Reinhardt Women's Leadership Program Advisory Board

Reinhardt Women’s Leadership Program Advisory Board

Reinhardt Women's Leadership Program Advisory Board

Patty Baker

Patty Baker was elected as the Clerk of Courts by residents of Cherokee County and has served in that position since January 2005. Ms. Baker serves as the Clerk for Superior, State, Magistrate and Juvenile Courts. She has taken an active leadership role in her community and local government and has served on various charitable boards and committees; including, Supreme Court Justice Thompson’s Jury Composition Committee. She and her husband, Scott McElroy, organize the Georgia National Guard Family Support Foundation Half Marathon and Ruck March each year to raise funds to help soldiers and their families in need. She lives in the Clayton Community of Canton with her husband and their children.

Baker has earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in General Psychology with a minor in Sociology. She also holds a master's degree in Applied Behavioral Psychology from Adelphi University (N.Y.) and is currently working toward a second master's degree in Criminal Justice and Court Administration.

In 2011, Baker was the Recipient of the ECLAT Award, an award for Exceptional Commitment, Leadership, Accomplishment, and Teamwork presented to her by her fellow Clerks of Superior Court. She is a 2006 graduate of Paul Coverdell’s Leadership Institute.

Sharon J. Bartels

Former Gwinnett Technical College president, Sharon J. Bartels, has a high profile not only in Gwinnett County, but throughout the state of Georgia as well. She has been named one of Georgia Trend's 100 most powerful and influential Georgians and Gwinnett Magazine's Woman of the year. In 2009, Bartels was honored by the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce with the prestigious Citizen of the Year Award.

Bartels is responsible for leading one of Georgia's largest technical colleges as it serves 12,000 students per quarter through its credit, continuing education and adult education programs. She joined Gwinnett Tech's leadership team in 1986 as the school's director of marketing and was promoted to executive director for institutional advancement in 1990. She was named Gwinnett Tech's president in September 1996, after serving as interim president for six months. She is responsible for many of Gwinnett Tech’s accomplishments, including expanding the campus from two buildings to nine, gaining Southern Association of Colleges and Schools’ accreditation in record time and creation of the Gwinnett Tech Foundation.

Bartels is also an active leader within the community. She served as the co-chair of the Gwinnett Chamber's Partnership Gwinnett Initiative and was recognized by the Chamber with their Public Service Award in 2004. She served as chairman of the board for the Chamber for 2001 and has also served as vice chair for the Chamber's economic development, education and regional issues committees. She is currently a member of the Chamber executive committee. A long-time member of the Gwinnett Rotary Club, Bartels also served on the board of directors for the United Way of Gwinnett and chaired their 2004 campaign. In 2008, Bartels was named a Gwinnett United Way Women's Legacy Award winner, honored in the legacy category. She has also served on the board of the Emory Board of Visitors and two state-wide Early Learning Commissions. She is also currently a board member of the Higher Education Research & Development Institute, Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful, Georgia Gwinnett College, and the Greater North Fulton Chamber of Commerce.

A 1992 graduate of Leadership Gwinnett, Bartels is a 1998 graduate of the Regional Leadership Institute. Bartels earned her undergraduate and master's degrees from the University of Georgia. She is a member of Roswell United Methodist Church.

Dr. Beth Adams Bowser '68

Beth Adams Bowser '68 resides in Glenville, N.C. She is semi-retired and serves as a Curriculum Field Representative/Consultant for The United Methodist Publishing House, Nashville, Tenn.

Bowser has extensive experience in higher education, including serving as the director of program development for the Associated Colleges of the South, a consortium of 16 private colleges/universities in 12 southern sates. She also has served as the executive director of the Carolina Colloquy for University Teaching, a consortium of 16 public universities in North Carolina, and as dean of evening degree programs, summer school, summer programs and continuing education at Mount Union College in Ohio. Bowser also has served as adjunct faculty at The University of Akron and Defiance College, both in Ohio.

She is a past president of Reinhardt's Alumni Board of Governors and has dedicated 45 years to the ministry within the United Methodist Church. Bowser has been the owner/artist of Glass Treasures since 1982.

Linda Breeden

Linda Breeden, SPHR, has 25 years of progressive business and volunteer experience in the public and private sectors. She served as Director/Vice-President of Human Resources for private sector, small and global companies as well as in the public sector as the Director of Human Resources for the Georgia Department of Labor. She is a certified trainer, facilitator and mediator.

