My Nonprofit Reviews

I was introduced to Turning Point Enterprises during a time when I was serving as Executive Director for The Cobb Alcohol Taskforce. The missions of our two organizations were overlapping in that they both focused on interventions with youth, particularly teenagers.

Bullying and related behavioral issues pose a direct impact on the choices young people make to engage in underage drinking. It can also be argued that is a correlation between binge drinking and teen attempts to cope with the depression and social isolation that is often felt from being attacked by bullying.

Another aspect of my professional experience is as a communications professor; I taught courses in Public Speaking at Georgia Perimeter College (now a part of Georgia State University) for many years. One of the most salient and popular components of my classroom curriculum was a regular presentation on the etymology of hate speech. When Turning Point Enterprises Executive Director Dr. JoAnn Hayward learned about the presentation, she invited me to share it with parents and students at Family Night events at several schools in the Cobb County School District where Turning Point Enterprises was operating anti-bullying programs and activities.

The presentations were so well received that Dr. Hayward and I have since expanded them to include special guest lectures in selective courses at several higher learning institutions in the metro Atlanta area, including St. Leo and Mercer Universities.

I regard Turning Point Enterprises as an organization that is pursuing a very critical mission in local communities. And I regard Dr. Hayward as a dear friend as well as an esteemed colleague.