DC Chamber Foundation Scholarships and Founders Award Announced

The Douglas County Chamber announced the recipients of the annual Chamber Foundation Leadership Scholarships and 2016 Founders Award at the GreyStone Power Luncheon on May 17th.  The Chamber Foundation coordinates community education and leadership programs including Leadership Douglas, Youth Leadership Douglas and our Annual Chamber Leadership Scholarship.

The Chamber Foundation Leadership Scholarship is funded by the DC Chamber’s Young Professionals Connection.  Each year, scholarships are awarded to high-achieving, local high school students who excel academically and have demonstrated leadership in their school and community.  This year the quality of applicants were truly inspiring and highly competitive with more than 30 applicants for only three scholarships.

The recipient of the $1,000 Chamber Foundation Leadership Scholarship was Dionne Wareham, a recent graduate from Douglas County High School. Dionne was in the International Baccalaureate Program and a Youth Leadership Douglas graduate. She was actively involved in school organizations including National Honor Society, the Spanish and French Honor Societies, the Agriculture Club, FBLA and Beta Club. She has also received awards for A + B Honor Roll, various Foreign Language forum awards and most recently she participated in the 2015 GreyStone Power Washington D.C. Youth Tour. In the future, Dionne will attend Mercer University to pursue a career in Dentistry.

The runner up and recipient of a $500 Chamber Foundation Leadership Scholarship was Violeta Hernandez-Padilla, also from Douglas County High School, who will attend Kennesaw State University and major in Electrical Engineering. The Chamber also awarded the Chamber Board Scholarship for $500 to Emily Austin from Chapel Hill High School who will attend University of Georgia in the fall.

The Leadership Douglas Program involved alumni in nominating and selecting the Leadership Douglas Founder’s Award Recipient this year.  Leadership Douglas is a program of the Douglas County Chamber Foundation.  The Founder’s Award is given to a Leadership Douglas Alumni who has demonstrated the guiding principles of the organization through giving back to the community in a leadership capacity.

Allen DeNyse, recipient of the 2016 Leadership Douglas Founder’s Award and business owner of DeNyse Companies, was recognized for being an excellent example of a community leader. Allen is best known as the chief visionary officer who takes pride in growing the business by challenging and inspiring his team to be their best.  He has been active in the community on a variety of boards and established the DeNyse Cares Foundation in 2014 to consolidate the companies charitable giving.  He was a Leadership Douglas graduate in 2002.