OneMacon and the Business Education Partnership announce the first lead gift for the Macon-Bibb The Leader in Me campaign.

The Griffith Family Foundation has pledged $250,000 towards the effort to implement The Leader in Me program in every Bibb County elementary and middle school.

“The Griffith Family Foundation values educational and economic opportunity for all of our community’s citizens, above all else. We believe The Leader in Me program offers an unparalleled opportunity to combat generational poverty by giving our youth the tools to succeed and become productive leaders in our community,” said Travis Griffith. “We are extremely excited about this program and will pledge $250,000 to this initiative. We hope that others in the community will join us in making quick work of this fundraising initiative so that

we can begin to immediately turn public education in this community into one of our greatest strengths.”

Pictured from left to right are OneMacon Tri-Chair Robbo Hatcher, OneMacon Tri-Chair Cliffard Whitby, Griffith Family Foundation members Wes Griffith, Travis Griffith, Quinn Connally and Joshua Hale, and OneMacon Tri-Chair Kathryn Dennis.

At a campaign kick-off breakfast held in late March, Blake Sullivan, co-chair of the Business Education Partnership, said it will take $2.1 million to implement The Leader in Me across the district and create a sustainable program model for students, teachers and school administrators.

"I am grateful to the Griffith Family Foundation for their vision to see the impact that The Leader in Me will have on our children and our community,” said Sullivan.

Griffith Family Foundation members presented the pledge this week alongside OneMacon Tri-Chairs Kathryn Dennis, Robbo Hatcher and Cliffard Whitby.

According to FranklinCovey, the program is based on best-in-class content and concepts practiced by education thought-leaders. Guided by Steven Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, The Leader in Me is a whole-child, paradigm-shifting process that teaches enduring values and principles that students can use throughout their lives – in and outside the classroom – preparing them for post-graduate education and beyond.

During the 2015-2016 school year, the Business Education Partnership raised funds to implement the process in two elementary schools, Sonny Carter and Burdell-Hunt Magnet. After seeing the results – a positive impact on not only the students, but also teachers and parents – the partnership raised funds to help implement the program in two more schools, Hartley and Bernd Elementary Schools, this year.

The newly launched Bibb County campaign, “We Need the Leader in Me,” is now accepting donations and community support through its website MacontheLeaderinMe.com, which will include regular updates on its progress.