• Jackson Spalding, the Atlanta-based image creation, cultivation and communication firm, recently announced the addition of Tiffani Thomas, who will join the agency’s Orkin, Chick-fil-A Bowl, Georgia Transmission Corporation and Home Ownership Preservation Foundation teams. Thomas is the 13th new hire for Jackson Spalding since January, capping off a year of unprecedented growth for the 11-year-old firm. Thomas came to Jackson Spalding after working for a global public relations firm where she specialized in media relations for consumer, corporate and healthcare accounts. A Fayetteville, Ga. native, she attended St. John the Evangelist School, where she was named A Better Chance Scholar. This honor took her to Rhode Island’s St. George’s Prep School, an experience she says paved the way for her career in public relations. Thomas was a Presidential Scholar and member of the Leadership Institute of Hampton University, graduating with honors from the Scripps Howard School of Journalism and Communications. She also completed a master of science degree from Ohio University’s E. W. Scripps School of Journalism, where she was a Gerbig Scholar. Thomas recently presented her thesis on the portrayal of minorities in contemporary media to the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communications.

• Alysa Tanis of Peachtree City, Ga. is a member of the 2006-07 Central College campus activities board (CAB). CAB is responsible for organizing campus events and scheduling outside entertainment, such as comedians, hypnotists and bands for the college community. Tanis, a junior, is a graduate of Landmark Christian High School. She is the CAB lecture series events coordinator.

• Lisa Cornelius, the daughter of Steven and Marie Cornelius of Peachtree City, is spending the 2006 fall academic term participating in the off-campus urban studies program in Chicago. A senior at Lawrence University, she is a 2003 graduate of Starr’s Mill High School, Fayetteville. The 15-week long program emphasizes urban policy issues such as neighborhood development, public education and mass transportation. As part of the program, Cornelius is spending 15 hours a week working directly with a public or private agency or business.