В Билокси наградили 10 наставников на церемонии юбилейного мероприятия Coast Young Professionals

Mentors honored at Coast Young Professionals’ 18th annual Forever Young Mentor Awards Coast Young Professionals marks 20th anniversary BILOXI, Miss. (WLOX) — Ten mentors in the community were recognized onstage Wednesday night during the 18th annual Forever Young Mentor Awards, held during Coast Young Professionals’ 20th anniversary. The honorees included WLOX National Sales Manager Van Williams. Each mentor shared a few words on the positive people in their lives who helped them get where they are today. The 10 award recipients were: - Dr. Jeff Long, Pearl River Community College - April Martin, Ingalls Shipbuilding - Marshall Eleuterius, Community Bank - Lynne Montella, Coast Roast Coffee & Tea - Mark Loughman, Mississippi Power - Shellie Moses, Make-A-Wish Mississippi - Dr. Bradley Sams, The Islands - Kirk Kimball, Pass Christian Ward 3 Alderman - Van Williams, WLOX - Paul Nilsen, Legacy Construction & Development LLC Coast Young Professionals Chair Grace Russell said the event is a way of giving back. “We really just like to give back to the people who really are making a difference in our life,” Russell said. “Through, you know, our growth as young professionals, it’s really important to have really awesome people around us that we can lean on and really kind of help better our careers.” Van Williams said mentorship played a key role in his own life. “It’s a great honor. I think back to the people that were instrumental in my life,” Williams said. “A lot of them that help you out with the skills, but more importantly, those that believe in you, maybe when you didn’t believe in yourself. So it’s truly mentoring is important. And it’s something we definitely need to invest in.” The IP Casino and Resort set the scene for the event. Along with the 10 honorees, Devine Perks Pottery and Powerful Minds Counseling also received small-business grants. See a spelling or grammar error in this story? Report it to our team HERE. Copyright 2026 WLOX. All rights reserved.