Savannah Technical College Foundation announced leadership changes and welcomed new members to its board of trustees at its annual meeting recently. Gary Sanchez will serve as chaiman, and Brynn Grant will serve as vice-chair. After serving as board chairman for three years, Sam McCachern will remain a member of the executive committee as past-chair. The Foundation welcomed three new board members: Loretta Cockrum, Patrick Connell, and Mary Morrison.

·         Gary Sanchez, regional director external affairs for AT&T, works closely with community leaders and policy makers to help meet the company’s objective of bringing the best new technology to consumers. He is responsible for managing AT&T’s extensive philanthropic and community engagement efforts in Southeast Georgia. He has an MBA from the Stetson School of Business and Economics at Mercer University (2000) and a bachelor of science in business from the University of Idaho (1989). He is also a board member for the Savannah Area Chamber of Commerce and Junior Achievement of Georgia’s Savannah District.

·         Brynn Grant is chief operating officer at the Savannah Economic Development Authority (SEDA) and vice president of World Trade Center Savannah. Brynn is a graduate of Leadership Savannah, Leadership Southeast Georgia and Leadership Georgia. She is vice chair of the Leadership Southeast Georgia board. She has been named one of the Top Ten Working Women by AWWIN, the Community Advocate of the Year by the Small Business Chamber of Savannah and a Woman of Distinction by the Girls Scouts of Historic Georgia. With a commitment to education, she currently serves on the Georgia Southern University College of Business Advisory Board, GSU College of Science and Mathematics Advisory Board, and the Georgia Tech Professional Education Advisory Board in Savannah. She also serves on the Georgia advisory board of the U.S. Global Leadership Council. She is a graduate of the University of Georgia with a degree in journalism.

·         Sam McCachern is registered as a Professional Engineer in Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina.  His 30+ years of experience includes site assessment, rezoning, preliminary engineering, permit applications, engineering design, contract documents and specifications, construction administration for a wide variety of projects.  He earned a BS in civil engineering from North Carolina State University and is Level II – Erosion and Sedimentation Control Program Certified.

·         Loretta Cockrum, chief executive officer/founder of Foram, founded the real estate management company in Atlanta in 1978 with the mission to manage and develop real estate investment portfolios for families who have a multi-generational wealth preservation strategy. Foram moved its headquarters to Miami in 1986 and has just relocated its base of operations to Savannah, Georgia. In 2013, Cockrum was named by Real Estate Forum magazine as one of the 25 most influential female real estate executives in the United States. She currently serves on the Board of the Savannah Economic Development Authority, Board of the World Trade Center Savannah, Advisory Board of Sea Island Bank (a division of Synovus Bank) and Advisory Board of Miami Finance Forum as well as Advisory Board of The Graduate School of Real Estate Development at University of Miami.

·         J. Partick Connell, a partner with Boyd & Jenerette, P.A., has successfully litigated a wide range of cases and has significant experience representing clients in the tourism and hospitality industry. He was recently named General Counsel for the Tourism Leadership Council. He is an active supporter of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, having served as Co-chair of the Leadership Committee for Savannah LLS’s Man and Woman of the Year campaigns for 2015 and 2016. He has a bachelor of landscape architecture from the University of Georgia (2001), and J.D., cum laude, from the College of Law at Georgia State University (2006).

·         Mary Morrison is a long-time friend of Savannah Technical College, who, along with her late husband Howard, was an early supporter of the Historic Preservation Program, including hosting a kiln-firing for Savannah Grey Brick at Lebanon Plantation and establishing the series of weekend workshops that teach traditional craft skills to the public. She is an officer of the Mary Lane Morrison Foundation, a grant-making foundation based in Savannah, and she is actively involved with numerous community groups and organizations.