24 South Carolina Impact Makers Selected to Mentor Liberty Fellows
January 24, 2012
GREENVILLE, SC – January 24, 2012 – Without their vision, acumen andcommunity involvement, South Carolina would be a different state. The 24mentors selected as Senior Advisors to the newest class of LibertyFellows are leaders in every sense of the word and span academic,nonprofit and business sectors. The names and faces are familiar becausetheir impact on South Carolina is conspicuous.
“Liberty Fellowship is an intellectually demanding program, and theFellows are dealing with hefty issues where they work and in theircommunity leadership,” said Liberty Fellowship founder Hayne Hipp. “Thementors are change agents with extensive experiences that, when shared,offer keen insight.”
Being paired with a Senior Advisor is one part of the Fellowshipexperience, which also includes attending four seminars over two years.One seminar – the Aspen Institute Globalization Seminar – brings LibertyFellows together with Fellows from similar programs in some of the mostinteresting cities in the world. One of the main functions of thementor relationship is to provide principled guidance to the Fellows intheir personal project, the final component of the program.
“When you look at the great thinkers and doers that have excelledthroughout history, most can point to a significant role model whochallenged and helped guide them,” commented Jennie Johnson, LibertyFellowship Executive Director. “We carefully matched these SeniorAdvisors with the Fellows to do just that.”
Following are the Senior Advisors for the Liberty Fellowship Class of 2013:
Jimmy Addison, Senior Vice President and CFO of SCANACorporation, is mentoring David Cote, Assistant Vice President andAssistant Treasurer at BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina. Addisonand Cote both have a background in accounting and are alike in theircommitment to family and strong personal convictions. A member of thefirst class of Liberty Fellows, Addison is on the board of the SCChamber of Commerce, SC Future Minds, South Carolina Bank & Trustand the USC Moore School of Business Partnership Foundation (vice-chair)and is a member of the USC Athletics Garnet Way Cabinet.
Gerald (Jerry) Barber, an entrepreneur and lifelong inventor, ismentoring Craig Kinley, CEO and Principal of WiProwess. Barber andKinley are heavy on good ideas and strong execution, a powerful duo ofstrengths in the business world. Barber owned and operated the secondlargest amusement ride manufacturing company in the United States for 18years. He has over 50 patents, including the “Free Fall” amusement ridewhich can be found in almost every amusement park worldwide, andcurrently has patents pending for his wind turbine design.
James Barker, Clemson University President, is mentoring ScottClark, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for MichelinNorth America. Barker and Clark are visionaries and innovators, andboth have led the charge in connecting South Carolina industry withacademia. Named president in 1999, Barker has led Clemson to beingrecognized as one of the nation’s premier universities, consistentlyranking in the Top 25 public universities in the US News guide to“America’s Best Colleges.” He is former president of the Association ofCollegiate Schools of Architecture and is past chair of the NCAADivision I Board of Directors.
Nella Barkley, CEO and Cofounder of Crystal-Barkley Corporation,is mentoring Mindelle Ziff, Founder and President of KaleidoscopeMarketing Group. Drive and ingenuity fuel the proven business instinctsshared by these two from the Lowcountry. Barkley specializes inorganizational development and training and has authored two booksincluding “How to Help Your Child Land the Right Job.” She was foundingchair of Horizon House and currently chairs the Charleston RegionalAlliance for the Arts and SC Future Minds. She is on the board of theCharleston Education Network.
David Black, former President/CEO of Liberty Life InsuranceCompany and Director of the South Carolina Department of Insurance, ismentoring Daniel Johnson, Solicitor for the Fifth Judicial Circuit.Black shares Johnson’s legal background, and they both are notable intheir service to this state. Black serves on the Executive AdvisoryBoard in the College of Business and Behavioral Sciences at ClemsonUniversity and the Advisory Board at the MUSC Hollings Cancer Center. Hehas been on the board of the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce and theAssociation of South Carolina Life Insurance Companies.
David Dukes, Managing Partner at Nelson Mullins Riley &Scarborough, is mentoring Forrest Alton, CEO of the South CarolinaCampaign to Prevent Teenage Pregnancy. Leaders who emerged early intheir careers, Dukes and Alton also carve out time to be significantplayers in their communities. Dukes is known as one of the top productliability lawyers in the world. He is trustee of the BusinessPartnership Foundation – USC Moore School of Business and is on theboard of the Foundation for the South Carolina Governor’s School forScience & Mathematics.
