Leadership - Charter System Foundation

Dan Weber served in the Georgia State Senate from 2005 to 2011, representing North DeKalb and Southwest Gwinnett Counties. During his time in the Senate, Weber served as Chair of the Senate Education Committee. He has served as Executive Director of the Charter System Foundation for the past seven (7) years. Weber is an attorney with extensive experience working to resolve complex disputes involving commercial and industrial construction projects.

Pam Tallmadge, Executive Assistant for the Charter System Foundation has held this position from the inception of the organization in June of 2013. Prior to this position, she worked in her community mainly working within the education system to improve the educational environment for the children of DeKalb County and the State of Georgia. Pam’s past successes, in working with non-profit organizations, include the Dunwoody High School Community Association as a co-founder in 2000. She currently is an active Board member and serves as the organization’s Treasurer. Additionally, Pam was Co-Director and co-developer of the Dekalb County Public Schools Foundation. One of her most important areas of community educational work came because of the active role she played as one of three authors of the first conversion charter school in the State of Georgia, Peachtree Charter Middle School. The conversion school was effective after community input and State approval in the school year starting in 2001. Pam was the Governance Chair at Peachtree Middle School for two terms and currently sits on their foundation board as the community advisor. For several years, she assessed charter school petitions for the Georgia Department of Education advising the state in starting new charter schools in Georgia.

Pam is currently serving in her second term as an elected City Council member for the City of Dunwoody.

Pam graduated from the University of Georgia with a Bachelor of Music Education. Is married, has three grown boys who look for her “motherly advise” even when not requested. Is an active “gym rat” working out five days of the week. She enjoys time cooking and spending time at the beach.

Dr. Taylor has served as superintendent of Calhoun City Schools for the past fourteen years. She was selected as Georgia Superintendent of the Year in 2014 and was a finalist for the National Superintendent of the Year by the American Association of School Administrators.

Taylor is proud to lead Calhoun City Schools, the 2016 Charter System of the Year. CCS has one of the highest district graduation rates at 100%. Dr. Taylor is a fervent supporter of Calhoun City Schools and also a product, graduating from Calhoun High School in 1986. She attained her bachelor’s degree in early childhood education from Shorter College and earned a master’s degree from West Georgia College with specialist and doctorate degrees in educational leadership from Sarasota University. Taylor was recognized by her peers as Teacher of the Year in 1996 and as Gordon County’s Young Careerist of the Year by the Calhoun Business and Professional Women in 1997.

Taylor is a lifelong learner who is active in her local community and serves in several capacities at the state and national level. She has been an educational leadership adjunct professor for Lincoln Memorial University, Valdosta State University, Berry College and Piedmont College. She is past president of the Calhoun Gordon Council for a Literate Community and has served on the Gordon County Chamber Board of Directors, United Way Board of Directors and Allocations Panel, Big Brothers / Big Sisters Board, Gordon Calhoun Arts Council and is a member of Alpha Delta Kappa. She has served as president of the Calhoun Kiwanis Club and is a current member and Paul Harris Fellow with the Calhoun Rotary Club. She has served as chairman of Leadership Calhoun / Gordon County’s steering committee for more than ten years. Additionally, Dr. Taylor serves as past president for the Georgia School Superintendents’ Association. She has served on the Board of Directors for the Georgia Association of Educational Leaders and is a member of the American Association of School Administrators’ Governing Board. She is a member of the Professional Association of Georgia Educators and has served on their Foundation Board of Trustees since 2013. She is part of the Schlechty Center’s Superintendents’ National Leadership Network. She is past chair of the Northwest Georgia Regional Education Service Agency’s Board of Control and is a member of the Georgia System Charter Foundation Executive Board of Directors where she currently serves as chair. Governor Nathan Deal appointed Taylor to the Northwest Georgia Regional Commission in 2017 where she continues to serve. Taylor is a member of the Cognia Georgia Council and is Chairman for Georgia Northwestern Technical College’s Board of Directors. Governors Nathan Deal and Brian Kemp have included Taylor on Superintendent Advisory Councils.

Michele and her husband Joe have two children. Joseph is a junior at Georgia Tech in the Music Technology Program and Anna is a sophomore accounting student at Erskine College in South Carolina where she is also a member of the Flying Fleet Softball Team. Joe is employed by the Gordon County Clerk’s Office. All proud graduates of Calhoun High School, the Taylors are active in the community and attend Calhoun First Baptist Church.

