.S. degree in Management, a Master of Science degree in Psychology, and a Ph.D. in Industrial and Organizational Psychology at Auburn University.

Prior to his joining Troy University in 1987, he was employed by West Point Pepperell for 12 years in various professional and managerial positions, ending as the corporate director for Human Resources Planning, Research, and Development.

He served students and faculty at Troy University from 1987 to 2019 in various positions including Professor of Management, department chair, assistant dean, dean of Sorrell College of Business, Regional Director for Troy’s European Region. Vice Chancellor of Troy Global Campus, and Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs. Retired in 2019 from full time work with Troy University, he holds the academic rank of Distinguished Professor in Management and Provost Emeritus while teaching in Troy’s international sites in Vietnam and Malaysia. His teaching, research and publication interests have focused on international management, human resources management, business strategy, and ethics.

He served on active duty with the U.S. Army from 1966 to 1971 in numerous operational, training, and staff positions in aviation units, the Field Artillery, Air Defense Artillery, Aviation, and Transportation branches.  While on active duty he served in an Assault Helicopter Company and on a Combat Aviation Battalion operations staff in the Republic of Vietnam, 1968‑1969, and was decorated for valor.  From 1972, when he left active duty with the Army, until 1991, he served in the Alabama Army National Guard in aviation and logistical command and staff positions. He continued serving in the active reserve until retiring at the rank of Colonel in 1995.

Married since 1967 to Rebecca V. Ingram, Ph.D., recently retired professor in Troy’s College of Education, together they have enjoyed the blessings that accompany a life being well-lived with two sons and their families, including five grandchildren and one great-granddaughter.

June 29, 2023–Joy Logan / Executive Director, Crittenton Youth Services

Joy Logan, Executive Director of Crittenton Youth Services

 

Mrs. Logan has dedicated fifty-five years to education through teaching, counseling, training youth and teachers to instruct in the classroom, writing curriculum, and serving as a United Way Agency Director. Her mission is to promote and provide intervention for youth issues that have a negative effect on learning and future success for youth ages 10-13 or grades 5-8. She graduated from Mississippi College for Women and The University of South Alabama.

She is very passionate about our youth and loves to research topics affecting them, talk with teachers, counselors, business leaders, police administrators, and others who can offer their opinions about issues negatively affecting the performance of youth in schools, colleges, and the work force. Classroom teaching and observations offer a reality check to how youth handle life skill problems. Along with Judge Naman, Chief Battiste, and Children’s Policy Council’s commitment to prevent bullying, she was one of the first trained to implement Olweus Bullying in schools.

Feeling the need to offer students in the classroom a new way of learning prevention information, she and her staff created a program that trains High School Juniors and Seniors as Ambassadors, accompanied by an adult instructor, how to present curriculum teaching social and emotional skills to youth in 5th thru 8th grade.  Fourteen high schools (Public, Private, Parochial, and City Schools) participate and nominate teens who have strong character skills and enjoy working with their peers. The program began in 2010 and celebrates with an Ambassador Awards Banquet in April of every year.

Civic Leadership participation includes Assistant Coordinator of the Bullying Coalition of Mobile, Assistant Chair of the Alabama Abstinence Coalition, Member of the Children’s Policy Council, Board Member of Evidence to Success, Member of Envision Mobile and /Baldwin County, Member of Community Board for Mobile Area Education Foundation. She has been recognized as Teacher of the Year for Hamilton Elementary, and Nominee for Jacksonville State Elementary.  Other Awards include James Strickland Community Award and the Bay Bears Charities Community Hero Award.

 

June 22, 2023–Jo Bonner / President, University of South Alabama

President Jo Bonner

Jo Bonner is the fourth president of the University of South Alabama.

Previously, Bonner served as chief of staff to Alabama Governor Kay Ivey. He joined the Ivey Administration in December 2018, as Senior Advisor to the Governor. Before joining the Governor’s Office, he served as Vice Chancellor for Economic Development at The University of Alabama System (UAS) from 2013 to 2018. During his final year at UAS, he was an executive on loan, serving as Interim Executive Director of the Tuscaloosa County Industrial Development Authority.

For more than a decade, he represented Alabama’s First District in the U.S. House of Representatives. He was first elected to the 108th Congress in November 2002 and was reelected to five additional terms. As a student at The University of Alabama, he worked on Capitol Hill as an intern for Congressman Jack Edwards. After graduation, he returned to Washington as press secretary and later chief of staff to Congressman Sonny Callahan.

