NEWNAN, GA— At the Crain Home in Newnan on January 29th, friends and community leaders came together to honor Jim Ellison as one of the recipients of the 2023 class of the James A “Bud” Cody Community Impact Award recipients. The award (The Cody) recognizes individuals who have impacted communities via motivation, determination, and innovation. The award honors James A. “Bud” Cody, Executive Director of the Georgia Sheriffs’ Association, Director of the Georgia Sheriffs’ Youth Homes, and Secretary of the Sheriffs’ Retirement Fund for 46 years.
Pastor Jim Ellison has served congregations and nonprofit organizations in Atlanta for over 32 years. He is a shining example of going beyond experience to generate a compounding impact on the communities he has served. The current recipient of his positive influence is the Newnan City Church (NCC) as the Founding Pastor.
Evidence of his ability to expand any organization’s potential is the channeling of NCC’s resources to organizations such as Bridging the Gap, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Empowered 4 Life, and Ignite the Fire Community Prayer initiative. He also serves as a leader and advocate for the Newnan Emergency Shelter Team, Newnan Fire Department’s Chaplain, Founder of Restoration Atlanta, and The Kiwanis Club recognized his efforts by naming him a Finalist for Coweta County’s Citizen of the Year.
Members of the Ellison Family and Derek Marchman
His leadership is also witnessed while serving on the following boards throughout Georgia:
– New Church Development of North GA Conference United Methodist Church
– Atlanta’s Historic Oakland Cemetery
-Safehouse Outreach (Serves the marginalized in Atlanta)
-Trustee for Young Harris College
Lastly, he continues to influence others through the two books he has authored: Broken To Broken, and It’s Your Move…Life Lessons from the Game of Checkers.
The event was fortunate to have former US Marshal and Coweta County Sheriff Mike Yeagar speak on the impact of Cody on the Sheriff’s Association and the State of Georgia. Upon being presented the award, Pastor Ellison was most gracious and stated how honored it is to be considered to stand with the previous winners of the award and specifically Mr. Cody.
Additional recipients for 2023 include Judge Maureen Wood, Rockdale County Juvenile Court, Greg Dozier, Commissioner of the Technical Schools of Georgia, and Pastors Ray and Barbara Muse, BOLD Ministries. More information on each winner can be found on the site.
If you know someone who has made a sustainable impact in your community from any field, go to marchmanconsulting.com and click on the “Cody Award for CIA” tab. Then, complete and submit the application to recognize their efforts. For more information, email [email protected].
Marchman Consulting aids communities to make an impact by assisting with program data analysis, grant development, implementation, and evaluation for sustainability efforts. An example is the award-winning alcohol risk management (ARM) initiative incorporating development of environmental scans, ordinances, certification courses such as RASS for servers/owners, and training for code enforcement.
James A. “Bud” Cody
