Jean Douglas is Executive Director of the Women’s Resource Center to End Domestic Violence, a nonprofit organization at which she’s spent 30 years, first as a volunteer and then as an employee. It aims to create a world where domestic violence does not exist, through intervention, prevention, education and advocacy. Demand for the center’s services…

Sarah Morrison had a 40-year-career working at the Shepherd Center before retiring as its president and CEO in September 2024. A catastrophic diving accident in college and the arduous path to recovery led her to the field of physical therapy and the Shepherd Center. She has seen the Atlanta-based rehabilitation hospital grow from 40 beds to 152. L…

Grace C. Fricks founded Access to Capital for Entrepreneurs in her laundry room 24 years ago. What started off as a $50,000 loan fund to help small business owners in North Georgia, has become a force to help underserved entrepreneurs across the state of Georgia start and scale their businesses. Since 2000, ACE has loaned $200 million. It’s served …

Milton Jones has amassed a wealth of knowledge from his decades-long career in the banking sector. The Atlanta-native is considered a pioneer, having been the first African-American to hold the title of Georgia market president for Bank of America. He also forged a path in his civic involvement. He was elected chairman of the UNCF board, becoming t…

Kirk Halpern launched Farmers & Fishermen Purveyors with his son Ben in 2019. While the business is only four years old, it seems the duo has hospitality in their DNA. Halpern’s maternal grandfather and father were food purveyors. Now he’s charting a path forward with the next generation of family and customers in mind. See Privacy Policy at https:…

When Erica Qualls-Battey applied for a position at Marriott in 1993, she was just looking for a part-time job. More than 30 years later, she is Area General Manager for Marriott International’s Atlanta market, overseeing the company’s properties in the metro area. She is also GM at Atlanta’s largest hotel—the Atlanta Marriott Marquis which has 1,66…

For Alex Urban, working as the Executive Director of the PGA TOUR Championship is nothing short of his dream job. The annual tournament takes place at the historic East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta where 30 of the PGA Tour’s top golfers compete for the FedEx Cup. The Atlanta community also scores big from the event. Since 1998, the tournament has rais…

For the past four decades, Atlanta Habitat for Humanity has been building and improving single family homes in 100 neighborhoods across the metro area. Now, it’s renovating its mission. Rosalyn Merrick, president and CEO of Atlanta Habitat for Humanity says her objective is to also build master planned communities with more than 100 homes. Its firs…

Dr. Patrick O’Carroll decided early in his career that public health, and its long-term, collaborative approach to problem solving, suited him. An epidemiologist by trade, he is president and CEO of the Task Force for Global Health, a $100 million nonprofit whose mission is to advance health equity by working with partners across the world to elimi…

As President and CEO of the YWCA of Greater Atlanta, Danita Knight is dedicated to the organization’s mission: “Eliminating racism, empowering women and promoting peace, justice, freedom and dignity for all.” She’s leading the nonprofit in a $19.5 million fundraising campaign to renovate the historic Phillis Wheatley YWCA to uplift women on Atlanta…

As president and CEO of CHRIS 180, Kathy Colbenson has been on a mission, “to try to make the world a better place and help people to be their best selves.” That’s been her North Star since she took the helm of the non-profit in 1987. Since then, CHRIS 180 has had many accomplishments including creating the first program in the state for youth agin…

From policing to politics to protests, Jill Savitt has a unique ability to put current events in historical context. She is president and CEO of the National Center for Civil and Human Rights, an organization that aims to inspire and empower people to change the world. This year marks its 10th anniversary, and the launch of a $56 million expansion …

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Adam Noyes leads Atlanta’s largest catering company. He’s CEO of Proof of the Pudding. It provides food services for a variety of venues from the Atlanta Botanical Garden to the University of Georgia’s athletics stadiums, overseeing more than 20,000 events a year. And after 45 years in business, it is not slowing down. With Bruin Capital signing on…

As Christine Whitaker sees it, she’s at the center of “technology and innovation powering the global economy.” She is the president of Comcast’s Central Division based in Atlanta. That division spans 12 states, has 21 million customers and about 17,000 employees. While it is massive, Whitaker says she aims to connect with the community through effo…

When Milton Little Jr.’s mother told him as a child to “make sure you help people,” he had no idea how much those words would prove to illuminate his career path. As president and CEO of United Way of Greater Atlanta, Little leads one of the largest United Way chapters in the world. Its focus is helping residents reach their highest potential inclu…

When Jeff Call joined Bennett Thrasher in 2002, the company had about 50 employees. Today, that number has increased to 500 nationwide. Call is Managing Partner at the financial services firm. Bennett Thrasher reached a milestone in 2023 of $100 million in revenue. Call credits the company’s taking a “people first” approach to its employees and cli…

