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Christian Ronalds of Birmingham First Seventh-day Adventist Church in Hoover talks about a new tool to help connect people to city resources at the graduation of the Leadership Hoover Class of 2023 at the Hyatt Regency Birmingham — The Wynfrey Hotel in Hoover, Alabama, on Tuesday, May 9, 2023.
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at the graduation of the Leadership Hoover Class of 2023 at the Hyatt Regency Birmingham — The Wynfrey Hotel in Hoover, Alabama, on Tuesday, May 9, 2023.
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Ty Moody, left, and Uriah Williams talk about a proposed new gala for the city of Hoover at the graduation of the Leadership Hoover Class of 2023 at the Hyatt Regency Birmingham — The Wynfrey Hotel in Hoover, Alabama, on Tuesday, May 9, 2023.
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Team A of the Leadership Hoover Class of 2023 included, from left, Philip Moultrie, Shane Eaker, Mize Dozier, Keneisha Alford, Amanda Borden, Irina Pritchett and Christopher Washington
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Hoover Public Library Director Amanda Borden talks about a planned youth impact symposium at the graduation of the Leadership Hoover Class of 2023 at the Hyatt Regency Birmingham — The Wynfrey Hotel in Hoover, Alabama, on Tuesday, May 9, 2023.
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Team D of the Leadership Hoover Class of 2023 included, from left, Uriah Williams, Billy Silver, Felicia Fortune, Tammie Howard, Ty Moody, Jeanie Shea and Damian Gilbert
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Amanda Knerr, executive director of the Hope for Autumn Foundation, talks about a plan for a Battle of the Bands competition at the graduation of the Leadership Hoover Class of 2023 at the Hyatt Regency Birmingham — The Wynfrey Hotel in Hoover, Alabama, on Tuesday, May 9, 2023.
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Shane Eaker talks about a planned youth impact symposium at the graduation of the Leadership Hoover Class of 2023 at the Hyatt Regency Birmingham — The Wynfrey Hotel in Hoover, Alabama, on Tuesday, May 9, 2023.
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Team D of the Leadership Hoover Class of 2023 included, from left, Uriah Williams, Billy Silver, Felicia Fortune, Tammie Howard, Ty Moody, Jeanie Shea and Damian Gilbert
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James Robinson of Spire talks about a proposed Hoover Hall of Fame at the graduation of the Leadership Hoover Class of 2023 at the Hyatt Regency Birmingham — The Wynfrey Hotel in Hoover, Alabama, on Tuesday, May 9, 2023.
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Leadership Hoover board member Paul Dangel, left, congratulates Jason Franklin with the city of Hoover on his graduation with the Leadership Hoover Class of 2023 at the Hyatt Regency Birmingham — The Wynfrey Hotel in Hoover, Alabama, on Tuesday, May 9, 2023.
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Riverchase Elementary Principal Alice Turney talks about a new tool to help connect people to city resources at the graduation of the Leadership Hoover Class of 2023 at the Hyatt Regency Birmingham — The Wynfrey Hotel in Hoover, Alabama, on Tuesday, May 9, 2023.
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Team E of the Leadership Hoover Class of 2023 included, from left, Raquel Morgan Williams, Layla Hamilton, Vino Sivam, Alice Turney, Larry Ingram and Christian Ronalds.
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Hoover Mayor Frank Brocato addresses the Leadership Hoover Class of 2023 at their graduation at the Hyatt Regency Birmingham — The Wynfrey Hotel in Hoover, Alabama, on Tuesday, May 9, 2023.
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Team B of the Leadership Hoover Class of 2023 included, from left, Jason Franklin, Tensia Williams, Amanda Knerr, Liz Williford, Nathan Harris and Greg Triola.
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Leadership Hoover Chairwoman Tynette Lynch speaks at the graduation of the Leadership Hoover Class of 2023 at the Hyatt Regency Birmingham — The Wynfrey Hotel in Hoover, Alabama, on Tuesday, May 9, 2023.
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Leadership Hoover Interim Executive Director Jennifer Whisenant speaks at the graduation of the Leadership Hoover Class of 2023 at the Hyatt Regency Birmingham — The Wynfrey Hotel in Hoover, Alabama, on Tuesday, May 9, 2023.
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Mike Dozier and Christopher Washingont hold a poster advertising a youth impact symposium at the graduation of the Leadership Hoover Class of 2023 at the Hyatt Regency Birmingham — The Wynfrey Hotel in Hoover, Alabama, on Tuesday, May 9, 2023.
The Leadership Hoover organization graduated its sixth class of leaders Tuesday at the Hyatt Regency Birmingham — The Wynfrey Hotel.
Thirty-three leaders from a wide variety of businesses and organizations wrapped up about nine months of intensive education about the city and presented projects they worked on to make the city a better place to live, work and play.
The leaders were divided into five teams, each of which settled on a project to undertake. One team proposed to create a Hoover Hall of Fame with an annual event to recognize people who have played a critical role in the growth and progress of the city in the areas of business, education and the arts. Another team developed a similar idea to have an annual social gala that gave awards each year to a young person of the year, adult citizen of the year and business person of the year, with proceeds from the gala going to the Children’s Aid Society.
