Lowcountry leaders become Liberty Fellows, join statewide and global networks
October 19, 2023
Six Lowcountry leaders have completed the requirements to become Liberty Fellows. They now join diverse and interconnected groups of 330 leaders in the Liberty Fellowship South Carolina Network and 3,000 leaders in the Aspen Global Leadership Network. Through the two networks, Fellows will have lifelong opportunities for engagement and access to an influential group of colleagues and mentors.
The new Liberty Fellows from the Lowcountry are:
• Amy Barch, executive director and founder, Turn90
• Gary Brewer, South Carolina House of Representatives District 114
• Chase Glenn, executive director, Alliance for Full Acceptance
• Michael Lalich, president and founder, Lowcountry Labor Company
• Tommy Preston, Jr., global vice president, ethics, The Boeing Company
• Megan Stifel, chief strategy officer, Institute for Security and Technology
The Liberty Fellowship experience brings together a small group of leaders who may not otherwise know or interact with one another into a Class. Each Class is selected to contain a wide range of thought, professions, geographic locations, and lived experiences. Through a rigorous 18-month process, each Class member is challenged to embrace their varying perspectives as they build upon each other’s strengths.
“South Carolina must have highly effective leadership to navigate the increasing interdependence of businesses, technologies, communities and nations, and we must have collaboration to foster sustainable growth,” said Ann Marie Stieritz, president and CEO of Liberty Fellowship. “These 19 individuals bring unique perspectives, skills and leadership to our state. We are thrilled to welcome them officially as Liberty Fellows to our networks here in South Carolina and across the world.”
The other members of the Class of 2023 are:
• Teresa Goodman, executive director, Community Initiatives, Inc.
• John Gordon, president & CEO, Leroy Springs & Company, Inc.
• Shontavia Johnson, associate vice president for entrepreneurship and innovation, Clemson University
• James Jordon, president, Jordon Construction Company
• E. Smyth McKissick, IV, president and CEO, Alice Company
• Brooke Mueller, senior director of government relations and public affairs of mid-atlantic states, Southeast and Puerto Rico, Walmart, Inc.
• Dominik Mjartan, president & CEO, Optus Bank
• Aparna Polavarapu, associate professor, University of South Carolina School of Law, and executive director and founder, South Carolina Restorative Justice Initiative
• Tiffany Roberts, market vice president – clinic operations, CenterWell Senior Primary Care
• Seema Shrivastava-Patel, chair, South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control
• Sarah Simmons, founder and CEO, CITY GRIT Hospitality Group
• Laura Ullrich, senior regional economist, South Carolina and North Carolina, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond
• Rochelle Williams, vice president of strategy and programs, Mary Black Foundation
“Participating in the foundational Liberty Fellowship seminars over the past 18 months was one of the most challenging and rewarding experiences of my professional career. I was pushed to deeply consider my role in both creating and solving complex problems facing South Carolina and the world. It was not always comfortable dialogue, but I can say without a doubt that Liberty Fellowship elevated me as a leader and made me a better person,” said Amy Barch, founder and executive director, Turn90.
FAST FACTS
1. A new class of Liberty Fellows is selected every two years from a pool of more than 400 nominees.
2. Anyone can nominate a Liberty Fellow.
3. To become a Liberty Fellow, each individual selected must complete five seminars in the United States and abroad and an individual impact venture.
4. Of the 330 Liberty Fellows in the South Carolina network, 87% remain in the state.
5. 76% of Liberty Fellows are from the business sector; 12% are from the nonprofit sector; and 12% are from the public sector.
ABOUT LIBERTY FELLOWSHIP
Liberty Fellowship activates individual leaders through a deeper understanding of a just, free and equitable society; serves as a convener for bringing together diverse perspectives to advance civil discourse; and provides infrastructure for taking action. The Fellowship is a nonpartisan, nonsectarian, nondogmatic organization which operates as an independent 501c3 organization. Learn more at libertyfellowshipsc.org.
