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…

It’s been 20 years since Bernie Marcus retired as CEO of The Home Depot. But he still lives by the “do-it-yourself” philosophy. In his new book, “Kick Up Some Dust,” the 93-year-old entrepreneur provides lessons on tackling tough business problems and the benefit of giving back. He has donated more than $2 billion to charity. See Privacy Policy at …

Frank Argenbright, Jr.’s career “took off” in 1979 when he founded Argenbright Security, a company focused on aviation services. His journey has had its fair share of turbulence. But he's kept going. With more than 50 mergers and acquisitions under his belt, Argenbright is being recognized with the Atlanta Business Chronicle’s 2022 Deals of the Yea…

As the Managing Director of Accenture’s Atlanta office, Chloe Barzey says she aims to ensure the $50 billion global consulting firm has a local impact on metro Atlanta through innovation, collaboration and community service. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-inf…

Chris Womack is energized by the prospect of leading one of the nation’s largest utility companies. Named president of Georgia Power in 2020, he became Chairman and CEO of the company in June 2021. In that role he leads an enterprise with 7,000 employees and 2.7 million customers across the state of Georgia. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/…

As CEO of SignatureFD, Heather Fortner is focused on the “net worthwhile” for her 1,200 clients and employees. The Atlanta-based financial advisory firm has about $4.5 billion under management. By 2025, the company expects that number to grow to $10 billion. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://ar…

Ravi Saligram, CEO of Newell Brands, is focused on keeping the company young and relevant. Some of its brands are more than 100 years old. Newell Brands makes products under the Sharpie, Rubbermaid and Mr. Coffee brands. When he joined the company in 2019, sales were sagging. Not anymore. Last year, net sales topped $10.6 billion. See Privacy Polic…

For Meredith Leapley, founder and CEO of Leapley Construction, leadership is all about one’s ability to LEAP IN. Always Learn, demonstrate Empathy, be Agile, and Persistent. And do it with Integrity. It’s been an undeniable recipe for success for the company which specializes in building out interior spaces for corporate, healthcare and education c…

As many as two billion people worldwide do not have access to the medicine they need. MAP International aims to change that. President and CEO Steve Stirling brings three decades of experience to the job, and a sense of empathy--having contracted polio as a child in post-war Korea. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Priv…

The current job market is nothing short of “wild” according to Dan Erling, president and CEO of Accountants One. Covid-19 has forced the industry to toss out the old rules of talent recruiting for a more time-intensive and expensive form of finding the right hires. It’s put more demand on his recruiting firm, and led to the company’s best year ever…

Karen Knudsen, President and CEO of the American Cancer SocietyDr. Karen Knudsen is the first female CEO of the American Cancer Society. As an oncologist, she is also the organization’s first chief executive with a background in science. While 1 in 3 people will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime, more are living beyond the diagnosis. Accor…

Big isn’t just this nonprofit’s middle name, it also describes its latest fundraising win—a $3.6 million grant from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott. Kwame Johnson, president and CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Metro Atlanta calls the donation “historic,” and says it will help the nonprofit reach more youth through one-on-one mentorship. See Priva…

As president and CEO of Wellstar Health System, Candice Saunders oversees 11 hospitals in Georgia and 24,000 employees. But the chief executive says her “most important job” is taking care of people. In 2021, Wellstar invested $18 million into MyCare Rewards, a customizable employee benefits program. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy …

For Clyde Higgs, president and CEO of Atlanta Beltline, Inc., leadership is about “bringing more people underneath the tent.” Intentional inclusion has been an important component, he says, of generating innovative ideas for one of the nation’s largest urban redevelopment programs. By the time the Atlanta Beltline is completed in 2030, the 22-mile …

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