As 21st Century Leaders celebrates #35yearsof21CL, our Board Chair DeRetta Cole Rhodes, PhD, shares her thoughts on the kickoff of this milestone year with one of our leadership values in mind: resilience.
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21CL Appoints New Chair of its Board of Directors
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
21st Century Leaders Appoints New Chair of its Board of Directors
(October 3, 2022) Atlanta, GA – 21st Century Leaders’ announces the appointment of DeRetta Cole Rhodes, Ph.D. as chair of its board of directors. Dr. Rhodes succeeds Matt Johnson, who has been serving as chair of the board since October 2019. The appointment was effective October 1, 2022 as the start of the organization’s fiscal year. Johnson’s commitment to 21st Century Leaders is longstanding, having been a board member since 2014 and a volunteer prior to that for nearly a decade. He will remain engaged in a leadership role with 21st Century Leaders (21CL) as a member of its Advisory Council.
Johnson said, “It has been an honor to serve as board chair and work with our incredible board and staff to equip young people with leadership skills and experiences that enable their success. I’m absolutely confident and delighted that the important work of 21st Century Leaders will continue with momentum and outsized impact with DeRetta’s leadership. Her long standing enthusiasm and commitment to develop the next generation of leaders is inspiring, and perfectly complements the mission of 21CL.”
Dr. Rhodes currently serves as the Executive Vice President, Chief People Capital Officer for the Atlanta Braves. Dr. Rhodes, who oversees people capital initiatives for the organization’s Major League, Minor League and The Battery Atlanta operations, has left a lasting impact in her short time with the Braves. She has transformed the people capital department, expanded the culture of the organization with training programs and employee resource groups and created an internal diversity, equity and inclusion council. She was also recognized as 100 Women of Influence by the Atlanta Business League. Dr. Rhodes lives in Atlanta, Ga. with her husband, Leon, and her three sons, Cole, Austin and Jordan.
“I have always been in awe of 21CL; the vision, the work and the impression we make on young leaders,” said Dr. Rhodes. “To have the opportunity to work alongside Kate Hewitt the 21CL’s Executive Director, the Board, staff and students is an honor. I am committed to bringing my passion, energy and commitment alongside all that I have the opportunity to engage as the new Board Chair.”
“As we look to the future and growth of our organization, we are excited to have DeRetta’s recognized leadership and passion for this work as we continue to accelerate our mission of impacting youth leaders across Georgia and beyond,” said 21CL’s Executive Director Kate Hewitt. “As our former board chair, Matt has been instrumental to our success the past three years, particularly as we navigated through the impacts and challenges of Covid-19, all while leading the organization to a million dollar budget for the first time in the organization’s history. On behalf of the board, staff, and every student we serve, I want to personally thank Matt for his mentorship to me, but more importantly his heart, dedication and contributions to 21CL.”
21st Century Leaders is a youth leadership and talent development organization for Georgia high school students. 21CL provides year-round programming by collaborating with over 50 corporate and community partners. 21CL leadership training includes residential summer leadership institutes, school-year training, school-based clubs, and an online learning platform.
About 21st Century Leaders
Since inception in 1989, 21st Century Leaders has served more than 16,000+ diverse high school students from over 250 Georgia high schools. 21st Century Leaders is a non-profit organization that connects, transforms, and inspires high school students across Georgia to leverage diversity, explore career opportunities, and become leaders in their school, community, and ultimately the workforce. For more information about 21st Century Leaders, visit www.21stcenturyleaders.org.
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For media inquiries and image requests, please contact:
Nicole Meadows
Director of Programs & Communications
nicole@21stcenturyleaders.org
404.373.7441
21CL Appoints New Chair of its Board of Directors
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
21st Century Leaders Appoints New Chair of its Board of Directors
(October 7, 2019) Atlanta, GA – 21st Century Leaders announces the appointment of Matt Johnson as chair of its board of directors. Johnson succeeds Kevin Sessions, who has been serving as chair of the board since October 2013. The appointment was effective October 1, 2019, as the start of the organization’s fiscal year. Sessions will remain engaged in a leadership role with 21st Century Leaders (21CL) as a member of its Advisory Council.
Sessions said, “It’s been an honor to serve as board chair over the last six years, and I’m confident in our future and in Matt’s leadership as we continue to grow and develop our young leaders across the state and continue to deliver high-impact leadership training. I have no doubt that Matt’s long-standing commitment to 21st Century Leaders, coupled with his passion and recognized leadership in his industry, will help realize 21st Century Leaders’ full potential as it moves into its fourth decade.”
Johnson joined the board in 2014, but has served as a volunteer with 21st Century Leaders for over a decade. He first got connected with 21st Century Leaders through its partnership with Atlanta Business Chronicle’s 40 Under 40 honorees. He currently serves as a partner at KPMG, one of the world’s leading professional services firms, as the US Technology Assurance Leader. Matt lives in Cobb County with his wife, Becky, and their two daughters (14 and 2) and two sons (12 and 9). He enjoys spending time with his family and travelling. He is a private pilot and in addition to flying, other interests include caring for a variety of farm animals on their property, cooking and college football. He was born in India and has also lived in southeast Asia as well as traveled to more than 50 countries.