A third team has proposed to have a Battle of the Bands competition for young people, while a fourth team has planned out a full-day symposium for high school students who want to make a positive impact on the Hoover community, and a fifth team developed a document to help connect people with various resources in the community.
The Hoover Hall of Fame project is similar to the Hoover Business Hall of Fame project that a team from the fourth class of Leadership Hoover proposed in 2021, but the 2021 project has not yet come to fruition.
“Sometimes it takes a couple of years to move those [projects] forward,” said Tynette Lynch, chairwoman for the Leadership Hoover organization. “We hope this group will get this truly going and it not just sit on a shelf.”
This hall of fame idea stretches beyond business and includes education and the arts. Nominees would come from business and civic organizations throughout the city and the community at large, and the idea is for a committee from the Hoover Area Chamber of Commerce to make the final selection, said James Robinson, a Leadership Hoover graduate who works for Spire.
Proceeds from the black-tie event would go to the Hoover Area Chamber of Commerce’s scholarship fund, Robinson said.
The team that proposed a Battle of the Bands competition for youth had planned to have that event this month at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium, but it had to be postponed.
The idea was for a Leadership Hoover team to set up the framework for a competition and let the Hope for Autumn Foundation Junior Board implement the plan as a new signature spring fundraiser for the group, said Amanda Knerr, a Leadership Hoover graduate who is the founder and executive director of the Hope for Autumn Foundation.
But the recent death of a Hoover High School student and some unrelated issues led to cancellation of the event for this year, with the goal of having it in the spring of 2024 instead, Knerr said.
The concept is to have up to 10 bands competing, doing three songs apiece. Proceeds from ticket sales and sponsors would support the Hope for Autumn Foundation, which aids families with children battling cancer and provides money for childhood cancer research and awareness.
“It’s going to be a great event when it happens,” Knerr said.
The team proposing a one-day symposium for youth who want to make a difference in their community plans to have the event in September at the Hoover Public Library.
Students from public and private schools and homeschooled students would be invited to attend a seven-hour symposium that includes speakers on life after high school, college applications and financial aid advice, workforce training opportunities, financial literacy, mental health, interpersonal and communication skills, and community service opportunities, said Hoover Public Library Director Amanda Borden, who is a member of the 2023 Leadership Hoover class.
The idea is for students who attend to get a community service credit, Borden said. At the end of the day, students also would have a chance up for volunteer work with a wide variety of community service organizations, she said.
A team from this year’s Leadership Hoover class will organize the first symposium. The Hoover Public Library will fund expenses and provide the meeting space, and if the symposium is successful, the event would become an annual event implemented by library staff, Borden said.
The Leadership Hoover team that developed a document to connect people with community resources called its project “Hoover — Where the World Calls Home.”
Hoover has quickly become one of the most culturally diverse cities in the state, if not the most culturally diverse city, said team member Christian Ronalds of Birmingham First Seventh-day Adventist Church in Hoover.
It’s sometimes hard for people who move into Hoover from other states and other countries to find and get connected with things they need, such as schools, financial institutions, medical facilities, restaurants, religious groups, nonprofits or other community resources, said team member Alice Turney, who is principal at Riverchase Elementary School.
It’s exponentially harder if there is a language barrier, Turney said.
So their team put together a document with QR codes directing people to each of those types of resources. The intention is for the document to go on the city of Hoover’s website and for hard copies to be made available at city-sponsored events or included in handout packages. Also, the document could be made available in different languages.
The QR codes link to existing lists on the city, Hoover school district and Hoover Area Chamber of Commerce websites, so as long as those entities keep their lists updated, the QR codes would stay current.
Lynch said she was excited to hear the projects presented by the Leadership Hoover Class of 2023, and Hoover Mayor Frank Brocato thanked this year’s class for taking time to learn about how the city operates and developing ideas on how to improve the quality of life in Hoover and move the city forward.
Brocato said Hoover is completely different than it was when it was incorporated in 1967. The city is a much more diverse place, but it has people who love each other and have learned to live with each other and not hate each other because of their differences.
Layla Hamilton, an officer with the Trace Crossings Elementary School Parent Teacher Organization, said she learned so much by being a part of Leadership Hoover this year.
The class took a day each month to learn about things such as public safety, education, city government, economic development, small businesses, diversity and various amenities the city has to boost its quality of life.
Hamilton said she particularly enjoyed the day they focused on education, visiting different schools and hearing perspectives from students.
Vino Savam, a marketing strategist with Regions Bank who is member of the Alabama Tamil Sangham cultural organization that brings together people who speak the Tamil language (a language spoken in southern India and Sri Lanka), also was part of this year’s class.
She said she has lived in Hoover about 15 years but learned a lot about the city she didn’t know by going through this experience. She, in turn, hopes to use what she has learned to educate others, she said.
Leadership Hoover is in the process of recruiting members for its Class of 2024.