Her volunteer work includes the Society of Human Resources Management where she served as the State Director, United Way Board, the R.E.A.D Program, the Georgia League of Women Voters Board, 2050 Canton Vision Committee and the Canton Board of Appeals.

Breeden is excited about working with Reinhardt University by serving on the Women’s Leadership Program advisory board, the President’s Advisory Board and the Strategic Career Advantage Program. Her publications include Atlanta Business Chronicle, Workforce Magazine, Redbook Magazine, Chicken Soup, Guideposts and Southern Writers Magazine. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Business from the University of Alabama and an Master of Science in Human Resources from Troy State University.

Katherine Dunlop

Katherine Dunlop has worked for The Coca-Cola Company for more than 20 years. In that time, she has held six different positions and most of her career with Coca-Cola has been in account management and leadership roles.

Currently, Dunlop is the Director of Sales, FSOP National Sales Atlanta leading a team of senior sales executive and sales executives. She brings more than 25 years of foodservice experience from Minute Maid, the bakery industry and the Coca-Cola system.

Dunlop is active in the Women’s LINC (previously the Women’s Forum) and served as past chairperson for the Communication Committee. She is a member of the Women’s Foodservice Forum where she served on the Volunteer Development Committee, as well as being a past Company Ambassador for The Coca-Cola Company. Currently, she serves on the Board of Trustee for Reinhardt University and is a member of the Advancement Committee, Membership Committee, Reinhardt University Women’s Leadership founding Co-chair and member of the Advisory Board.

Dunlop holds a bachelor's degree in International Affairs from George Washington University. She and her husband, Richard, live in Alpharetta, Ga.

Julie C. Fleming

Julie Fleming is the Vice President for Enrollment Management at Reinhardt University. She has worked at Reinhardt since 2001 serving in various roles within admissions and was promoted to Vice President in October 2014.

Fleming received her bachelor’s degree from Wofford College and master’s degree in Higher Education Administration from the University of South Carolina. Prior to joining the Reinhardt family, she worked at Limestone College, Coker College and Gainesville State College.

In her spare time, Fleming enjoys spending time with her family and staying active outdoors by running and playing tennis.

Lisa Ford

Lisa Ford is a business speaker and author who specializes in helping companies create customer focused cultures. For more than 20 years, she has been presenting to businesses, associations and governments throughout the U.S. and internationally. She is best known for her work in customer service.

Her published work includes a best-selling DVD training series, "How to Give Exceptional Customer Service," and the book, "Exceptional Customer Service." She has spoken to many organizations including Intel, State Farm, Verizon Wireless, Edward Jones and Kaiser Permanente, and in 2002, Ford was inducted into the Speakers Hall of Fame by the National Speakers Association.

Ford is a graduate of the University of Tennessee.

Martha Forlines

Martha Forlines has served clients at all levels of organizations from within corporations and as a consultant and coach. As a former V.P. Human Resources and Communications, her human resource skills and knowledge base are diverse and include organizational strategy and development, mergers and acquisitions, crisis management, employee/labor relations, employment and labor law compliance and executive coaching. Upon leaving her corporate role in 2006, she decided to serve clients from the “outside” and focus on the things that she is most passionate about in organizational development and helping leaders and their teams get better results, be more successful and happy at work.

When she decided to become an entrepreneur, she made a commitment to helping women in business find and achieve their purpose.

Forlines is a certified business coach with almost 30 years of experience in human resources management. She earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Guilford College in Greensboro, N.C.

Marie Garrett

Ms. Garrett offers over 30 years of public sector experience where she has served as a City Manager, City Administrator for Development, and Director of Planning and Community Development. She has experience working with newly incorporated municipal governments with responsibility to ready them with services. She has experience in grant writing and awards in the areas of community development, ARC Livable Cities Initiative, Federal Highway and Ga D.O.T. She managed over 100 employees in both Johns Creek at start-up and for the City of Brookhaven. Development standards and regulations for areas such as purchasing, community development and public works.

Ms. Garrett oversaw the development and implementation of the Comprehensive Plan in numerous cities, has extensive experience in the development and management of annual budgets.

Prior to her work at the City of Brookhaven, Ms. Garrett provided administrative consulting assistance to both the public and private sector in areas or planning, development, and grants writing. She has worked with several local governments including the cities of Canton, Milton, Johns Creek and Alpharetta, Ga., assisting and developing economic, transportation, and community outreach strategies. She is a local government administrative and policy expert as it relates to comprehensive planning and zoning, intergovernmental relations and strategic development, finance and economic development.