In Congress, he earned a reputation as a respected and influential voice of reason in both Alabama and Washington. He was a member of the House Appropriations Committee, where he served on three key subcommittees, and chaired the House Ethics Committee. Widely respected on both sides of the aisle, he was selected by House Speaker John Boehner to serve as chairman of Ethics during the 112th Congress. His crowning Congressional accomplishment came in 2012 when Airbus announced plans to build its first U.S. Final Assembly Line in Mobile. Over the years, Congressman Bonner developed friendships and strategic partnerships with the top corporate leaders at Airbus, one of the world’s largest aerospace and defense companies. Airbus has invested more than $1 billion in Alabama, creating thousands of new jobs in the aerospace industry. This puts Mobile on track to become the fourth largest commercial aviation city in the world.

President Bonner has received numerous awards and honors, including a 2021 induction into the Alabama Academy of Honor; the Academy is the state’s premiere recognition of 100 living Alabamians for their outstanding accomplishments and service. In 2016, the Business Council of Alabama (BCA) created the inaugural Congressman Jo Bonner Spirit of Leadership Award and honored Bonner as its first recipient. In 2013, he received the Distinguished Public Service Award, the highest honor the U.S. Navy bestows on a civilian. He also received the 2012 Governor Bob Riley Building a Better Alabama Award by the BCA.

Bonner earned a B.A. degree in Journalism from The University of Alabama in 1982. He is married to the former Janée Lambert, of Mobile, and they are the parents of a daughter, Lee, and a son, Robins.

June 15, 2023–Katelyn Cai / Distinguished Young Women Program

Arizona’s Katelyn Cai was named the Distinguished Young
Woman of America for 2022, during the 65th Annual
National Finals.
Katelyn is a graduate of BASIS Scottsdale. Her academic
honors include being named a 2022 U.S. Presidential
Scholar, National AP Scholar, Robertson Scholar, Bank of
America Student Leader, and one of Arizona’s 18 under 18.
Outside of the classroom, Katelyn is passionate about
education and equality. The project she devotes most of her
time to is a nonprofit she founded, “Invest in Her.” The idea
was sparked from watching her mother fight for her own
right to an education, inspiring Katelyn to provide equitable
opportunities for women to be successful.
Katelyn enjoys pouring her whole heart into everything she
does. Aside from her nonprofit, Katelyn is also extremely
passionate about speech and debate. She was ranked
Number 2 in the country for extemporaneous speaking.
In the fall, Katelyn will attend Duke University on a full-ride
scholarship as a Robertson Scholar. She will be majoring
in Public Policy and Economics with goals to attend law
school in the future and pursue a career in legislature. After
completing high school with a graduating class of only 77
students, Katelyn says she’s excited to meet lots of new
people and experience life in a new environment!
Winning $46,000 in cash scholarships and a gold medallion
at the national program, Katelyn will represent the Class of
2022 as the Distinguished Young Woman of America during
this year

June 8, 2023–Rachel Webb / Executive Director, Fostering Together Gulf Coast

Rachel Webb is the founder and Executive Director of Fostering Together Gulf Coast. Originally a Texas native, Rachel graduated with a business degree from Texas A&M University in 2005 and moved to Birmingham to begin a job as an Event Coordinator with Student Life Camps. Alabama quickly became home as she found the love of her life and began a family. After having two children of their own, Rachel and her husband Stephen became foster parents in 2013 with the hope of providing a safe, loving home to children in need within their community.

 

While their intentions were noble, it only took a few months of fostering to realize this calling required much more than good intentions. Foster care was a whole new world of parenting traumatized children while also having to navigate the child welfare system, the juvenile court system, and families in crisis. It would have been easy to become discouraged by the overwhelming needs of the kids and the dismal lack of resources available. But rather than give up, Rachel sought out ways to make things better. Fostering Together Gulf Coast was born out of this desire to help children in foster care and to provide support to the families who have taken up the charge to care for them.

 

Begun in 2019, Fostering Together Gulf Coast now has foster care resource centers located in Mobile and Spanish Fort that help to meet the needs of children as they come into foster care and also provides ongoing parent trainings, support groups, and fun family events to foster families. Each month over over 3,000 pieces of clothing, toiletries, school uniforms, birthday presents, toys, and more are passed along to these kids and families. The organization is also a bridge for the community to get involved in helping with foster care by donating clothing, sponsoring Easter baskets and Christmas gifts, volunteering at the centers, and providing financial support. It really does take a village to raise a child, and together we’re making a big impact in the foster care community where we live.