Our Board:

Linda retired as Director of Information Technology for Norfolk Southern Railway in 2004, and since that time she has dedicated herself to improving the lives of families and individuals who are living with Developmental Disabilities through advocacy, support and training. In 2005, she completed the nine-month Partners in Policymaking program and was the recipient of the 2006 Georgia Council on Developmental Disability Advocate of the Year Award. She joined the Board of Directors of All About Developmental Disabilities (now doing business under the Bobby Dodd Institute, BDI) in 2006, going on to serve as Board Chair from 2008 to 2012. She currently serves as the Board Chair for the Georgia Community Trust of BDI and the Board Chair for The Rutledge Center whose Board of Directors she joined in 2006. She is a co-founder of Coweta Supporters of Developmental Disabilities, and Community At Home. Linda continues to work closely with the Coweta County School System’s Parent Mentor to provide education whenever possible. Linda has been married to Chet since 1981 with two grown daughters and one granddaughter. Their younger daughter, Cheryl, is profoundly delayed and lives with them. In her spare time, Linda enjoys golf, reading, and travelling as well as spending time with her family.

Terri has served the students with disabilities and their parents here in Coweta County for over 25 years. Upon her honorable discharge from the United States Air Force, she began her career as a Self-Contained Special Education  teacher at Jefferson Parkway Elementary School. She later served as the In-School Coordinator for Special Education at Smokey Road Middle School and has been in her current position, Special Education Program Specialist at Central Office, since 2004. Specifically, her responsibilities include Special Education programming at each of the schools that feed to Northgate High School, the district’s Vision Impaired Program, Elementary Self-Contained, Extended School Year Programming, Summer Reading Remediation, and Collaboration/Co-Teaching. She is very proud of her time serving the families of Coweta County and is excited to extend her service to Rutledge Center.

A graduate of Georgia Tech, Jay lives with his wife Michele and daughter Reese in Newnan. Jay has worked for Morgan Stanley since 2017. Prior to this Jay worked as an Insurance Agent at Country Financial and was a Mortgage Loan Officer with BB&T. Jay is an active member of Kiwanis Club of Newnan, Coweta Board of Realtors, and Coweta County Chamber of Commerce.  Jay has been a volunteer at Rutledge Center for over ten years. He enjoys golf, woodworking, outside activities and spending time with his family.

Nancy Hardegree Burks has lived in Coweta County her entire life and has served on the Rutledge board for over 35 years. Retired from C & S (Bank of America) Nancy enjoys spending time with her family and friends when she is not on the golf course.

Yolanda Cheatham is passionate about service to her community, especially initiatives focused on the empowerment of women, girls and people living with developmental disabilities.

Over the span of thirty years, she has worked for ,and with, some of Atlanta’s leading health and social service organizations, some of which include groups/councils supporting families with special need’s children. Her leadership and expertise to heighten awareness for women’s wellness, teen girl’s self-esteem , cancer survivorship and the advocacy for people with developmental disabilities has earned her local and Regional recognitions.

Yolanda is a graduate of Clark College in Atlanta, GA with a BA in Journalism and is active with her Alumni Association. . She has utilized her training to craft messages to communicate ideals through speaking, events, training, and development. She has been married to Ollie Cheatham a retired corporate executive for 39 years. They are the proud parents of two pretty amazing sons, Chase who is married to “daughter-in-love” Benita and reside in Dallas, TX, and Cameron, our beloved who lives at home with us and is a member of the Rutledge Center Community. Service to others is an honor. Accomplishments for the team are important, but my faith in God, my marriage, children, and getting past a tough health challenge will always be my greatest blessings.

Partial Past Organizations and Memberships The Adaptive Learning Center (Board of Directors); The Down’s Syndrome Association of Atlanta (Chair-Hospitality) ; The Junior League of Atlanta (Editor of Annual Yearbook & Annual Report) ; American Red Cross Atlanta Metro Chapter (2 Term Board of Directors, (Chair of the 16,000 Volunteer force over 7 counties); YWCA of Metro Atlanta, (Chair of Marketing); Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc, (Chair of 2x Award winning Breast Cancer Health Fairs) ; Girls, Inc. (Award winning – Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program, Coweta County); Jefferson Parkway Elementary School , Chair Fall Festival; Graduate Leadership Atlanta –‘ 95 Certified Professional Women’s Life Coach, Published Amazon Anthology Contributor “Her Prayers” “To whom much is given- much is required” Luke 12:48

Cathy Nenov was born and raised in New York City. She graduated from NYU with a Master’s Degree specializing in Learning Disabilities. She worked for fifteen years as a Special Education teacher thereafter, including Arnco Seargant Elementary School. In 1998 she returned to school to earn her Specialist Degree in School Psychology at Georgia State University. She worked in Meriwether county as both a School Psychologist and Autism Coordinator for the county for 11 years. Currently she works as a consultant. Cathy is President of ASPIRES, Inc a non for profit that works to help families of children with Special Needs. Cathy delights in spending time with her husband Steve and son Anie (Anastas) affected with Fragile X Syndrome. She has been a resident of Coweta county for 25 years.

Tricia Davis is a self-employed CPA. She started her business in 1996 and specializes in accounting and tax services for small business and the entrepreneurs who own them. She serves clients in a variety of industries. Tricia has two daughters. Her youngest daughter is 20 years old and has Down Syndrome. She plans to eventually work and attend the Rutledge Center. Tricia and her family are active in their church on serves on a variety of committees.