PowerSouth President and CEO Gary Smith has announced the appointment of Leigh Grantham as PowerSouth’s new vice president of member services and communications, effective April 7.

Grantham’s position will include combined responsibility for PowerSouth’s member services department, which provides expertise in the areas of retail energy rates, energy efficiency, demand-side management and other services related to the sale and use of electrical energy, and the Corporate Communications department responsible for employee communication, external communication and public relations, printing and audio/visual services.

“I’m very excited about the opportunity to bring a distribution cooperative perspective to PowerSouth,” Grantham said. “I look forward to collaborating with the PowerSouth team and the member-owners to develop or improve products and services that contribute to the member systems’ success.”

Grantham previously served as senior vice president of strategy and business development for the National Rural Utilities Cooperative Finance Corporation (CFC). While with CFC, Grantham was instrumental in helping better align CFC’s strategic direction to best meet the needs of its member-owners.

Before joining CFC in 2013, Grantham served as CEO of Choctawhatchee Electric Cooperative (CHELCO) in Florida, a member-owner of PowerSouth Energy Cooperative. In her more than 20 years of experience with CHELCO, Grantham served in several other management capacities, including chief operating officer, vice president of marketing and administration, general manager of CHELCO Services, Inc./CSI, director of corporate services and manager of human resources.

Grantham has a master’s degree in management from Troy University and a bachelor’s degree in public relations from Auburn University. She also completed NRECA’s Management Internship Program.

She and her husband, G, reside in north Walton County, Fla.