Upson County resident Athens McGlon has been chosen for the 2025 Hubert Hancock Leadership Award. The winner of the award is chosen to participate in the Washington Youth Tour, an all-expense-paid leadership experience sponsored by Georgia’s electric membership cooperatives, including Upson EMC.
The award, named locally to honor Hubert Hancock, longtime Upson EMC director and Chamber supporter, will givea selected student the opportunity to join others from Georgia for a two-day Georgia Tour, then venture on withstudents from across the nation on an incredible week in Washington, D.C. For more than 50 years, the tour hashelped promising student leaders to become exceptional young adults. According to Brooke Parrott with UpsonEMC, the Youth Tour was established to inspire the next generation of leaders. This year’s tour offers opportunitiesfor students to meet policymakers, tour historic monuments and participate in leadership experiences, all whilemaking new friends from across the state and the nation.
Teens on the tour are challenged to consider the part they play in government and to understand the cooperativebusiness model to become engaged citizens and to learn about careers in public service.
5 students from the Youth Leadership Upson program were interviewed by out-of-town judges. After completion ofthe interviews, Athens was selected and will join other Georgia high school students who have been selected bytheir local EMCs.
Georgia’s tour delegates will convene with more than 1,800 youth representing electric cooperatives across thenation and exchange views concerning local and national issues.
The 4 other students who completed interviews were Fiona Chambers, Kaden Duke, Ava Hemphill, and CasonWaddell.
After completing the interviews, Fiona Chambers was selected to attend the Georgia Corporative Council YouthLeadership Conference. The purpose of the 5-day conference is to build and enhance teen leadership skills and forparticipants to learn the role cooperatives play in the communities they serve. The leadership event is also designedto enhance participants’ leadership skills and teamwork abilities through a series of exercises, training sessions andpresentations. Participants are sponsored by Georgia Co-op Council member cooperatives, who determineparticipants, including Upson EMC.