CLARKSDALE, Miss. – Jeremy Tanz, the executive director of the Southeast Missouri Regional Planning and Economic Development Commission, based in Perryville, has been named by the Delta Regional Authority (DRA) as one of 40 community leaders from all eight DRA states as fellows of the 2023 Delta Leadership Institute (DLI) Executive Academy.
DLI is an extensive, nine-month executive leadership program that brings together public, private, and nonprofit sector leaders from the Mississippi River Delta and Alabama Black Belt.
The DLI Executive Academy empowers fellows with the tools, experiences, and networks needed to address local and regional challenges. Sessions led by local, regional, and national experts cover policy areas such as infrastructure and transportation, small business and entrepreneurship, workforce development, public health, and other sectors necessary to facilitate economic growth in the region. As a result, DLI fellows graduate with improved decision-making skills, policy development know-how, strengthened leadership capacity, and a mutual understanding of regional, state, and local cultures and issues.
“The Delta Leadership Institute is an integral part of strengthening the economic prosperity by investing in the Delta’s most valuable resource: our people,” said DRA Federal Co-Chairman Dr. Corey Wiggins. “The 2023 DLI Fellows are the most diverse group of community leaders we have ever convened, and I look forward to seeing their personal growth over the next year as they develop the skills needed to move the region forward.”
The 2023 DLI Executive Academy fellows include:
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Joshua Agee | Paragould, Arkansas
Mayor
City of Paragould
Otis Anthony II | Jackson, Mississippi
State Representative
Mississippi House of Representatives
Ben Armstrong | New Orleans, Louisiana
Director of Strategic Partnerships & Outreach
NextOp
Lindora Baker | Shreveport, Louisiana
CEO
Xtreme Measures LLC
Dori Bigler, MAcc, CPA | Anna, Illinois
City Administrator
City of Anna
Megan Blackwell | Camden, Alabama
Development Assistant
Alabama Tombigbee Regional Commission
Kelly Brueggen | Potosi, Missouri
Director of Grants & Marketing
Washington County Memorial Hospital
Terri Bryant | Springfield, Illinois
Illinois State Senator
Illinois General Assembly
Dr. Edmund Buckner | Lorman, Mississippi
Professor of Agriculture
Alcorn State University
Bryan Creekmore | Monroe, Louisiana
Attorney
Guerriero and Guerriero
- Chad Davis | Dyersburg, Tennessee
Owner
Davis Wealth Services
Josh Downs | Springfield, Illinois
Deputy Director of Outreach & Community Affairs
Illinois Comptroller’s Office
Corey Elder | Mayfield, Kentucky
Field Representative
Congressman James Comer
Quianya L. Enge | Carbondale, Illinois
Research Assistant/Small Business Advisor
Illinois Small Business Development Center at SIUC
Sarah Ezell | Benton, Missouri
Project Director
SEMO Health Network
Whitney S. French | Clarksdale, Mississippi
Director of Healthcare and Community Engagement
Teen Health Mississippi
Mandy Guin | Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Special Projects Coordinator
Delta Regional Authority
April Hawthorne | Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Executive Director
Baton Rouge North Economic Development District
Keandre Haywood | Clarksdale, Mississippi
Financial Management Coordinator
Delta Regional Authority
Terance Henry | Marion, Illinois
IT Director
City of Marion
Mark Herbert | Lake Charles, Louisiana
Government and Community Relations
Louisiana Office of Motor Vehicles
Kristi Hopper | Osceola, Arkansas
Executive Director
Main Street Osceola
Ronald Hunt | Little Rock, Arkansas
Attorney
Arkansas Fair Housing Commission
Brian James | Jackson, Tennessee
Director of Community Developmnt
Healthy Community, LLC
Derrick Johnson | Cheneyville, Louisiana
Mayor
Town of Cheneyville
Morgan McIntosh | Poplar Bluff, Missouri
Executive Director of Downtown Poplar Bluff, Inc.
City of Poplar Bluff
Ruthann Padgett | Madisonville, Kentucky
VP Operations
Madisonville Hopkins County Economic Development Corporation
James Perkins | Selma, Alabama
Mayor
City of Selma
Collins Pettaway III | Selma, Alabama
Senior Consultant
The Pettapull Firm
Kendra Phillips | West Memphis, Arkansas
Consultant
Phillips Consulting Firm
Aaron Pilkington | Augusta, Arkansas
Vice President of Strategic Communications
ARCare
Shelley Ritter | Clarksdale, Mississippi
Executive Director
Delta Blues Museum
Tracey Rosebud | Jackson, Mississippi
State Representative
Mississippi House of Representatives
Amity Schuyler | Memphis, Tennessee
Senior Vice President, Workforce Development
Greater Memphis Chamber
Brendan Spaulding | Hot Springs, Arkansas
Field Representative
Congressman Bruce Westerman
Jeremy Tanz | Perryville, Missouri
Executive Director
Southeast Missouri Regional Planning & Economic Development Commission
Dr. Waletha Wasson, DDS, MPA | Memphis, Tennessee
Program Director
A 21st Century Initiative: Oral-Systemic and Population-Based Health for All
UTHSC College of Dentistry
Alfonzo White | Itta Bena, Mississippi
Director of Television Studio/Instructor
Mississippi Valley State University
Dr. Mary A. Williams | Clarksdale, Mississippi
CEO
Urgent & Primary Care of Clarksdale
Jerry Womick | Marion, Illinois
Business Manager
LiUNA Laborers’ Local 773
Since 2005, the DLI Executive Academy has provided leadership development to more than 600 community leaders from diverse backgrounds, sectors, and industries to strengthen skills development, information sharing, regional collaboration, and improve the economic competitiveness and social viability of the Mississippi River Delta and Alabama Black Belt. Upon graduation, DLI fellows will become members of the Delta Leadership Network, which provides peer-to-peer engagement opportunities for continued leadership development, information sharing, and collaboration with other leaders dedicated to the future of the Delta region. DLI is administered as a collaborative partnership between DRA and regional institutions of higher learning.
About the Delta Regional Authority
The Delta Regional Authority (DRA) is a federal-state partnership created by Congress in 2000 to promote and encourage the economic development of the lower Mississippi River Delta and Alabama Black Belt regions. DRA invests in projects supporting transportation infrastructure, basic public infrastructure, workforce training, and business development. DRA’s mission is to help create jobs, build communities, and improve the lives of those who reside in the 252 counties and parishes of the eight-state region.