Cooperative Living January 2019 - 22

FOUNDATION SUPPORTS WORK OF
HIGHER-EDUCATION CENTER
The Southern Virginia Higher Education Foundation, Inc. (SVHEF), is organized and
operated exclusively to promote and enhance continuing educational opportunities for
citizens in the Southern Virginia region.
The foundation owns and maintains the
Southern Virginia Higher Education Center's
facilities and raises money for its operation
and scholarships.
Dating to 1994, SVHEF has a 23-member
David Kenealy is special assistant to the
executive director for research and
development at SVHEC.
at a better life, " Lee adds. " It is a fact that
the availability of quality education and
training alternatives have a profound
impact on a region's economic viability, and
the center is a valuable and much-needed
asset for our region's sparse inventory of
career opportunities. Recognizing the
high cost of low educational attainment
to the individual, the family and the
community, opportunities from this
school offer direct paths to well-paying
careers that may also allow recipients to
work and raise their families closer to
home. It also provides meaningful and
valuable employment alternatives for
high school graduates who are not
inclined, or cannot afford, to attend
college. Perhaps most importantly, it
provides its students, and their families,
with the hope of a brighter tomorrow. "
The essence of the Southern Virginia
Higher Education Center is underscored
in its tag-phrase: " Opportunity Lives Here. "
" I grew up in South Boston, and I
moved away after college for work, " says
Adams. " I remember when times were
really good in the area. I want to see us
get back to those days. In order to do
this, however, we have to have an
educated, skilled workforce, and that's
what the Southern Virginia Higher
Education Center is working to do. "
For more information, visit the
Southern Virginia Higher Education
Center website at svhed.org. 
20 | Cooperative Living | January 2019
board of community leaders, chief elected
officials and volunteers.
John C. Lee, Jr., CEO of Mecklenburg Electric
Cooperative headquartered in Chase City, serves
as vice chairman on the foundation board as well
as a member of the board of the Southern Virginia
Higher Education Center.
" My first exposure to the center was when our
cooperative was invited to hold its board meeting
on the site, then we took a tour of the facilities.
We were both surprised and very impressed
with the good work that was going on there. "
Lee was asked to serve on the foundation board
in 2016, and after a year and a half was appointed
by the governor to also serve on the center's board.
" I have a limited amount of time and want to
spend what time I do have involved with
something that will help the community, and the
center and foundation really help the community, "
Lee says.
Ryan Garrett, chairman of the foundation board,
notes that, " We're working to change the story of
Southern Virginia from one of survival to one of
growth. Growth opportunities are what young
families are looking for. "
Garrett, a financial advisor and retired partner
with Edward Jones, notes that the foundation
hired Katrina Powell at the end of 2018 to serve
as its executive director. Powell is a Gulf War
veteran who in recent years has worked in
community- and organizational-revitalization
jobs from Florida to Michigan.
" We're very excited to have a person of Katrina's
abilities on board, " says Garrett. " And this will be a
sort of homecoming for her. She's a Danville native. "
One of Powell's main duties will be fundraising,
Garrett says. " That's very important,
and Katrina is very good at it. She has a proven
track record, and we think she's the right person
to help us change our region's narrative, from
survival to growth. "
As Lee observes, these are exciting times for
Virginia's southern heartland.
For more information, visit the
foundation's website at svhef.org. 
John C. Lee, Jr., CEO of
Mecklenburg Electric
Cooperative and vice chairman
of the Southern Virginia Higher
Education Foundation board.
Ryan Garrett, chairman of the
SVHEF board.
Katrina Powell, executive
director of the SVHEF.
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PHOTO COURTESY OF SVHEC
PHOTO COURTESY OF SVHEF
PHOTO COURTESY OF SVHEF
PHOTO COURTESY OF MECKLENBURG ELECTRIC CO-OP
http://www.svhef.org http://www.svhed.org http://co-opliving.comco-opliving.com
Cooperative Living January 2019

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