By Maria Saporta
On the eve of its closing weekend retreat for the Class of 2022, Leadership Atlanta on Friday announced the 86 members of the Class of 2023.
Leadership Atlanta’s new class represents a broad diversity of professions – education, law, corporate, nonprofit, technology, media, healthcare, politics and government – similar to the make-up of the previous 51 classes.
Founded in 1969, Leadership Atlanta is one of the oldest continuously running training programs of its type in the country.
Pat Upshaw-Monteith, CEO of Leadership Atlanta
“We are thrilled to welcome our 52nd Class,” said Pat Upshaw-Monteith, Leadership Atlanta’s president and CEO. “We are proud to continue Leadership Atlanta’s tradition of bringing together the region’s most influential, engaged, and creative leaders dedicated to working together for the greater good. We can’t wait to see what innovative ideas the Class of 2023 brings!”
The nine-month leadership program offers class members an opportunity to learn more about the region by
participating in retreats, full-day seminars, service projects, discussion groups, community tours and other activities. In addition to exploring important regional issues, class members will critically examine themselves as leaders, challenge themselves to find ways to be more effective and build relationships of trust and understanding with each other.
Bentina Chisholm Terry, senior vice president of Customer Strategy and Solutions for Georgia Power, will be the program chair for the Class of 2023
Georgia Power’s Bentina Terry
“Leadership Atlanta’s program required me to be vulnerable, get uncomfortable and learn to be fully present with my class members for nine months,” Terry said in a statement. “It reinforced that as leaders, we must learn how to listen, have hard conversations, cultivate curiosity and be truly authentic. It has made me 100 percent committed to the mission of the organization, which is ‘to inspire members to take on and exercise real leadership committed to serving the common good.’ These times demand courage over comfort, and Leadership Atlanta provides that experience.”
The Class of 2023 will have several presidents of local universities, including George French, president of Clark Atlanta University; Kevin James, president of Morris Brown College; and Nicholas Ladany, president of Oglethorpe University. Adrian Tyndall, dean and executive vice president for health affairs at Morehouse School of Medicine (second in charge), also will be in the class.
The educational theme also will extend to people working for K-12 institutions. The class will include: Lisa Herring, superintendent of the Atlanta Public Schools; Cheryl Watson-Harris, superintendent of the DeKalb County School District; James Calleroz White, head of the Galloway School; David Howland, executive director of Teach for America – Metro Atlanta;
Mini’imah Shaheed, CEO of KIPP Metro Atlanta Schools, and Camille Naughton, president of the Cristo Rey Atlanta Jesuit High School.
Several top leaders in the foundation and nonprofit sector also will be part of the 2023 class: Joselyn Baker, president of the Grady Health Foundation; Mark Banta; president and CEO of the Piedmont Park Conservancy; Maryum Gibson, president and CEO of Jerusalem House; Kari Love, CEO of the Atlanta Women’s Foundation; Daniel Preister, managing director of Coxe Curry & Associates; Nicole Armstrong, CEO of TechBridge, Inc.’; Shan Arora, director of the Kendeda Building for Innovative Sustainable Design at Georgia Tech; Alieizoria Redd, executive director of the Covenant House; and Fay Twersky, president of the Arthur M Blank Family Foundation.
Several government leaders will be in the class, including Christopher Nunn, commissioner of Georgia’s Department of Community Affairs; and Fitz Johnson, commissioner on the Georgia Public Service Commission.
The class also will include representatives from some of the largest companies and enterprises in metro Atlanta: UPS, Delta Air Lines, King & Spalding, IBM, Oglethorpe Power, Southern Co., Google, PNC Bank, Georgia-Pacific, Baker & Hostetler, Genuine Parts, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Metro Atlanta Chamber, Truist Bank, Equifax, Bank of America, Cox Communications, the Coca-Cola Co., Atlanta Hawks/State Farm Arena, Douglas County Chamber, Chick-fil-A, Wells Fargo EY, Woodruff Arts Center, Emory Healthcare, Alston & Bird, Georgia Power, Bain & Co., Humana, WarnerMedia, American Cancer Society, IHG Hotels & Resorts and the Shepherd Center.
Here is the complete list of the Leadership Atlanta’s Class of 2023
Felicia Allen
President of US & SMB Marketing
UPS
Amy Ard
Executive Director
Motherhood Beyond Bars
Nicole Armstrong
Chief Executive Officer
TechBridge, Inc.
Shan Arora
Director – Kendeda Building for Innovative Sustainable Design
Georgia Institute of Technology
Joselyn Baker
President, Grady Health Foundation
Grady Health System
Mohamed Balla
Chief Financial Officer
City of Atlanta
Trebor Banstetter
Managing Director – Enterprise & Leader Communications
Delta Air Lines, Inc.
Mark Banta
President & Chief Executive Officer
Piedmont Park Conservancy
Robert Benson
Partner
King & Spalding LLP
Maurice Blackwood
Vice President of Sales – Americas
IBM
Annalisa Bloodworth
Senior Vice President, General Counsel
Oglethorpe Power Corp.
Robin Boren
Senior Vice President Finance & Treasurer
Southern Co.
