Gordon State College Foundation Launches Year of Firsts
The Gordon State College Foundation has launched a year of firsts. On July 1, it revealed a Strategic Plan that is the first of its kind and also welcomed the Foundation’s first female chair.
For the next year, Lucinda Dallas will serve as chair of the Gordon State College Foundation Board of Trustees, a position that she finds challenging and exciting.
“We worked hard to develop a five-year Strategic Plan with the core purpose to support, promote and champion Gordon State College,” said Dallas. “In order for the Plan to be a success, each of our members must work together, to truly demonstrate the message of “The Power of We” while we raise awareness of the Foundation and its role in philanthropy and transforming the lives of students.”
As for being the Foundation’s first female leader, Dallas, a Griffin resident, and investment advisor, says her job is to represent the foundation.
“I am a member of a team,” she said. “We will work together with an emphasis on the word ‘We’ to see this Plan through. ‘We’ are one group with one purpose, and that is to support Gordon State College.”
The Foundation also welcomed new members this year including:
Reshann Pruett Adams is a certified public accountant and partner in Driver and Adams CPAs in Thomaston. She earned a BBA in Banking and Finance from the University of Georgia in 1991 and earned her CPA license in May 1995.
She is a member of the Thomaston-Upson Chamber of Commerce, Pike County Chamber of Commerce and serves on the Southern Crescent Technical College Foundation as Treasurer. Adams is also a member of the American Society of CPAs and the Georgia Society of CPAs.
She lives in Thomaston with her husband Mark and their two children.
Dr. Waine Kong, is a psychologist, author, and member of the Ga. Bar Association who runs Zoe Pediatrics in Thomaston with his wife, Dr. Stephanie Kong.
Kong, a Thomaston resident, is the former CEO of the Association of Black Cardiologists and was instrumental in setting up hypertension clinics in churches and barber shops where, since 1978, more than 10,000 people have been trained to check the blood pressure of fellow community members. He has also been honored for developing a platform to train doctors on the significance of being culturally engaging while treating patients of color.
Dr. Kong is a member of the Thomaston Kiwanis Club, Alpha Phi Alpha and Greater Mt. Zion Baptist Church where he serves as a Deacon.
Dr. Bert Wall has served as Director of Hospital Medicine, Upson Regional Medical Center, Thomaston for 10 years. He earned his undergraduate degree at Emory University, attended medical school at Mercer University in Macon and Savannah and did his residency at Floyd Medical Center in Rome, Ga. His specialty is family and hospital medicine.
He is a member of the Barnesville Kiwanis Club, First Baptist Church of Barnesville as well as the Georgia Academy of Family Physicians, American Medical Association, American Academy of Family Physicians and the Upson Medical Society.
He and his wife Kimberly live in Barnesville with their three children.
Dr. Joel Fuller has been practicing dentistry for 25 years. He, his wife Christy and their daughters, Jordan and Riley are all Gordon alumni.
Fuller attended Gordon before completing his undergraduate work at Georgia College and State University. He attended dental school at Augusta University.
Fuller, a Barnesville resident, is a member of the Academy of General Dentistry and the American Dental Association.
Montrese Adger Fuller, executive director of the Gordon State College Foundation, looks forward to working with the 30 - plus board members who represent nearly every county in Gordon’s 14-county primary service region.
“Our new Foundation Board members are great additions to our Board,” she said. “They will assist us in moving forward to achieve our goals and objectives within the Strategic Plan.”