Jan Sims
President
601-359-9359

Background in Training
Jan is the Staff Development Manager at the Mississippi Development Authority (MDA).  Jan has worked for the State of Mississippi since 1994, first at University Medical Center, then the Public Employees Retirement System, and now at MDA.  Her position with MDA where she has been for four years is her first formal training position.

Jan says that she was initially attracted to training because it’s fun, but helping people develop professionally has become a passion.  She piloted a Leadership Development program at MDA last fall as her work product submission for the Certified Professional in Learning and Perfomance (CPLP). 

ASTD Activities
Jan, who joined ASTD in 2007, is tackling her third ASTD board position as President.

The Mississippi Chapter is experiencing tremendous growth, and Jan's goals as 2010 president are to solidify the newly formed groups (GIGs) in Hattiesburg and north Mississippi, strengthen the professional ties we have with the Lighthouse GIG on the Mississippi Coast, and reach out to students in Mississippi colleges to inspire the next generation of training and development professionals. 

Loria McLellan
President-Elect
601-981-5332 ext. 1318

Background in Training
Loria, a corporate training consultant at Southern Farm Bureau Life Insurance Company, came to the training field with a degree in marketing from Mississippi State University.

ASTD Involvement
Loria is a five-year member of ASTD.  She served as Co-Vice President of Communications in 2009 before being elected as President-Elect.  She enjoys all aspects of developing her students' professional abilities, but seeing them advance in their chosen career path is what really drives her to succeed.

Loria is quick to point out what motivates her about corporate training.  "The greatest thing that can happen to me as a trainer is to see someone obtain a promotion or accept a better job as a result of our company's training programs."

Loria hopes to bring a fresh training perspective to ASTD, and to work closely with her fellow board members on strengthening corporate training programs in Mississippi.

Melissa Harper
Vice President of Membership
601-977-8300, x 335

Background in Training
Melissa got her start in training as a Customer Service Supervisor where she was responsible for training new Customer Service Representatives (CSRs). Even though Melissa had always enjoyed helping them understand their job and fit into a new environment, it was while training CSRs that Melissa discovered that her heart was in training.

Melissa most enjoys being a positive influence in the lives of those she trains and knowing that they are better at what they do because of what she has taught. She says that the icing on the cake is to know that they had fun learning because of the way she presented the topic.

ASTD Activities
Melissa has been a member of the local ASTD for four years and a member of the national organization for three years.

She sees the benefits of ASTD membership as networking with peers who understand the challenges that she faces and the tips information that she receives in each monthly meeting to help her in her job. Even if the presentation is on a topic that Melissa doesn't normally deal with, she says she learns something from each presentation. In addition, she says that membership opens up access to resources that she wouldn't have available otherwise.

Melissa hopes to use her skills to improve the value of ASTD to the membership for the remainder of this year.

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Co-Vice President for Communication
601-981-5332 ext. 1320

Background in Training
Ashley Patton, our new Co-Vice President of Communications, is the Associate Training Specialist at Southern Farm Bureau Life Insurance Company.

Ashley has a marketing degree from Mississippi State and has already been active on the Communication Committee in putting out our publicity for our meetings. In fact, as a direct result of Ashley's publicity, we've seen an increased number of visitors with several joining as new members.

ASTD Involvement
Ashley has been a member of the local ASTD for two years and a member of the national organization for two years.

Ashley believes the greatest value of membership in ASTD is networking with other professionals.

Ashley's goal for her part in ASTD this year is to bring innovative ideas and enthusiasm to our members of ASTD.

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Co-Vice President For Communication
601-906-0042

Background in Training
Tammie, formerly of Horne LLP, will serve with Ashley Patton as Co-Vice President for Communication.  Tammie says that she enjoys the training field because she has a heart to serve others and training gives her the opportunity to provide people with knowledge that she can help them to grow both professionally and personally. 

ASTD Involvement
Tammie, who joined ASTD in 2002, is an experienced Board member. She served as Vice President of Professional Development in 2004.

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Treasurer
601-259-2922

Background in Training
Tracy, a personnel officer at Mississippi Development Authority, came to the training field from the benefits side of human resources. The part of her job that she enjoys most is seeing people develop and reach their full potential.

ASTD Involvement
Tracy has been a member of ASTD for three years and is beginning her first year on the Board. Tracy worked with the Communications Committee in 2009 as the "unoffical photographer".

The major benefit that Tracy sees in her ASTD membership is networking with other trainers. Her objective for this year is to keep really good records and to ensure that everything is done correctly.

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Co-Vice Secretary
601-212-9484

Background in Training
Michael is the Director of Training for Brown Bottling Group, Pepsi-Cola.  

ASTD Involvement
Michael has been a member of our chapter for four years. 

Michael says that he is ready to give back to the organization and to help others benefit from ASTD as much as he has. 

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Co-Vice Secretary
601-923-7754

Background in Training
Gwen comes to ASTD as the Training Director and Personnel Officer for the Mississippi State Tax Commission.  She has also done consulting work for a training and outsourcing firm.

ASTD Involvement
She joined ASTD in 2008 and this is her second position on the board of officers. 

Gwen points to her love of working with people as what drew her into the training field.  She takes special care to absorb the expertise imparted by panel speakers at training events. 

Gwen wishes to use her ASTD experience to broaden her knowledge of training from other professionals, yet still maintain her own style at the same time. 

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Co-Vice President For Professional Development
601-291-0753

Background in Training
Karen, who is currently working with Belhaven College's Aspire program, has found herself in some aspect of higher education or training throughout her entire work experience. She has also served as coordinator of career development services in the community college system and continues to provide contract training through their workforce programs. 

ASTD Involvement
Karen joined ASTD in 2007 and became actively involved with the organization's annual auction and Web site revisions. 

Karen enjoys networking with other professionals through the ASTD meetings as well as keeping informed of trends in the training field. 

Asked what she most enjoys about her work, Karen says, "It's rewarding to help employees succeed in their role within a company, fostering a positive and effective work environment as a result!"

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Co-Vice President For Professional Development
601-326-1167

Background in Training
Paula was in corporate training for seven years at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Mississippi before moving to Horne LLP as Learning and Development Director.

ASTD Involvement
Paula is no stranger to ASTD members, but this is her first time to serve on the Board. 

Paula hopes to use her position to have meaningful professional development porgrams that will attract new people to ASTD and keep the current members coming back.   

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Past President
601-933-3127 

Background in Training
Tom is Manager of the Systems & Performance Improvement Department at Ergon, Inc.

Originally, a Health Physicist II at Grand Gulf Nuclear Station, Tom was attracted to training when he saw that people could make a living by mixing learning and business. At that point, he moved into training as a nuclear instructor. Tom says that the part of his job that he enjoys most is the interaction with people. 

ASTD Involvement
Tom’s been a member of the national organization since 2000, but he only joined our local chapter in 2007 and volunteered to serve as treasurer almost immediately.