Nelson Boyce
Managing Director
Google
Laura Brown
Senior Vice President, Regional Sales Executive
PNC Bank
Sarah Brown
Trustee
The John and Rosemary Brown Family Foundation
Deborah Bruner
Senior Vice President for Research
Emory University
Leslie Hazle Bussey
CEO and Executive Director
Georgia Leadership Institute for School Improvement
Lori Chennault
Senior Vice President, Strategic Souring and Procurement
Georgia-Pacific Corp.
Charlotte Combre
Partner
Baker & Hostetler LLP
Jennifer Dawson
Vice President, Internal Audit & Compliance
Genuine Parts Co.
Lovely Dhillon
CEO
Jodevi Consulting
Charlie Ebersol
CEO
Teddy Bright, Inc
Damon Elmore
Executive Director
State Bar of Georgia
April Estes
Partner
PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC)
Sarah Fonder-Kristy
Chief Development Officer
Atlanta Community Food Bank
Heather Fortner
CEO
SignatureFD
George French
President
Clark Atlanta University
Maryum Gibson
President & CEO
Jerusalem House
Jonathan Goins
Partner & Co-Chair IP & Tech, Entertainment Groups
Lewis Brisbois LLP
Alex Gonzalez
Chief Innovation Officer
Metro Atlanta Chamber
Sammy Grant
Principal
HomrichBerg
Vivian Greentree
Senior Vice President, Head of Global Corporate Citizenship
Fiserv
Carl Hanna
CEO/Co-Founder
Evva Health
Hilliard Hardman
President & CEO
Granite Holdings, Inc. / Woodleaf Partners, LLC
Nikki Harland
COO
Paradies Lagardere
Lisa Herring
Superintendent
Atlanta Public Schools
Philip Hill
Executive Director
Soccer in the Streets
Jillian Tellez Holub
Partner
McKinsey & Co.
David Howland
Executive Director
Teach for America – Metro Atlanta
Cathy Huyghe
Co-Founder and CEO
Enolytics LLC
Kevin James
President
Morris Brown College
Ted Jenkin
CEO
oXYGen Financial
Fitz Johnson
Public Service Commissioner, District 3
Georgia Public Service Commission
Tayari Jones
Author
Jon Keen
Head of Business Development
Treaty Oak Clean Energy
Nicholas Ladany
President
Oglethorpe University
Michael Lan
Executive Director
Jabian Consulting
Shannon Longino
Senior Vice President
TRUIST Bank/TRUIST Community Capital
Kari Love
CEO
The Atlanta Women’s Foundation
Joy Lybeer
Chief Revenue Officer
Equifax
Al McRae
Market President and Diverse Segments Business Development Executive
Bank of America
Katrina Mitchell
Chief Community Impact Officer
United Way of Greater Atlanta
Amol Naik
Vice President, Public Policy & Government Affairs
Ting Internet at Tucows
Camille Naughton
President
Cristo Rey Atlanta Jesuit High School
Christopher Nunn
Commissioner
State of Georgia, Department of Community Affairs
Allison Padilla-Goodman
Vice President, Southern Division
Anti-Defamation League
Renee Pearson
Senior Vice President Digital Transformation & Business Engagement
Republic National Distributing Co.
Joiava Philpott
Senior Vice President & General Counsel, Law & Policy
Cox Communications, Inc.
Kama Pierce
Vice President of Strategy, Marketing and Communications
The Woodruff Arts Center
Vincenzo Piscopo
President/CEO
United Spinal Association
Daniel Preister
Managing Director
Coxe Curry & Associates
Joanna Price
Chief of Public Affairs, Communications and Sustainability
The Coca-Cola Company
Melissa Proctor
Executive Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer
Atlanta Hawks & State Farm Arena
Sara Ray
President & CEO
Douglas County Chamber
Alieizoria Redd
Executive Director
Covenant House Georgia, Inc.
Cliff Robinson
Executive Vice President & Chief People Officer
Chick-fil-A, Inc.
Hugh Rowden
Senior Vice President, Business Growth Strategy Director
Wells Fargo
Nabile Safdar
Assoc CMIO, Emory Healthcare; Endowed Professor and Vice-Chair of Informatics – Radiology
Emory University/Healthcare
Regenia Sanders
Partner
EY
Lawrence Sernovitz
Senior Rabbi
Temple Kol Emeth
Mini’imah Shaheed
Chief Executive Officer
KIPP Metro Atlanta Schools
Jeremy Silverman
Partner
Alston & Bird LLP
Lisa Smith
Senior Vice President of Region External Affairs & Community Engagement
Georgia Power
Jeb Stewart
Owner
Xana Management, LLC
Michael Stewart
Partner
Bain & Co.
Marcus Taylor
Market President, Commercial Business GA & LA
Humana
Travis Townsend
Co-Founding Partner & Financial Manager
Townsend & Lockett, LLC
Fay Twersky
President
Arthur M Blank Family Foundation
Lesley Wainwright
Senior Vice President & Associate General Counsel
WarnerMedia
Tammara Warren
Regional Vice President for Georgia
Oak Street Health
Cheryl Watson-Harris
Superintendent
DeKalb County School District
James Calleroz White
Head of School
The Galloway School
Kimberly Wright
Executive Vice President, Southeast Region
American Cancer Society
Cesar Wurm
Vice President of Commercial & Revenue Management, CMH
IHG Hotels & Resorts
Michael Yochelson
Chief Medical Officer
Shepherd Center
Note to readers: Maria Saporta was in Leadership Atlanta’s Class of 2020, and she continues to be an active member.
This content was originally published here.