Melinda Lowe has always had a passion for helping teachers learn more ways to improve their skills in the classroom.
Through more than 18 years as a school administrator in Columbus and as the director of outreach and innovation at Mississippi University for Women, she believes she’s done well building connections with educators and helping improve student professional development.
Now, she plans to put that experience and passion into a new role at FORGE Foundation.
Lowe was tapped as FORGE’s first executive director on April 13. She will start the job in July.
Established in 2018, FORGE is a collective of local construction companies in the Golden Triangle that aims to increase vocational training and maintain a large labor pool for its member businesses. To date, there are 13 members spread across all three counties in the region.
Lowe told The Dispatch she will spearhead the organization’s expansion in northeast Mississippi, including establishing a new FORGE chapter with construction companies in Tupelo and Fulton.
She will also oversee the foundation’s local efforts with its annual career expo and interview day and find ways to improve connections between FORGE companies and local schools throughout the Golden Triangle. She also wants to lead the way for FORGE conducting more events.
“I have experience and connections with educators and school districts all across the state,” Lowe said. “… Working together, we can now approach opportunities in a better manner.”
FORGE executive board member Christee Holbrook said the board created the position for someone with enough time to do what the board can’t: expand FORGE into a new region and increase its vocational events with schools.
“We all run our own businesses, and it’s just gotten to be too much for us to do on our own,” Holbrook said. “There are so many more things we want that we could be doing, but again, we don’t have time because we’re running our own businesses. So, we felt like it was time to hire an executive director.”
Lowe began her career in Columbus, first as a teacher after graduating from Mississippi State University in 1994. In 2005, she moved to an administrative role at Columbus Municipal School District, starting the Strategic Training for Academic Results, a teacher induction program that assists new teachers.
Lowe transitioned to an associate director for the Center of Outreach and Innovation at MUW in 2012 and became department director in 2015. In that role, she has led professional development efforts at MUW, such as observing student teachers in the classroom, helping students to develop a professional portfolio and writing grants to improve resources on-campus.
“I soon realized after being in the classroom that my passion was supporting teachers and helping them to become great at their profession,” she said. “… (Working at MUW) just allowed me to go to another level, not just support a school district group of teachers, but to now support teachers all across the state to help prepare young teachers, but then also support teachers in renewing their license and growing professionally.”
With her retirement coming at the end of June, Lowe said she feels excited to take on the new job and will mainly focus on establishing FORGE’s new chapter in the Tupelo and Fulton area. But before she does that, she will spend the first few months on the job getting to know the companies already in the organization.
“Right now, our focus is helping and supporting northeast Mississippi and what that looks like,” Lowe said.
Holbrook said Lowe felt like the right fit for the job, especially when considering how much effort it will take to build up a new chapter and on relationships FORGE has made with local schools, which Lowe felt like a natural fit for.
“She knows the education side, which is difficult,” Holbrook said. “She was exactly who we were looking for. She can work independently and I know that for a fact. She’s got contacts with education and construction and everything we’re looking for. She plans events all the time. So she’s very organized.”
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