Forty-eight Midlands Leaders join Diversity Leaders Initiative

An award-winning program with over 2,700 graduates across South Carolina, the Diversity Leaders Initiative leverages diversity to drive progress. 

Forty-eight leaders from across the Midlands have been selected to participate in the Riley Institute’s intensive 5-month Diversity Leaders Initiative (DLI) program. For over 20 years, DLI has brought together community stakeholders and equipped them with the skills and perspectives necessary to leverage diversity in their organizations in ways that drive social and economic progress in South Carolina.

Participants are selected following nomination by a DLI graduate and a thorough application and interview process. Each class includes leaders who represent the varied demographics in our state and who seek to institute diverse and inclusive practices within their communities and organizations.

Juan Johnson, the designer and facilitator of the program, has crafted a curriculum that includes interactive case studies, scenario analyses, and experiential learning tools. With five meetings over the course of five months, this program will explore modules related to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Among the topics explored in these discussions are the differences between bias and discrimination, the role of context, differences in mental and physical abilities, generational diversity, and diversity frameworks.

The DLI program concludes with groups undertaking community action projects. With these capstone projects, this new class of DLI participants will identify challenges in their communities and will work together to address them. Many of our DLI graduates have developed projects that continue to produce tremendous good within their communities.

Dr. Don Gordon, executive director of the Riley Institute, remarks, “Today’s leaders are responsible for making positive contributions that benefit everyone, particularly the most marginalized among us. This program creates opportunities to tackle challenges faced by diverse segments of our community and introduce enduring solutions and systems-level change within organizations and businesses across South Carolina.”

Graduates of DLI become Riley Fellows and join a diverse community of changemakers in South Carolina.

Listed below are the participants of the spring 2024 Midlands DLI class.

Katie Ayers 
Senior Research Fellow
Arras Foundation
Lancaster

Cayci Banks 
VP of Strategy & Communications
1000 Feathers
Columbia

Brenton Brown 
Deputy Director
Commission of Minority Affairs
Columbia

Susan Cohen 
President & CEO
SC Restaurant & Lodging Association
Columbia

Beth Costner 
Dean, Richard W. Riley College of Education,
Sport, and Human Sciences
Winthrop University
Rock Hill

Chris Cowan 
Chief of Police
City of Cayce
Cayce

Bill Davis 
Director of Utilities
Richland County Government
Blythewood

Dawn Dawson-House 
Executive Director
WeGOJA Foundation
Columbia

Linda Distlerath
Trustee, Executive Committee
SCRA
Bluffton

Danny Dorsel 
President
South Carolina Governor’s School for Science and Mathematics
Hartsville

Liz Duda 
Large Bank Advanced Examiner
Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond
Charlotte

Hammond Edwards 
Senior Vice President
Optus Bank
Columbia

Teresa Ervin 
Mayor
City of Florence
Florence

Brian Fast 
Market Executive
First Citizens Bank
Florence

Sarah Ford 
Legal Director
SC Victim Assistance Network
Columbia

Molly Fortune 
Executive Director
Governor’s Commission for South Carolina
American Revolution Sestercentennial Commission
Columbia

Mike Gula 
President/CEO
Columbia Metropolitan Airport
West Columbia

Jacqueline Inabinette 
Assistant Superintendent
Clarendon County School District
Orangeburg

Ernest Jenkins 
Associate Professor of History
University of South Carolina Lancaster
Lancaster

Paul Johnston 
Senior Director B2B Virtual Sales
Michelin North America
Greenville

Tamara King 
Chief Equity and Engagement Officer
Richland Library
Columbia

Erika Kirby 
Executive Director
BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina Foundation
Columbia

Stephen Legault 
Senior Director Commercial Sales
Michelin North America
Greenville

Robert LeHeup 
Founder/Director
Bullets and Bandaids
Lexington

Harry Lightsey 
Secretary of Commerce
State of South Carolina
Columbia

Melissa Lindler 
Chief of Staff
Southeast Crescent Regional Commission
Columbia

Jamie Lovegrove 
Director
NP Strategy
Columbia

Mary Lucas 
Associate General Counsel
Open Technology Fund
Columbia

Bryanta Maxwell 
Advance Coordinator
US Department of Housing and Urban Development
Columbia

Ann McBride 
DEIJ Leadership Consultant
The Neo Project Consultancy
Columbia

Tony Megna 
CEO and General Counsel
Genesis Heath Care, Inc.
Blythewood

Bob Morgan 
President & CEO
South Carolina Chamber of Commerce
Columbia

Kelly Morrow 
Attorney
Robinson Gray
Columbia

Kathleen Muthig 
Attorney
Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd, PA
Columbia

Rose Newton 
Chairman
Bank of Clarendon
Manning

Brittany Owen 
Shareholder
Elliot Davis, LLC
Columbia

Punam Patel 
South Carolina Liaison
Scout Motors
Columbia

Shaquité Pegues 
Managing Director
Children’s Defense Fund
Bennettsville

Derrek Pugh 
Councilman, County Council District 2
Richland County
Columbia

Maayan Schechter 
Reporter
SC ETV and Public Radio
Columbia

William Simon 
City Administrator
City of Bennettsville
Bennettsville

Sammy Small 
President
First Palmetto Bank
Columbia

Allison Sullivan 
Attorney
Bluestein Attorneys
Columbia

Helena Tillar 
Superintendent
Marlboro County School District
Bennettsville

Ferlondo Tullock 
Superintendent
Calhoun County Public Schools
St. Matthews

Phil Wahl 
President
Security Federal Bank
Aiken

T.J. Wallace 
Assistant Director
South Carolina Humanities
Columbia

Buck Wilson 
Public Health Director – Midlands
SC DHEC
Columbia

About the Riley Institute at Furman University 

Furman University’s Richard W. Riley Institute advances social and economic progress in South Carolina and beyond by building leadership for a diverse society, broadening student and community perspectives on critical issues, hosting expert speakers, supporting public education, and creating knowledge through community solutions-focused research. It is committed to nonpartisanship in all it does and to a rhetoric-free, facts-based approach to change.