More than 20 local business men and women were recognized Tuesday at the 2025 class of Leadership Lauderdale’s graduation ceremony at the MSU Riley Center.

 

The year-long program teaches participants about local resources, tours businesses, performs service projects and more as they learn the seven habits of highly effective people. The course, which is operated under the East Mississippi Business Development Corporation, is intended to prepare young professionals to step into leadership roles and guide the community in the future.

 

“For more than 20 years, this program has helped participants better understand how our community works, build relationships with the area’s current and future leaders and become inspired to serve our community,” said Melissa Martin, one of the graduates recognized at the program.

 

Martin said for her, the program expanded her knowledge of what Meridian has to offer both in nonprofit and for profit industries. The year also helped her forge new connections that otherwise would not have been made, she said.

“More than anything, it’s been a connection to emerging leaders in our community. I’ve been blessed to form friendships with leaders in education, banking, finance, media, insurance and many, many more,” she said. “I’ve been honored to serve alongside them during community projects, and it’s been an opportunity to connect in laughter, frustration, victory and defeat. We’ve proven that the strongest teams are composed of diverse individuals who freely give of their own strengths while respecting the strengths of others, and I’ve been humbled by your intelligence and your desire to serve the community.”

 

Lauderdale County Sheriff Ward Calhoun, who graduated from the first Leadership Lauderdale class and served as guest speaker for Tuesday’s graduation, said true leadership starts internally.

 

“In leadership, we often talk about all these different attributes that we should have, but the first thing as a leader I believe you have to do is you have to lead yourself,” he said. “Without setting an example and doing the things you expect others to do, you will not find success for yourself nor will you be the leader that you are capable of being.”

 

By participating in the Leadership Lauderdale program, Calhoun said, graduates have committed to serving their community as future leaders. Leadership, however, isn’t always easy, and those who serve the community as leaders will face hard times along with the good, he said.

 

“By doing this program, what you have done is you have set yourself up for success. More importantly, you’ve set yourself up to be a positive influence in our community,” he said. “Because in the coming months and years, your leadership is going to be tested.

 

“Leadership sounds good, and it is easy when the sun is shining, the birds are chirping and all is well in the world. But true leadership is found in those moments of chaos, in the storms, when a community, organization, a business, a family, a friend is looking for wise counsel.”

A community is only as strong as the willingness of residents to work together, Calhoun said, and there will always be a need for individuals to step into leadership roles and serve for the betterment of everyone. It all starts with a commitment to building a better future, he said.

 

While Tuesday was graduation day for the Leadership Lauderdale class, Calhoun said, the journey is just beginning, and there is no way of knowing what impact the actions of today’s leaders will have down the line.

 

“We have to have the faith to just simply do the work,” he said. “That’s my challenge to all of us today. Let’s do the work of community. Be the leaders that we know we need to be individually, work together and get the work done. And if we will simply do that, we will have not only the satisfaction for ourselves, but we will have the satisfaction of seeing our community be all that it can be in the days ahead.”

 

Graduates of the 2025 Leadership Lauderdale Class include:

 

— Russell Applewhite, Ochsner Rush Health

— James Edwards, Waters International Trucks

— Yashunta Finley, IQor

— Bridgett Fisher-Lloyd, MPSD

— William Freeman, Citizens National Bank

— Jessica Graham, Great Southern Bank

— Dalton Horne, Castle

— David Huckaby, Mississippi Power

— Mandy Hurtt, Meridian Community College

— Trevon Keyes, Mississippi Air National Guard

— Melissa Martin, Ochsner Rush Health

— Wyneda Mclaurin, Citizens National Bank

— Trent Mosley, Commercial Bank

— Jacob Munn, Benefits Management Group

— Lauren Newman, Castle

— Jennifer Robison, First State Bank

— Stacie Roy, Singer H&R

— Țara Shelton, EMEPA

— Addison Swink, Mississippi Air National Guard

— Jackson Turner, The Insurance Center

— Romande Walker, Meridian City Council

— Kelli Wallace, MSU-Meridian

— Shelley Whitehead, Supertalk Mississippi