Dr. Brian K. Matney, principal of Landstown High School: Governor’s STEM and Technology Academy, recently graduated as a member of LEAD Virginia’s Class of 2012. He is the first K-12 building-level educator in the state to graduate from the program, and was among 50 fellow graduates recognized at a gala affair at Richmond’s historic Jefferson Hotel on Nov.16.

During the past eight months, Matney and his colleagues from both the public and private sectors traveled over long weekends to meet with government officials in Abingdon, Martinsville, Richmond, Staunton, Tysons Corner, Williamsburg, and right here in Virginia Beach and Hampton Roads.

The LEAD Virginia forum, established in 2005 during the tenure of then-Governor and current United States Senator Mark Warner, invites individuals to collaboratively address common challenges facing regions throughout the Old Dominion, including education, transportation, health care and economic development.