LENNIE GAIL MITCHAM | Executive director, Southwest Virginia Alliance for Manufacturing

When Lennie Gail Mitcham joined the Southwest Virginia Alliance for Manufacturing in 2013, the organization had eight manufacturing members and no active programs or initiatives.

“Tasked with revitalizing the organization, I focused on increasing membership, community awareness and value for our members — despite having no prior nonprofit experience,” she says.

Mitcham developed programs for targeted training opportunities, peer-to-peer networking events and public outreach campaigns to raise the profile of manufacturing. Today, SVAM represents 50 manufacturers from across Southwest Virginia.
“From the start,” Mitcham’s nominator says, “I have admired Lennie’s tireless commitment to advancing manufacturing opportunities in a region where economic hardship and generational poverty make this work especially challenging.”
Mitcham has a degree in business administration from the University of Virginia’s College at Wise and a master’s in community and organizational leadership from Emory & Henry.

Growing up, Mitcham didn’t anticipate one day earning multiple college degrees. She was one of eight children. Her mother did not finish high school. Her father “hated school, higher education and, consequently, bettering yourself,” according to Mitcham.

Her life changed when a recruiter from the U.S. Army National Guard visited her high school, offering her a path to paying for college tuition.

“I have spent my life breaking through barriers — social, economic and professional — that were never designed to make room for someone like me,” Mitcham says.

Return to the full list of this year’s recipients