Colony Bank today announced the formation of the Colony Leadership Academy, an initiative designed to create an environment that nurtures potential young leaders and encourages students to recognize their own potential and develop their leadership skills.

The program, which is available in all of Colony’s markets, is available to high school juniors during the last half of their junior year through the first half of their senior year. The curriculum encourages students to become familiar with all aspects of their community and to develop skills enabling them to take an active leadership role in their community. Colony Leadership Academy utilizes professional leadership trainers through UGA’s Fanning Institute while also utilizing community resources for courses such as Health and Recreation, Economic Development, Arts and Culture, Public Safety, Social Services, Education and Government Affairs.

To be chosen for the program, a student must submit an application and meet qualifications that include a minimum GPA of 3.0 or equivalent. Each student applying for the program must be nominated by a community member, have their application approved by parents and their school’s administrator and supply two personal references. Nominations can be submitted from August 27^th through September 25^th, after which applications will be sent to students nominated. In November, the names of the 30 successful applicants will be announced. Classes will take place quarterly from February 2021 through graduation in November 2021.  Upon completion of the program, participants will receive a $1,000 scholarship to the college/university of their choice.

Commenting on the announcement, Heath Fountain, President and Chief Executive Officer of Colony Bankcorp, said, “We are very excited about this program, especially because it allows us to put into practice our mission of giving back to our communities. While students will benefit from getting to know one another and through the exchange of ideas and experiences, they will also gain knowledge and understanding about crucial issues facing their community – while building solid leadership skills that they can use in their college life, careers, volunteer work and in everyday interactions within their communities. We believe this is an important step we can take to help build leaders for the future who can make a positive impact in our communities each and every day.”

More details about Colony’s Leadership Academy program and the nomination form can be found on Colony Bank’s website at https://colony.bank/colony-leadership-academy. Please e-mail any questions to [email protected].