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COLUMBUS, GA. – The annual Georgia Chamber Congressional Luncheon took place at the Columbus Convention & Trade Center on Wednesday morning.
Along with local dignitaries, statewide elected officials, and business leaders, the crowd included representatives from local Chambers of Commerce, including from Brunswick-Golden Isles, Albany, Warner Robins, Macon, Harris County, and the greater Pooler area, which represents Chatham County.
Shan Cooper, the founder and CEO of Journey Forward Strategies LLC, was awarded the first Blanchard Servant Leader Award during the luncheon. The award is named after former Synovus CEO James Blanchard, who took the stage to hand Cooper the award.
After leaving the stage Cooper talked to The Atlanta Voice that Blanchard was a mentor of hers and an inspiration. While on stage she said she was doing flips inside due to how proud she was to receive the first Blanchard Servant Leadership award.
“I’m humbled, grateful, it’s really kind of hard to believe,” Cooper said. “Jimmy taught me what it means to be a servant leader.”
Cooper said there were a lot of people who helped her achieve so much during her career as the former vice president and general manager at Lockheed Martin and chief transformation officer at Westrock.
“I hope I continue to make them proud,” she said.
Other Black leaders of industry and politics were in the room to see Cooper receive the award. Long time Congressman Sanford Bishop, a mainstay in Columbus-area Democratic politics, addressed the crowd before Cooper took the stage, and the first Black woman to hold a leadership role at Columbus Airport was there too.
“I need to be here so folks can hear from educated, qualified, Black voices,” said Columbus Airport Commission Vice Chair Delois Dee Marsh. “I deserve to be here.”
Marsh, a real estate broker and United States Army veteran, is active within the Columbus community.
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