David Ellison, Wealth Management Advisor at Northwestern MutualWealth Management Company, is advising William (Bill) Logan, Jr., aphysician with Network Geriatric Services. A love for the Upstate andcontributing to the quality of life here connects these two. Ellisonhas a long history of service to his alma mater, Furman University,including chairing the Board of Trustees and presiding over the AlumniAssociation. He is past trustee of United Way of Greenville County andformer director of South Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities.
Jane Frederick, Principal at Frederick & Frederick Architects,is mentoring James Simmons, physician and owner of All Children’sPediatrics. Though decidedly different in their occupations, Frederickand Simmons share an entrepreneurial spirit and effectively pair subjectmatter expertise with a knack for business. Frederick is chair of theAmerican Institute of Architects (AIA) National Small Firm Round Tableand is an incoming member of the AIA National Board. She is pastpresident of AIA/South Carolina. Frederick is founder and member ofFriends of the Beaufort County Rail Trail and was in the inaugural classof Liberty Fellowship.
Elizabeth Hagood, Executive Director of Lowcountry Open LandTrust, is mentor to Tiffany Spann-Wilder, Sole Proprietor – Spann-WilderLaw Firm. Both are driven, and each is a force for change in heroccupation and civic involvement. Hagood is former chairwoman of theDepartment of Health and Environmental Control Board and is a trustee ofWoodberry Forest School, the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina andthe Historic Charleston Foundation. Also a Liberty Fellow, she is on theLowcountry Advisory Board of the Dorothy and Gaylord DonnelleyFoundation.
Don Herriott, Director of USC Innovista Partnership, ismentoring Vicki Young, Department Head for Clinical Quality Improvement,South Carolina Primary Health Care Association. Herriott and Young bothhave a pharmaceutical background and are strategic thinkers. Herriottis former Head of Roche Global Chemical Manufacturing and serves on theSouth Carolina Board of Economic Advisors, the Palmetto Institute andNew Carolina (co-chair, Education and Workforce Development Task Force).He is the founding chair of the School Foundation for Florence DistrictOne.
Robert (Bob) Hughes, Jr., President of Hughes DevelopmentCorporation, is mentoring Benjamin Wall, President of WJ Partners. Apassion for the economic prosperity of South Carolina is the bondlinking these two highly successful businessmen. Hughes has receivedstatewide acclaim for the NEXT Innovation Center, a home for fastgrowing technology
companies, among other significant developmentprojects. He is chairman of the South Carolina Governor’s School for theArts and Humanities and is on the Board of Trustees for the UniversityCenter, the Greenville County Schools Foundation Board and the ETVEndowment.
Harris Pastides, University of South Carolina President, ismentoring Sue-Ann (Susie) Shannon, Director of Research at the PalmettoInstitute and an attorney with McNair Law Firm. Pastides and Shannon areboth ardent supporters of K-12 education and devote their expertise andenergy on the topic at a professional and personal level. Pastidesserves on the NCAA Division I Board of Directors Executive Committee andAmerica’s Manufacturing Initiative with the U.S. Council onCompetitiveness. Prior to becoming University president, he was vicepresident for research and health sciences and dean of the Arnold Schoolof Public Health.
Etta Pisano, MUSC Vice President for Medical Affairs and Dean of theCollege of Medicine, is advising Andrea Cooper, a Lowcountry communityactivist and vice-chair of the SC Coastal Conservation League. Pisanoand Cooper have logged countless hours in their individual quests toimprove health and wellness worldwide. Pisano is an expert in breastcancer imaging. She recently co-founded a company commercializing abreast imaging device which will provide superior image quality at aradiation dose that is substantially lower than is currently available.She also is a member of the Institute of Medicine of the NationalAcademy of Sciences.
Rick Throckmorton, retired Vice President and Lead Partner ofBooz Allen Hamilton Inc., and Edith Howle, also a retired partner fromBooz Allen Hamilton Inc., are mentors to Cameron Blazer, AssistantFederal Public Defender and owner of Cottage Industrialist. Thoughmanifested differently in each one, Blazer, Throckmorton and Howle sharea special aptitude for creativity. Howle volunteers with variousLowcountry organizations including with the Virtual Job Shadows projectfor students in the state. Throckmorton is an Entrepreneur in Residenceat the College of Charleston and is on the board for a start-up inpersonalized medicine.
Michael Riordan, President and CEO of Greenville HospitalSystem, is mentoring Jason Premo, CEO and Co-owner of ADEX MachiningTechnologies. Riordan and Premo are resolute in their commitment toeconomic development, specifically through workforce development modelsthan can be replicated. Riordan is board chairman for the GreenvilleChamber of Commerce and is on the board of Health Sciences SouthCarolina, the South Carolina Hospital Association and the RutlandInstitute for Ethics (Clemson University). He is former board chair ofthe Urban League of the Upstate.
