Leadership Hoover celebrates graduation of 2021 class

The Leadership Hoover organization this week held a graduation ceremony for its fourth class, which included 34 community leaders, and shared details about five projects the leaders are undertaking.

The leaders, who come from a variety of organizations and industries, decided to tackle issues such as human trafficking, skills gaps among young people, food insecurity, retail challenges and business support.

One of the groups in this year’s class decided to partner with the Junior League of Birmingham to combat human trafficking and forced labor.

The group formed a committee that plans a multi-prong effort to educate parents and other community members about the problem of human trafficking and sexual exploitation and how to guard against it in Hoover.

Danielle Buchanan, a human resources supervisor for Regions Bank and one of this year’s Leadership Hoover graduates, said human trafficking is a $32 billion industry, and 82% of the victims are lured into through the internet and social networking.

The Hoover Police Department estimates that each week, there is a new case involving the attempted exploitation or trafficking of a Hoover child. The cases span equally among middle and high schoolers but have involved children as young as 8, said police Lt. Clint Blackmon, another one of this year’s Leadership Hoover graduates.

Sexual predators are preying on kids not so much by driving through neighborhoods in vans to kidnap them but by luring them in through their phones, electronic tablets and computers, Blackmon said.

“We don’t have a major sex trafficking ring going on in Hoover, but a lot of our investigations start online,” he said. “When you open up the worldwide web, you welcome the world into your home.”

Most of the time, parents find out about what’s happening after it’s too late and their children already have been victimized, but he and his fellow Leadership Hoover team members hope to reach parents beforehand so they can safeguard their children.

They’re partnering with the Junior League of Birmingham to educate parents at the city’s annual National Night Out event, and they want to hold an event at the Hoover Public Library to give more in-depth information. They also want to provide education for school and hotel workers on how to identify victims.

Another team from this year’s Leadership Hoover class is concerned about how many young people fall through the gaps after high school and/or college and have difficulty launching into adulthood.

Too many young people are graduating high school without essential skills needed for success in life, said Nick Hoard, a marketer in this year’s Leadership Hoover class. According to the Pew Research Center, 52% of young adults ages 18 to 29 were living at the home of one or both of their parents in 2020.

A team from Leadership Hoover plans to partner with Hoover City Schools to launch a life skills class to teach young people about taxes, voting, rent, mortgages, job interviews, resumes, mental health, money management, basic home management, and car maintenance.

The group already has recruited several companies to assist, including One Man & A Toolbox, Express Oil Change, Regions Bank and the Sovereign CPA Group.

Another Leadership Hoover group launched an effort to get businesses involved in assisting the Hoover Helps nonprofit, which battles food insecurity. The group aided Hoover Helps in adding a business section to the group’s website and recruited singer Taylor Hicks to do a promotional video that will be shared via social media and other channels.

A fourth group has launched a “One Hoover Pledge” effort designed to encourage people to shop in Hoover to protect the city’s businesses and government’s revenue streams.

And a fifth group has partnered with the Hoover Area Chamber of Commerce to launch a Hoover Business Hall of Fame that every two years will induct up to five people who have made significant contributions to the Hoover business community.

The plan is to take nominations for the first group of inductees in the early spring of 2022, narrow the list to about 15 people by early summer 2022 and induct up to five people at a gala that fall, said David LeCompte, a financial planner with Bridgeworth Wealth Management.

LeCompte said his Leadership Hoover experience was extremely valuable. He said he has lived in Hoover 12 years, but he probably learned 20 things he never knew about the city, such as how closely the Hoover police, fire and 911 departments work together and all the business academies the Hoover school system has to offer.

More importantly, he has developed great relationships with more than 30 people, he said.

Yolanda Barbour, a commercial business development manager for Alabama Power who was in this year’s Leadership Hoover class, said the relationships she built were not just good for herself but should also help benefit the community because the leaders are working together to solve problems.

Hoover Mayor Frank Brocato congratulated this year’s Leadership Hoover class for persevering through the COVID-19 pandemic despite some personal challenges related to that. He encouraged them to celebrate their accomplishments but to look forward as well.

“It’s not the end of the road. In fact, this is really the beginning, when you start to take what you’ve learned and give it back,” Brocato said. “IF you can deliver the greatness in the face of this worldwide pandemic and all the other things we’re faced with, nothing else will stop you.”