“Investing in people, and particularly young people, is one of the most worthwhile endeavors in life! We have an amazing board and fantastic staff, and I’m tremendously excited to help continue the mission of 21CL as the board chair,” Johnson said. “I thank Kevin for his leadership, example, and stewardship that has positioned the organization to have an impact like never before. I’m grateful for the opportunity to serve, and be inspired by students, our donors and partners, and our team, as we continue to build tomorrow’s leaders, today!”
“Kevin has been instrumental to our success the past six years, particularly as we established the organization’s endowment under his leadership, and transitioned the retirement of our founding executive director. On behalf of the board, staff, and every student we serve, I want to thank Kevin for his dedication and contributions,” said 21CL’s Executive Director Kate Hewitt. “As we look to the future and expand our programs, we are fortunate to have Matt’s leadership as we accelerate our work to be the premier leadership organization in Georgia.”
21st Century Leaders is a youth leadership and talent development organization for Georgia high school students. 21CL provides year-round programming by collaborating with over 50 corporate and community partners. 21CL’s leadership training includes residential summer leadership institutes, school-year training, school-based clubs, and an online learning platform.
About 21st Century Leaders
Since inception in 1989, 21st Century Leaders has served more than 14,000 diverse high school students from over 250 Georgia high schools. 21st Century Leaders is a non-profit organization that connects, transforms, and inspires high school students across Georgia to leverage diversity, explore career opportunities, and become leaders in their school, community, and ultimately the workforce. For more information about 21st Century Leaders, visit www.21stcenturyleaders.org.
# # #
For media inquiries and image requests, please contact:
Kate Hewitt
Executive Director
404.373.7441
Spirit of Leadership Awarded to Kathy Solley
Written by 21CL Youth Ambassador, Eric Mogaka, Morrow High School, Class of 2017
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Mrs. Kathy Solley, a long-time member on the 21st Century Leaders Board of Directors completed her final year in September 2017 on the board after many wonderful years. Recently, Mrs. Solley was awarded the first “Spirit of Leadership Award” at the Georgia Youth Leadership Awards. An award that truly embodies the spirit and passion of leadership. This award was created and chosen by the 21CL Board of Directors and was presented to Mrs. Solley by current board member and 21CL Alumni, Maria Flores-Blackburn.
It was my pleasure interviewing her and getting to know more about her and her experience serving on the board for 21st Century Leaders for over 20 years. In our interview she reflects on how her upbringing, educational background, and philanthropic service defines who she is.
Her Board History: When asked what accomplishments the board made since becoming a member, Mrs. Solley reminisced on the state of 21st Century Leaders when first founded (in 1991) and the vision of her fellow board members. The board of directors was not as formal as it is today, which you could expect from a growing organization, she asserted with laughter. With a new zeal, the board started meeting more frequently and decided maintaining a core vision of the organization is vital for the future of 21st Century Leaders, “moving in the direction of expanding our reach to as many high school students as we can”, she stated. 21st Century Leaders’ dynamic summer leadership institutes we see today are also a product of the actions of the board. She stated, that the board wanted to have summer institutes that each focused on a specific skills. Likewise, today 21st Century has three spectacular summer institutions with their own respective emphasis.
Her Massachusetts Background: Kathy Solley is from Kalamazoo, Michigan. Her father was a lawyer and her mother was a homemaker. She is the oldest of four with two younger brothers and one younger sister. Her secondary schooling was done at Western Michigan University and Kalamazoo Central High School. After graduating she attended Wellesley College. She later transferred to Yale University after it became coed, becoming part of the first undergraduate class with females at Yale!
While there, the male to female ratio was 8:1. She joked with me about how it was sitting in a class full of males. In spite of the scarcity of females, she became close to a lot of fellow students and cherished those years. She graduated Yale with a Bachelor’s in English. After graduating, she became a Vista volunteer (Teach for America) in Galveston, Texas helping students obtain GED’s. She later went to law school at New York University, while working with small firms during law school. After graduating law school she worked for Pennsylvania and Power & Light Company as a lawyer in the legal department for 7-8 years . She later became in-house counsel at RJR Nabisco, when the company moved to Atlanta in 1987. She has been in Atlanta ever since working as a partner for Nelson, Mullins, Scarborough & Riley. Quite an impressive leader!
Fun Facts: She loves to travel and has been to the Galapagos Island (site where Charles Darwin did his work on evolution) and still actively plays tennis. In fact, her mother played until 90! Mrs. Solley also owns a lake house at Lake Lanier where she loves to swim, and is a proud grandmother.
Concluding our interview, I asked her what advice does she have for us millennials for the future ahead and the advice. “Be open to new people, to experiences, and new ideas, it’ll make you a bigger person.”
The efforts of Mrs. Solley has certainly helped 21st Century Leaders emerge as a reservoir of leadership it is today, bringing out the leader in thousands of high schoolers, as it did me, and grooming them into potential leaders of the future.
On behalf of 21st Century Leaders, thank you Mrs. Solley for all of the years you’ve served 21st Century Leaders, we wish the best for you. – Eric Mogaka, Morrow High School
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