The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation has appointed five local community leaders to its Columbus Community Advisory Committee.

“These leaders will provide counsel to Knight Foundation as we seek to make grants in Columbus with the potential to transform the community,” said Beverly Blake, the foundation’s program director for Columbus.

Columbus is one of 26 U.S. cities and towns served by Knight Foundation, a $2.2 billion national foundation with local roots where the Knight brothers owned newspapers in their lifetimes.

Community Advisory Committee members are an integral part of Knight Foundation’s grant-making work. Each committee is a small group of creative, connected and strategic advisers who work with Blake and other program directors to discover opportunities that produce maximum impact and lasting change in the communities they serve.

Columbus appointed advisers are: Pamela Siddall, president and publisher of The Columbus Ledger-Enquirer; Hon. Michael Bellamy, district court judge, Russell County District Court; Rev. Allen Page, Holsey Chapel CME Church; Lee Sessions, senior family office advisor, Synovus Family Asset Management; Candy Cooper Wojdakowski, master trainer, family team building program, United States Army at Fort Benning.

“We are appreciative to these individuals for their leadership and willingness to share with Knight Foundation their knowledge and ideas as Knight explores how we can best invest in Columbus,” said Blake. “We look forward to our future work together.”

The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation promotes journalism excellence worldwide and invests in the vitality of Columbus and 25 other communities where the Knight brothers owned newspapers. Knight Foundation supports ideas and projects that create transformational change. For more, visit www.knightfdn.org.