District Winners

2021 District 2 Communicator

Leia Agnew Hill
Vice President for Institutional Advancement
Meridian Community College
Meridian, MS

Leia Agnew Hill is a transformational leader, focusing on duties across a range of  areas at Meridian Community College (MCC), from improving social media metrics to helping with statewide initiatives. She oversaw a rebranding at MCC – including new colors, logos, guidelines and standards – and improvements to Facebook that saw significantly improved metrics.

Hill’s team is one of the best in the industry, says Tom Huebner, MCC president and Hill’s nominator, and Hill excels at leaning in to each individual’s strengths.

“Each team member was successful in their profession prior to joining the team at MCC, and Leia has the rare ability to create accountability and boost productivity in a way that is noticed by her colleagues within and outside the institution,” Huebner says. “She is well-loved by her team, and I can say, without question, she is one of the strongest leaders I have ever worked alongside.”

Thanks in part to Hill’s leadership, MCC has seen a range of improvements and successes. She increased the college’s traditional media presence multifold; moved MCC’s television and recording studios to digital formats; created an internal newsletter; launched livestreaming efforts that are the most-viewed livestreams of Mississippi’s 15 community colleges; and led the efforts for a new website and to redesign literature, forms and graphics.

Huebner and Hill worked together previously, at another institution that was the focus of the Netflix series, Last Chance U. As a result, the institution was thrust into the national spotlight, and Hill rose to the challenge. She developed a strategy, communicated with production and Netflix-related professionals and helped the college take advantage of the attention. 

“It was a rare opportunity to function on an international scale, and Leia was incredible,” Huebner says. “The challenges were unique, but she was prepared and worked hard to help the institution be honest yet positive in how we responded and marketed our opportunity.”

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