Special to The Sun-Sentinel
Eloise Phillips McClinton, executive director of the Institute of Community Services, was chosen as one of 50 MAD (Making a Difference) Lady award recipients on Oct. 7 at the Holiday Inn University of Memphis.
The inaugural MAD Lady 50 Over 50 Awards, sponsored by Spirit Magazine, recognized those 50 years old and older for making a difference in their communities.
Honorees were lauded for their display of “exceptional courage, unwavering conviction and extraordinary grace” as “part of an exhilarating movement defining life’s second half and proving that making a difference has no age limit.”
Each recipient was given a personalized portrait.
McClinton was born in the Pleasant Hill area of DeSoto County to parents Clifton and Elnora Phillips. She is the eighth of 12 children and had six sisters and five brothers.
She received a bachelor’s degree in social work from Rust College and a master’s in community counseling from the University of Mississippi.
McClinton was employed as a mental health consultant at Communicare Inc. in Holly Springs for 11 years.
In August 1991, she accepted the position of social services director at ICS Head Start in Holly Springs.
By using a strategy of developing, strengthening and implementing strong partnerships with community organizations and businesses, she continues to demonstrate sound management practices.
This strategy, plus her management and leadership abilities, helps her do what she does best — working with families so they can achieve their ultimate goals in life and pass on the legacy to their children.
Since her employment with ICS, she has had extensive training in the Head Start arena, attending training at the local, state, regional and national levels. McClinton has also served as Head Start monitoring reviewer.
She graduated from the Champions of Excellence Program in 2003; the Johnson and Johnson Management Fellows Program in 2001; and received training in Health Promotion and Disease Prevention from Western Carolina University.
In 2002, she was promoted to serve as deputy director of ICS Head Start, and in 2008 she was named executive director of the agency, becoming the first woman to hold this position.
McClinton has presented workshops at the National Head Start Conference, Mississippi Head Start Conference, North Mississippi Child Care Conference and the Mississippi Reading Conference.
She is a licensed social worker, with certification in the Provision of Day Treatment Services, State Department of Mental Health and with certification in Alcohol and Drug Assessment and Treatment Planning. In 2011, McClinton earned the credential of being a certified grants management specialist.
McClinton is a member of Brown Baptist Church in Southaven, where she serves in various outreach ministries.
She looks forward to following in the footsteps of her mentor, Mr. Arvern Moore to “continue to take [ICS] to higher heights.”
Her passion is empowering and ensuring that preschool children and families obtain quality comprehensive services at the Head Start program and within the community.
Through all of her accomplishments, duties and obligations, she enjoys being the wife of Minister Alonzo McClinton and playing with her darling grandchildren.
She feels honored to lead the second largest Head Start program in Mississippi.
The Institute of Community Services Inc. serves 14 counties in Mississippi: Benton, Clay, Desoto, Grenada, Lafayette, Lowndes, Marshall, Noxubee, Oktibbeha, Panola, Quitman, Tallahatchie, Tate and Tunica.
