Leadership Perimeter honors nonprofit volunteer leaders
Leadership Perimeter honored three alumni during The Perimeter Summit, an annual event that also featured a discussion with leaders from Brookhaven, Dunwoody, and Sandy Springs.
The Perimeter Summit was formerly known as Evening with the Mayor, but the new name reflects the organization’s expansion, according to a Leadership Perimeter press release. Brookhaven Mayor John Park, Dunwoody Mayor Lynn Deutsch, and Sandy Springs Mayor Pro Tempore John Paulson answered questions posed by Ann Hanlon, executive director of Perimeter CID, at the Jan. 18 event at Dunwoody Baptist Church.
“They shared what inspires them to serve, how they collaborate with key stakeholders in a complex region, and the importance of maintaining a strong pipeline of community leaders to serve in the future,” said Leadership Perimeter’s Executive Director Rosalyn Putnam, noting there were more than 120 attendees.
The 2024 Carolyn Axt Alumni Awards, named after the organization’s former executive director, were given to Jan Paul, Class of 2013; Debbie Soneshine, Class of 2014; and Betty Klein, Class of 2018.
Paul has a long commitment to nonprofit organizations in Sandy Springs. She was Leadership Perimeter’s executive director until her retirement in 2021. She has volunteered for Solidarity Sandy Springs, Sandy Springs Perimeter Chamber of Commerce, Community Assistance Center (CAC), Sandy Springs Education Force, and The Sandy Springs Society, according to the release. Her current activities include serving as the chairperson for Leadership Perimeter Sandy Springs Civic Round Table. Her history of service for Georgia Public Broadcasting and the Georgia Division of Family and Children Services Secret Santa initiative also was noted.
Soneshine gained recognition for serving on the board of the Community Assistance Center, as a trustee for the Jewish Women’s Foundation, and as a member of the Coldwell Banker CARES Foundation, the release reported. She helped create Backpack Buddies in 2017. It became Backpack Buddies of Metro Atlanta in 2022. It provides food to more than 2,100 food-insecure children in 50 metro Atlanta schools.
Klein’s commitment to the lives of children in the community led to her being honored. She has received numerous awards for dedication and leadership across the region. With her husband, she has fostered 70 medically fragile children and they have 12 children. Klein is a member of Solidarity Sandy Springs’s board of directors and is part of the seven-year effort to build a new Noth Springs High School.
Applications for the Flagship Program class of 2025 will be accepted starting in early February for Leadership Perimeter, which celebrates 38 years of developing and connecting community leaders, according to the release.