Ben Rook, Chairman/CEO at Design Strategies, is advising WaltWilkins, Solicitor – Thirteenth Judicial Circuit of Greenville andPickens Counties. Both Rook and Wilkins are deeply involved in theUpstate and make a noticeable impact in the area. Rook is on thePresident’s Advisory Board at Wofford, is chairman of the Urban Leagueof the Upstate and is on the boards of Artisphere, United Way and theMarch of Dimes. He previously chaired the National American Institute ofArchitects Convention and South Carolina Endowed Chairs Program.
Joel Smith III, Dean Emeritus of the USC Darla Moore School ofBusiness, and Kit Smith, former Director of Government Relations withChernoff Newman, are mentoring Tameika Isaac Devine, Founding Partner ofJabber & Isaac. The Smiths and Devine are well-known leaders inColumbia, always striving to carry the region forward to improve thequality of life for its residents. Kit Smith retired last year afterserving 20 years on Richland County Council and continues to be activein conservation and land use planning as well as teen pregnancyprevention and the arts. Joel Smith is on the boards of the ColumbiaMuseum of Art, SC ETV Endowment, and Spoleto Festival and is anorganizer and director with The Palmetto Institute.
Diane Smock, Executive Director at the Upstate CommunityMediation Center, is advising Amy Picklesimer, physician with theGreenville Hospital System University Medical Center and medicaldirector of the Greenville County Nurse-Family Partnership program. Neither Smock nor Picklesimer is satisfied with the status quo, and theyboth use expertise and hard work to effectively advocate for theunderserved. Smock is a former Greenville County Probate Judge andserved on Greenville City Council. She is on the Greenville Housing Fundboard and previously served on the SC Mental Health Commission and theMetro YMCA of Greenville (chair).
Richard Stanley, Vice President and General Manager of theEngineering Division at GE Energy, is mentoring Brian McSharry, ChiefOperating Officer and Founder of SAGE Automotive Interiors. Intelligentand focused, both Stanley and McSharry have in-depth knowledge in theirrespective fields that comes from hands-on experience at all levels intheir organizations. Stanley has been awarded five patents, is anAssociate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics andAstronautics, and is a recipient of the University of Notre DameDistinguished Alumni Engineering award.
Harold Stowe, Principal with Stowe-Monier Management, ismentoring Patrick Cawley, Chief Medical Officer/Medical Director atMUSC. Stowe and Cawley are natural leaders in their professions, bothwith long lists of civic involvement as well. Stowe served 10 years onthe South Carolina Education Oversight Committee and chaired the MyrtleBeach Air Base Redevelopment Authority. He is current chair of SmithMedical Clinic and is on the boards of
Baskerville Outreach, Inc., SCANA Corporation and Ruddick Corporation.
William M. (Billy) Webster IV, Chairman of the Board of AdvanceAmerica, is mentoring Scott Cochran, Dean of the Center forProfessional Excellence at Wofford College. Webster and Cochran thrivein high-energy, high-impact situations and know how to make thingshappen. As a White House Fellow, Webster served as Assistant to thePresident of the United States and Director of Scheduling and Advance.He is on the Board of Trustees of Converse College, Washington and LeeUniversity, Spartanburg Hospital and Greenville Hospital System and ison the Board of Visitors of MD Anderson Cancer Center.
Neal Workman, Founder and Chairman of the Board of TrehelCorporation, is mentoring Windsor Westbrook Sherrill, a Professor in theDepartment of Public Health Sciences at Clemson University. Workman andSherrill have in common a passion for service. Both are constantlyworking to connect their community’s needs with their own personalstrengths to maximize the benefit to those living there. Workman iscofounder of the Oconee Alliance and The Foothills Gala. He is formerArea Commissioner for Tri-County Technical College and state chair ofthe Heritage Corridor and served on the SC Commission on HigherEducation.
About Liberty Fellowship
Liberty Fellowship is a statewide leadership initiative foundedby Hayne Hipp, Wofford College and The Aspen Institute. Through theFellow program, Liberty Fellowship seeks to inspire outstandingleadership in South Carolina, empowering the state’s leaders to realizetheir full potential. Fostering a values-based approach, LibertyFellowship exposes rising leaders to diverse perspectives, criticalthinking, and intellectual and personal development. For moreinformation: www.libertyfellowshipsc.org.
