The Liberty County Chamber of Commerce will hold a Progress Through People Luncheon at noon Thursday, Sept. 18, at the Liberty County Complex in Midway.
Featured speaker Sarah Visser will talk on “Pretty Places, Vibrant Spaces: The Importance of Community Appearance” and will share ideas and information on using green spaces and urban forests to enhance community appearance, strengthen environmental health, boost economic development and community quality of life.
“Everyone wants to live in a place that is beautiful. When we dig deeper, we find that the appearance of our community is about more than aesthetics. It dramatically impacts quality of life, economic development and criminal activity,” Visser said. “Keeping our communities clean and enhancing their natural beauty is one of the most important steps we can take to create vibrant spaces where people want to live, work and play.”
Visser joined the Keep Georgia Beautiful Foundation in May 2011 as its first executive director and is a member and a past president of the Georgia Urban Forest Council.
She was named to the Atlanta Business Chronicle’s inaugural “50 People in Sustainability” list, is a member of the Keep America Beautiful “NextGen” team for curriculum development, is a KAB National Trainer and has provided training and facilitation services for local, state and national organizations.
Visser is the 2014-16 president for the Keep America Beautiful State Leaders Council.
Prior to joining the Foundation, she spent more than 10 years in state government, first with the Georgia Department of Community Affairs’ Keep Georgia Beautiful Program and, most recently, at the Georgia Forestry Commission as the Program Manager for Georgia’s Growing Green, a federally funded job-creation and tree-planting grant program.
Visser holds a master of public administration from the University of Georgia.
The event will be hosted by the Liberty County Chamber of Commerce and sponsored by Keep Liberty Beautiful.