Issue link: http://maconmagazine.uberflip.com/i/1302805
TOP: Me, with our managing editor, Renée Corwine, smiling bigger under our masks during a successful photo shoot in the middle of Second Street. Special thanks to Bibb County Sheriff Department for shutting down the traffic for us. BOTTOM: Get ready to vote. Nov. 3rd is coming. Register by Oct. 5th. Need a mail-in ballot? Request your ballot now at mvp.sos.ga.gov. Mail in your completed ballot as soon as possible. I AM NOTHING IF NOT HOPEFUL. Yet, hope is not a strategy. If we want results, we must engage action with hope. A recent webinar hosted by the Tory Burch Foundation featured Harvard University's Pamela Rucker. In her talk about leading businesses through crisis, she drew the connection that when people are hopeless and in fear, their IQ drops. Hope is an aid in all things. Hope that succeeds requires work. Waiting for things to get "back to normal" will pause progress. Now is our new normal. e sooner we align with the state of our world, the sooner we will make the choices to do the work in our health, social justice and economic realms. What is the work? Only you can decide what it is that you can do to bring our community together for success, putting aside yourself and differences. Make the choices to love thy neighbor. is year's 20th anniversary class of 5 Under 40 young leaders offer plenty of options for where to start. Peer nominated by the 90 previous young leaders, these five are ones to get to know, follow and support. But don't take my word for it, read their vision and reach out to them to find the intentional ways you can show up to be an ally for their work in our community and beyond. e triple pandemic of the virus, racism and the economy does not slow them down. I urge you to amplify their focus and energy. Jodi and James Palmer announced the first class of 5 Under 40 young leaders 20 years ago, and they still feel it is the single most significant contribution of their 18 years publishing Macon Magazine. ey gave a platform to the voices of these young leaders. I believe our young leaders absolutely affect Macon's success. While we continue to see systems that need to end for a more just nation and world, these annual selections are the change agents we need. I know that we will not thrive if we do not seek out, listen to and support our young leaders. When you see the list of the previous young leaders on page 8, you will agree. Read more valuable leadership stories throughout these pages, including an important Q&A with our Mayor Robert Reichert as his 13-year run comes to a close. Two years into this work leading Macon Magazine in the midst of extraordinary challenge, awakenings and hope, the magazine remains sure of its focus to assist you in falling more in love with our Macon. I remain honored to seek, share and celebrate our great stories and the people who make Macon possible, even when we are socially distancing in masks. In solidarity, SUSANNAH C. MADDUX susannah@maconmagazine.com EDITOR'S LETTER Hope is not a strategy. 6 maconmagazine.com | AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2020