The Southeast Georgia Leadership Forum announced today the recipient of the 2025 Leadership Award will be Savannah business leader, David Paddison.

The Leadership Award recognizes an active business leader in our community and will be one of three awards presented at the Southeast Georgia Leadership Forum to be held March 3-4, 2025 at Kehoe Iron Works at Trustees Garden.  Paddison will be recognized along with Dr. Paul Pressly, who was announced earlier this month as the Legacy Award Recipient.   

Paddison serves as President of Sterling Seacrest Pritchard, the largest privately held insurance brokerage and employee benefits consulting firm in the southeastern United States.

A native of Savannah, he has been active in the local insurance and business community for more than 30 years. An advocate of community involvement and civic participation, David has always encouraged his team to give back to the community through their participation and support of non-profit organizations. David has been recognized by Junior Achievement as an inductee into the Savannah Business Hall of Fame and is a graduate of Leadership Savannah.

Paddison has held leadership positions on numerous community boards including Union Mission, Past Chair; Savannah Economic Development Authority, Past Chair; Armstrong State University Foundation; Past Chair, and currently serves on the boards of the JCB Lady Bamford Center, Georgia Southern University Foundation Board, World Trade Center Savannah, Savannah Music Festival, and the Savannah Classical Academy Foundation.

In addition, Paddison and his wife, Jeanne, are founders and advocates of the Savannah Wildlife Rescue Center, an organization started in 2014 with the mission to rescue and rehabilitate the region’s wildlife population.

The two-day event will bring together established and emerging leaders together in an innovative environment promoting leadership development, networking and collaborative teamwork for the betterment of our growing Coastal Georgia region.

Past Forums have had over 400 attendees each year, including a wide array of diverse leaders from civic groups, non-profits, neighborhoods, government, and business.  Cost for the 2025 Forum is $490 and includes access to all speaker presentations/regional tours, lunch each day, morning coffee/afternoon beverage/snack bars, and invitations to additional special events being held during the forum.  

Major sponsors of the Forum include Georgia Southern University, Georgia Power, Georgia Power, Morris Multimedia and Gulfstream Aerospace. 

Tickets may be purchased online at: https://southeastleadershipforum.com/tickets.

For more information, please visit https://southeastleadershipforum.com.