Mentoring helped Helene Lollis move from developing plastics to people. For more than two decades, the former BP engineer has been president and CEO of Pathbuilders, a firm that uses mentorship to transform top female talent “to change people and companies everyday.” Since its founding in 1995, the company has helped to develop 6,000 women from hun…

From age 11, Jay Bailey knew he wanted to be an entrepreneur. Now as CEO of the Russell Innovation Center for Entrepreneurs (RICE), he leads the nation’s largest hub for developing and scaling Black-owned businesses. Since launching in 2019, RICE has served more than 350 small business owners, which have driven $450 million in economic activity. Se…

It’s not lost on Morgan Shaw Parker that Atlanta’s WNBA franchise is named after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous “I Have a Dream" speech. When she joined the Atlanta Dream as its president and COO in 2021, she sought to incorporate Dr. King’s values of respect, integrity, and diversity into the franchise. The Atlanta Dream’s staff is the most d…

As president of Atlanta Technical College, Victoria Seals is on a mission—to connect students with industry in a way that leads to greater economic mobility. Now entering her eighth year as president, Seals is well on her way to achieving that goal. Its 2023 annual report shows ATC students have a 99% job placement rate, 79% find jobs in their fiel…

Jesslyn Rollins has a deep connection to the company she leads. Not only is she Biolye’s CEO, Rollins’ family started the business as a solution for her mother, who in 2016, was battling breast cancer, and needed medical-grade hydration to endure treatment and overcome the disease. Rollins began selling Biolyte beverages from the back of her car in…

Pam Shipley has spent more than 30 years in healthcare, and one thing she says she’s learned, “It’s all about the people.” As Georgia Regional President of Kaiser Permanente, Shipley oversees 700 physicians and more than 315,000 members across the 32-county metropolitan Atlanta area. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Pr…

Fay Twersky never sought a career in philanthropy. “I just wanted to do the work,” she said, and that she has, at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and in 2021 she became president and director of the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation. Since 1995 it has committed more than $1 billion to support positiv…

Former college football quarterback and NFL player Nate Hybl is using lessons learned on the gridiron to now grow his restaurant brand. Hybl is founder and CEO of Gusto, a healthy, fast-casual restaurant chain based in Atlanta. “Competition is fierce,” Hybl says, with competitors that include Sweetgreen and Cava. But the former pro athlete is provi…

There are as many as 200 businesses in the metro Atlanta area that consider themselves advertising agencies. That’s stiff competition for Bill Coontz, CEO of Dalton, a 34-year-old firm with three offices in Atlanta, Nashville, and Jacksonville, FL. Coontz says what sets Dalton apart is its focus on people—its clients and its 100 employees. This yea…

Alana Shepherd never planned to co-found one of the nation’s top rehabilitation hospitals. But when her son sustained a spinal cord injury in 1973, Shepherd, her husband, son and an orthopedic surgery specialist, sprang into action. In 1975, Shepherd Center opened with six leased beds. Today, it has treated more than 35,000 patients who survived in…

Jared Belsky is “living his dream job.” He is CEO and Co-founder of Acadia, an Atlanta-based digital marketing agency. He launched the company in 2021 with co-founder Sean Belnick, and hasn’t looked back. Acadia serves mid-market companies including brands such as Red Roof Inn, Message Envy and Atlanta Mission. In the past two years, the company ha…

Gary Stokan is as competitive as they come, especially when trying to score sporting events for metro Atlanta. He is president and CEO of Peach Bowl, Inc., the nonprofit organization that owns and operates, among other things, the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl and Aflac Kickoff Game. He helped lure the College Football Hall of Fame to Atlanta in 2014. And…

As CEO of The Carter Center, Paige Alexander is focused on “doing hard things in hard places.” With the backing of the organization’s founders, President Jimmy Carter and First Lady Rosalynn Carter, Alexander leads a team of 3,300 who are working on the center’s efforts of “waging peace, fighting disease and building hope,” in nearly 90 countries a…

As president and CEO of the Atlanta Humane Society, Cal Morgan is focused on the organization’s middle name, ensuring that the 150-year-old nonprofit is humane to employees, animals and members of the community. While it continues the work it’s known for, such as pet adoptions, it’s also increasingly collaborating with human services groups to ensu…

Garrett Langley is out to change the world, one neighborhood at a time. He is the founder and CEO of Flock Safety, a fast-growing company that makes surveillance products to help law enforcement solve crimes. Its cameras and license plate readers are in 3,000 cities. Nationwide, about 7% of crimes that happen, will be solved because of Flock Safety…

Paul Donahue is only the fifth CEO Genuine Parts Company has had in its 95-year history. The company owns NAPA Auto Parts and also distributes industrial parts to manufacturers. While he admits, it’s not especially sexy, Genuine Parts Company also isn’t stodgy. Donahue says its goal is to be the disruptor in the industry. It’s one of the dominate p…

