Contact: Sasha Steinberg

STARKVILLE, Miss.—Three members of the Mississippi State family have completed a leadership program focused on strengthening relationships and advancing development in the Golden Triangle region.

Hosted by the Columbus Lowndes Chamber of Commerce, West Point Growth Alliance, and The Partnership of Starkville, the eight-month Golden Triangle Leaders program recently graduated 22 emerging and experienced leaders who were selected from a group of nominated applicants.

MSU faculty and staff graduates include Ryan Akers, associate extension professor in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences’ School of Human Sciences; Austin Check, learning and development specialist with Human Resources Management; and Natalie Ray, extension agent I at the Clay County Extension Office.

Over the course of the program, participants completed a group service project, learned about the Golden Triangle through industry tours, and interacted with local business leaders and elected officials.

Ray said she is grateful to the GTL program for helping her become more familiar with the accomplishments and contributions of different entities, such as Mossy Oak, Columbus Air Force Base, and the Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science.

“This program showed me the details and facets that make the GTR a great place to live and gave me an opportunity to meet the people who have helped make it that way,” she said. “I thoroughly enjoyed my time in this program and am so thankful I got to be a part of it.”

For more on the Golden Triangle Leaders program, visit www.starkville.org/about/programs-events/golden-triangle-leaders.

MSU is Mississippi’s leading university, available online at www.msstate.edu.