Kristin Heiden

Rev. Kristin Heiden is an ordained deacon in the United Methodist Church, currently serving as Associate Minister at Roswell UMC. She is a graduate of the University of Georgia and Duke Divinity School. In her work, she feels called to create experiences for people of all ages, stages, and backgrounds to encounter God and God’s transforming grace. This is accomplished through teaching, preaching, visioning, and even teaching Zumba! Kristin is married to Chris, and they have two children, Ruthie Jeanne and Harrison.

Karen Mathews

Karen Mathews is a seasoned human resources professional who has held positions in leadership development, community relations, and culture transformation. Her career spans more than 20 years in working with leaders across multiple disciplines from Christian Education, Community Relations and Healthcare. She is an accomplished writer, public speaker, trainer and consultant.

Karen received her bachelor’s degree in organizational management from Covenant College, Chattanooga, Tennessee and her Associate of Divinity in Christian Education from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. She earned Clinical Pastoral Education certification while serving at Erlanger and Siskin Rehabilitation Hospitals in Chattanooga and as a hospice chaplain for Hospice Care For East Tennessee.

Karen has served in a wide variety of leadership roles in hospitals including volunteer services, patient relations, customer service, and organizational development. She currently serves on the Cherokee Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors and the Children’s Haven Board of Directors. Karen lives in Canton, Georgia and is married to Neil Mathews. They have 3 grown children and one grandchild. Karen and Neil are members of Hillside United Methodist Church in Woodstock where she serves on the Pastoral Relations Committee.

Judge Ellen McElyea

Judge Ellen McElyea practiced law in Canton for 15 years before becoming a full-time juvenile court judge in 2000. In 2007, she became the first female Superior Court judge in the Blue Ridge Circuit, and she has been re-elected to that position for three terms without opposition. She spearheaded the effort to create the circuit’s first felony Drug Accountability Court, which began in 2013. McElyea is a member of Canton First United Methodist Church. She and her husband, Canton attorney Bobby Dyer, have two adult sons. The product of a small Christian liberal arts college herself, she believes the foundation the Reinhardt students receive is the best possible preparation for success and in career and in life.

Diane Minick

Diane Minick taught biological and environmental sciences, retiring after 30 years. She started her own company, Stormwater Landscapes, in 1999. Minick also works to solve stormwater problems naturally, working with gravity and using specialized landscape modifications to gently filter and infiltrate stormwater. She also is the director of the Upper Etowah River Alliance, a community-based watershed protection group that works in the Etowah basin upstream of Lake Allatoona. It is an educational organization working to protect, through education, the most biologically diverse watershed in the U.S. She is the secretary for the State Council of Trout Unlimited and enjoys the outdoors, including flyfishing.

Tonya Davis Murphy

Tonya Murphy is a physical therapist working in Home Health Care. She has served on the Board of Directors of the General Board of Global Ministries. She is proud of her recent historic vote to relocate the General Board of Global Ministries to Atlanta. Murphy served eight years on the National United Methodist Women’s Board of Directors and has been elected as a delegate from North Georgia to three General Conferences. She will serve on the Connectional Table and as the assistant dean for Mission U for North Georgia.

Murphy recently celebrated six years as a breast cancer survivor. She enjoys gardening, music and spending time with her family. Murphy is a graduate of Georgia State University and is married to Rev. Matt Murphy, pastor of Headland Heights UMC in East Point. They have one daughter, Ariel, a sophomore at Reinhardt University.

Charlotte J. Nash

Charlotte J. Nash was elected Chairman of the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners in a special election on March 15, 2011. In 2012, she was re-elected without opposition. Prior to running for office, she was president of a consulting firm specializing in governmental and public strategy and management. Nash worked for Gwinnett County Government for more than 27 years until she retired in 2004. She served as the County Administrator for nine years and previously held the positions of Director of Financial Services, Budget Director, and Grants Manager.

Nash has also been active in numerous civic, business and service organizations in the community. She served on the Gwinnett Recreation Authority from 2005 until the end of 2010. By virtue of her position as Commission Chairman, she serves as a member of the Atlanta Regional Commission Board and the Metropolitan North Georgia Water Planning District Board. She also serves on the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority as an appointee of the Governor and recently completed a term as the 2015-2016 President of ACCG, Georgia’s county government association.

The Atlanta Business Chronicle named her one of the 100 Most Influential Atlantans in 2011 through 2016. In addition, Georgia Trend has included her as one of the 100 Most Influential Georgians annually since 2013.