Kevin Gillespie has come up with his own recipe for successful leadership. The award-winning chef and founder of Red Beard Restaurants aims for what he calls “honest leadership” where people follow him because they trust him and believe in the mission of the organization. Part of that mission is serving up a top-notch experience for diners. In 2023…

As president and CEO of the Atlanta Community Food Bank, Kyle Waide’s figurative plate is full. He oversees the distribution of nearly 100 million pounds of food each year across 29 counties in Georgia. While the organization is taking on food insecurity, Waide sees the food bank’s role more broadly, as an organization that creates greater access t…

Even prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, Stephanie Nadi Olson saw a need in the marketplace for more flexibility for workers whose lifestyles required time to care for children or an aging family member. She said she felt compelled to act. And in 2018, she founded We Are Rosie which connects more than 25,000 freelancers, mostly in the marketing sector,…

As president and CEO of Graphic Packaging, Mike Doss believes in the circular economy. The company makes paperboard from trees for everything from fast food cups to cereal boxes. The goal is to recycle them many times over, then compost and restart the process. It’s investing in innovation to support the mission, Doss says. By 2030, Graphic Packagi…

Lauren Koontz leads one of the oldest nonprofits in Atlanta. She is president and CEO of the YMCA of Metro Atlanta. The organization was founded in 1858, but Koontz calls it “a 165-year-old start up” because it has had to be resilient and able to adapt to the changing needs and demographics of the Atlanta communities it serves. See Privacy Policy a…

Armed with its inaugural, “State of Black Georgia” report, the Urban League of Greater Atlanta, under the leadership of its president and CEO Nancy Flake Johnson, aims to make the Peach State more equitable for people of color. It has identified the historical factors fueling modern day disparities, and ways to collaborate with community groups, la…

For 30 years, Mit Shah has been buying and developing hotels across the country through his company, Noble Investment Group. While the COVID-19 pandemic created some unique challenges for the industry, it also produced opportunities. During the past two years, Noble has acquired $2 billion of assets—namely struggling hotels. Shah is optimistic abou…

Egbert Perry has found a way to balance the profitability of commercial real estate with projects that have positive community impact. Since he founded The Integral Group in 1993, the Atlanta-based development firm has produced 10,000 units of multifamily housing with retail and office space. One of its most notable projects was the transformation …

As managing partner of Deloitte for Atlanta and Birmingham, Ed Heys leads one of the largest professional services firms in the region. When he joined the Atlanta office nearly 40 years ago, there were about 110 employees. Now he oversees more than 4,000, providing each with opportunities for career advancement and ways to give back to the communit…

Bill Nordmark III is a tech executive and John Grant is executive director of major college football championship bowl games. On the surface, they’re as different as two people can be. That’s exactly what makes them an ideal duo to lead the Atlanta Friendship Initiative. The nonprofit has more than 250 pairs of Atlanta executives. The aim is to dis…

John Yates is the partner in charge of Morris Manning & Martin’s corporate technology practice. But the long-time attorney is probably best known as a master connector—of people to positions, nonprofits to donors and tech founders to funders. He helped launch Venture Atlanta. Since starting in 2007 the annual conference has led to $7.5 billion in f…

After 12 years as vice president of global corporate social responsibility for Chick-fil-A, Rodney Bullard is taking on a new challenge, leading a new nonprofit called The Same House. It will promote education, employment and entrepreneurship. The organization will also put on the Beloved Benefit, an annual fundraiser. Since it started in 2019, the…

For more than two decades, Bruce Deel founder and CEO of City of Refuge, has served some of Atlanta’s poorest residents, those living in the 30314 zip code. The nonprofit provides a variety of services including workforce training, housing and childcare. To mark its 25-year anniversary, last fall it launched a $25 million fundraising campaign to ex…

When it comes to the luxury housing market, Jenny Pruitt has probably seen it all. She has been in the business for more than 55 years. She started as a sales agent when the average price for a house was about $22,000. Today, as co-founder and executive chairman of Atlanta Fine Homes Sotheby's International Realty, she leads one of the region’s lar…

Andre Dickens had his eye on Atlanta’s top office since he was a child growing up in the city’s Adamsville neighborhood in the 1980’s. Elected as Atlanta’s 61st mayor in 2021, he leads one of the nation’s fastest growing regions. His administration oversees assets worth nearly $11 billion. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and Califor…

Frank Fernandez leads one of the largest philanthropic organizations in the country. The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta donates about $140 million annually. Under his leadership as president and CEO, the organization launched TogetherATL, a strategy that makes equity the group’s primary mission. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/pri…

The 87-year-old Stuckey’s brand is synonymous with the American road trip. But Stephanie Stuckey, CEO of Stuckey's Corporation (and granddaughter of its founder) is charting a new course for the family brand that takes it from the nation’s highways to your local grocery store aisle. Since she purchased the business in 2019, Stuckey says gross sales…