Dr. Waters is a native of Bulloch County (Nevils), Georgia. He graduated from Georgia Southern University where he obtained a Bachelor’s in Business Education, a Master’s Degree in Educational Leadership, a Specialist’s Degree in Educational Leadership, and Doctoral Degree in Educational Leadership.

Dr. Waters has six years of banking experience having worked at Sea Island Bank under the leadership of Hal Averitt. It is here he learned that excellent customer service is key to any organization. He began his teaching career at Pinewood Christian Academy, teaching history for 1/2 of the 1998-1999 school year. He taught business courses at Statesboro High School from 1999-2001 before becoming an assistant principal there in July of 2001 and moving into the principalship in April 2004, serving in that capacity until 2014. Dr. Waters joined the Evans County School System in July 2016 as interim superintendent and assumed the role September 1, 2016.

Dr. Waters has a passion to connect education to economic development, creating employment opportunities for his students. Under his collaborative leadership, the Evans County School System converted to a charter district in 2019. The district immediately began working on a College and Career Academy structure working in collaboration with the local Economic Development Authority and Chamber of Commerce. An advisory board was established and through their passionate work, the district currently has 55 regional business, industry, and educational partnerships. The D.E.N. (CCA) has developed unique partnerships with local industries including a manufacturing pathway with Claxton Poultry, and a Firefighters Academy with the Evans County Fire Department. The focus of the wall-to-wall academy is to have every student graduate with a career pathway as well as work-based learning experiences that are aligned to our regional workforce needs.

Dr. Waters has been a Rotarian since 2005 and served as the President of the Rotary Club of Downtown Statesboro from 2007-2008 and is a Paul Harris Fellow. He also serves on the Board of Directors for Ferst Foundation of Evans County, the Evans County Health Department, the Evans County Library Board, and is President-Elect for the Claxton Rotary Club. Recently he was awarded the Georgia School Superintendents’ Association President’s Award.

He attends Trinity Baptist Church of Nevils. He is married to his high school sweetheart, Jessica, and has three sons & daughters-in-law: Alan (Rachel) Waters of Christiansburg, Virginia, the late Corey (Breelynn) Waters, and Thomas (Lacey), United States Air Force.

Dr. Lynn M. Plunkett has over 30 years’ experience in education, having worked at the local and state levels, as a teacher and administrator. She retired from the Floyd County Charter School System in 2012, having served as superintendent since 2007 and Deputy Superintendent from 2001-2007. Under her leadership, Floyd County Schools became a member of the second cohort of charter systems in the state. She also led the development and implementation of the charter for the Floyd County College and Career Academy. She has held numerous leadership positions in other Georgia school districts and at the Georgia Department of Education. Dr. Plunkett currently works as an independent consultant with state agencies, non-profits, and school districts, primarily in the areas of educational leadership development, business/education partnerships , career pathways development, and charter system and career academy development and implementation. As a consultant, she has been instrumental in the development and project management of several education/workforce initiatives in Georgia. These include, but are not limited to, leading the development of the GaDOE Career Pathways courses and serving as state team leader for Georgia’s partnership with the Harvard Graduate School of Education and Jobs for the Future Pathways to Prosperity Network.

Through her consulting work, she has provided technical assistance and professional development for charter systems and college and career academies under contracts with the GaDOE, Charter System Foundation and Technical College System of Georgia. She has also worked with college and career academies and charter systems on the performance contract renewal process. She has been an adjunct college professor, specializing in leadership development. She has served on various boards of directors, including Georgia School Superintendents’ Association, American Association of School Administrators, and Greater Rome Chamber of Commerce. Dr. Plunkett is a Certified School Improvement Specialist (The Institute for Performance Improvement, Downers Grove, Illinois) and has presented at numerous state and national conferences. Dr. Plunkett’s depth of experience and knowledge enables her to provide a full complement of consulting services.

A graduate of Berry College, The University of West Georgia and Nova Southeastern University, Dr. Plunkett holds BA, M.Ed., Ed.S, and Ed.D degrees. She and her husband, Ron, live in Rome, Georgia. She may be contacted through the Foundation or directly at lplunkett@gmail.com or 706-506-6993.

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