The College Hill Alliance’s Executive Director Heather Pendergast has been named to Georgia Trend’s 2014 “40 under 40” list of leaders from across the state. The list presents a group of 40 outstanding Georgians under the age of 40 who, according to the publication, represent “the state’s best and brightest.” The 40 were chosen by the editorial staff from nominations made by readers throughout the state. 

Pendergast is credited with leading the College Hill Alliance, Macon’s successful community-revitalization organization that has seen more than $91 million in investments in the two-mile College Hill Corridor since its inception. Described by the magazine as a “vibrant and coveted zip code,” College Hill has won numerous awards, including a gold and silver from the International Economic Development Council. The magazine also credits Pendergast with pioneering the state’s first “Opportunity Zone” in Milledgeville.

Pendergast, a graduate of Georgia College & State University, has been with the College Hill Alliance since January 13, 2013. She is a Steering Committee member of One Macon, an ex-officio board member of the Greater Macon Chamber of Commerce, an ex-officio of the Macon Economic Development Commission, the entrepreneurship chair and executive committee member of the Georgia Economic Developers Association and a member of the Georgia Department of Economic Development’s Small Business Task Force. She is currently a member of Leadership Georgia’s Class of 2014.

Initially established with a grant to Mercer University from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation in 2009, the College Hill Alliance assists the community in creating positive change to the physical, social and economic fabric of the College Hill Corridor, a two-square mile area between Mercer’s campus and Macon, Georgia’s downtown business district. For more information, contact Jessica Walden at the College Hill Alliance: 478.361.6998 / [email protected]. Visit collegehillmacon.com.