Nash is a Gwinnett County native who has lived her entire life in the Dacula/Harbins community. She graduated with honors from both Dacula High School and the University of Georgia, where she received a bachelor’s degree in accounting. Nash and her husband, Michael, have been married for 44 years and have two grown children and two granddaughters.

Betsy Corley Pickren

As a professional coach, certified by the Coaches Training Institute and credentialed through the International Coach Federation, Betsy Pickren serves leaders at all levels, including individuals who are formulating their personal leadership philosophy and career strategy. Her recent assignments have been with diverse organizations such as St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, HealthSouth, CDC, AGILE Staffing, Cox Automotive, and University System of Georgia.

At Kennesaw State University Coles College of Business, Executive Education, she co-developed the Certified Managerial Coach Certificate and Applied Coaching for Leaders, and she is primary faculty for those programs.

For more than 13 years, Pickren was employed at Zenger-Miller, one of the nation’s largest leadership training and consulting firms, where she co-created the Client Services Division and became Vice-president for Client Services. Later, at the The Frontline Group, she also managed the Client Services function.

Pickren earned degrees from Young Harris College, the University of Georgia and a master's degree in Adult Education Program Management from Georgia State University. In addition, she continues her professional development by completing education seminars from some of the nation’s leading experts. She served in various posts in community and professional organizations including past-president of the International Coach Federation, Georgia chapter. She has been a nine-time mentor for PathBuilders (a mentoring program for women in business) and is a graduate of Senior Leadership Gwinnett.

Rev. Susan Moore Pinson '04

Rev. Susan Moore Pinson is an ordained Deacon in The United Methodist Church, who began serving at Glenn Memorial Church on the Emory University campus in 2008, after completing a Master of Divinity at Duke Divinity School and a Master of Social Work in gerontology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Pinson and her husband, Mathew, are both "PKs" - preacher's kids - who grew up in the North Georgia Conference and met while attending Reinhard University. They now spend their time chasing their own toddler “PK.”

Thanks to her time at Reinhardt, Pinson considers herself a "sociology nerd" and has authored a publication in the Journal of Christianity and Social Work: "Aging Memory Loss, Dementia, and Alzheimer's Disease: The Role of Christian Social Workers and the Church" and is a past recipient of Reinhardt's 10 Under 10 award.

Susan leads ministries with children and older adults, including Christian education and pastoral care for all ages. She serves on the boards of the North Georgia Conference Camping and Retreat Ministries (Camp Glisson), Senior Connections, Inc., and is the current president of the Reinhardt Alumni Board of Governors.

Patricia A. Tanner

Patricia A. Tanner was born and raised in Canton, Cherokee County Georgia to parents, Ozella Stevenson Tanner and the late Monroe J. Tanner of Canton, Ga. She attended Canton Junior High School, Ralph J. Bunche High School, Canton, Ga. and Barber Scotia College, Concord, N.C. Tanner retired in 2002 after 34 years of service to the State of Georgia through the Cherokee County Department of Family and Children Services. She first was elected to Canton City Council on Nov. 4, 2003 and spent eight years in office. She was appointed Mayor Pro Tem City of Canton from January 1, 2009 to January 2010. Pat is a member of Zion Baptist Church, Cherokee County Board of Health – North Georgia Health District, Cherokee County Chamber of Commerce, DUI/Drug Court Steering Committee and Board of Directors for the Friends of Recovery Foundation, Commission on Canton’s Future 2050, Leadership Georgia and Leadership DHR Alumni. She is a former member of the Canton/Cherokee Triad/SALT Council Committee, former board member of the Canton Marketplace CID Board of Directors, former board member of the Malon D. Mimms Boys and Girls Club and former board member of the G. Cecil Pruett Family YMCA. Tanner also is a Citizen Panel Review Team Member, Court Bailiff and recipient of numerous social, civic and governmental awards, and recognitions for years of public service to the state, city and Cherokee County.

Shannon Wallace

Shannon Wallace is the District Attorney for the Blue Ridge Judicial Circuit, which is comprised of Cherokee County. As District Attorney, Shannon serves as the chief prosecutor for Cherokee County and is charged with indicting and prosecuting all felony offenses that occur in Cherokee County, as well as other related responsibilities including serving as counsel to the Grand Jury, assisting victims of crime, and advising law enforcement officers. Wallace graduated from the University of Georgia cum laude in 1999 with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Criminal Justice and graduated from the University of Georgia School of Law cum laude in 2002 with her Juris Doctorate. Wallace, her husband, Kyle, and their two children reside in Woodstock.

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