Initiative picks 5 local professionals

Liberty Fellowship, a statewide leadership initiative sponsored by Upstate businessman Hayne Hipp, Wofford College and the Aspen Institute, has announced its class of 2011.

The class, the sixth for the program, was chosen from among 30- to 45-year-old business, government and nonprofit professionals throughout the state. Its members include five local residents:

--Sharon Graci, 43, an actor and co-founder and artistic director of PURE Theatre in Charleston;

--Jenny Horne, 36, a solo practitioner with Jenny A. Horne Attorney at Law LLC in Summerville;

--Tumiko Rucker, 33, town administrator for the town of Kiawah Island;

--William Stanfield, 36, chief executive officer of Metanoia Community Development Corp. in North Charleston; and

--D. Peters Wilborn Jr., 41, a partner in the Charleston law firm of Derfner, Altman & Wilborn.

Other members of the 2011 class are:

--Andrew Batten, 44, acting deputy director for construction and facilities for the S.C. Army National Guard in Camden;

--Michael Bolick, 41, president and CEO of Selah Technologies LLC in Pendleton;

--Michael Brown, 37, managing partner of Rainey & Brown in Spartanburg;

--Samuel L. Erwin, 41, president and CEO of The Palmetto Bank in Greenville;

--Edwin Givens, 45, general counsel for South Carolina State University in Orangeburg;

--Anton Gunn, 36, president and CEO of Top Gunn & Associates LLC in Columbia;

--James Ham Jr., 40, managing partner of H&R Holdings LLC in Florence;

--Will Huss Jr., 37, president and CEO of Trehel Corp. in Clemson;

--Donna Isgett, 45, vice president for clinical and operational effectiveness at McLeod Health in Florence;

--A. Shane Massey, 33, partner with Nance McCants & Massey Law Firm in Edgefield;

--Rebecca Ramos, 37, founding principal of Palmetto Public Affairs LLC in Spartanburg;

--Deb Sofield, 45, owner of Deb Sofield Presentation Coaching Co. in Greenville;

--John Uprichard, 38, president of FGP International in Greenville;

--Octavia Williams-Blake, 36, director of occupational health at McLeod Health in Florence; and

--Jennie Williamson, 36, executive director of Pee Dee Land Trust in Darlington.