Atlanta Committee for Progress selects its 2026 board chair

The 2026 chair for the Atlanta Committee for Progress (ACP) will be Andrew Schlossberg, president and CEO of Invesco, an Atlanta-based independent investment management firm.

Kathy Waller, executive director of the highly influential business and civic group that advises Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens, said Schlossberg will succeed Michael Russell, the CEO of H.J. Russell & Co., who is the 2025 chair.

“We have appreciated Andrew’s engagement, and we are excited to have him take leadership at ACP,” Russell said on Sept. 29. “His engagement and willingness to participate are fantastic, and I know he will bring some invaluable contributions to ACP.”

ACP held its quarterly board meeting on Sept. 12 when it discussed a range of topics – from homelessness to MARTA to extending the city’s Tax Allocation Districts (TADs).

In an interview after the meeting, Dickens said the meeting started with a discussion about Tampa Hope, a novel way to quickly house the homeless in a way that’s less expensive than the Melody boxcar project in Downtown Atlanta.

Dickens said he led a delegation of about 45 regional leaders to visit Tampa on a recent all-day trip to hear about one way to house the homeless.

“We saw two sites that really showed how you can do temporary shelter, non-congregant care, where you everybody has their own key and lock and door and bed and storage and wrap around services,” Dickens said. “It’s a lot cheaper than building a whole new Melody, and it’s quicker to get it up really fast.”

Russell said he was impressed with how Dickens is being proactive in seeking solutions for housing.

“I think he energizes everyone around here,” Russell said of the mayor, adding that the city is seeking ways to transition people from homelessness to a more secure living situation. “We do have a committee headed by [Southern Co. CEO] Chris Womack that’s focused on homelessness.”

Much of the ACP meeting, which is closed to the public and the press, was focused on MARTA.

Dickens complimented Jonathan Hunt, the interim MARTA general manager who has been the transit system’s chief legal officer, for his willingness to work with the city. Hunt has said he is not interested in the permanent post, but that he is looking forward to returning to his former job and serving the transit agency.

MARTA is currently looking for a permanent general manager to succeed Collie Greenwood, who resigned from the post in July.

“We talked about being honest and intentional about MARTA’s need to improve,” Dickens said of the ACP meeting. We highlighted the good things that MARTA is as a system. How to get up ridership (and safety) is the number one goal.”

Dickens said the Diversified Search firm has been selected to help find the next general manager. Also, the plan is to get input from the various stakeholders through an advisory committee that’s been set up.

“Everybody is trying to figure out how we can be supportive of the new interim CEO,” Russell said. “We talked about the board being more impactful in setting goals that really move the needle and make sure everyone is held accountable. The business community can help by doing all we can.”

One way ACP could help would be to urge for more state support for the transit system. 

“That’s one of the weaknesses of MARTA, that it doesn’t get state support,” said Russell, who added the business community wants to be involved in the search for a new general manager. “Obviously, it’s very important to have a strong CEO at MARTA.”

During the interview, Dickens acknowledged that the City of Atlanta provides most of the local revenue [sales taxes and transit fares] for MARTA, but it doesn’t have commensurate representation on the board. 

The city only has three board representatives, while DeKalb County has four. Fulton has three representatives; Clayton has two, and the State of Georgia has one board member. But the state also has two ex officio members: Russell McMurray, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Transportation, and Jannine Miller, executive director of the State Road and Tollway Authority.

“Representation is not equivalent to our financial input,” Dickens said. “But I will tell you that even though we are aware of that…, it is not our primary focus right now. I’m the chair of the ARC (Atlanta Regional Commission), and I know how to really support regional efforts. With MARTA, there’s a regional need, and it’s a regional asset that has to have regional participation and regional results. So, I want the region to be getting the benefits of an improved MARTA.”

So, the mayor said he’s focused on “getting more riders on the system, delivering on these projects that have been promised, and to maintain safety, station cleanliness and overall rider comfort.”

Dickens also spoke highly of the extensive rail network that exists in Washington, D.C. and its Metro system. The Metro received federal funding at the same time (early 1970s) as MARTA (and San Francisco’s BART). While Metro and BART continue to expand their rail networks, Atlanta’s MARTA has not expanded its heavy rail system since 2000.

The ACP meeting was also an opportunity for Mayor Dickens to get support from the Atlanta business community to extend the city’s Tax Allocation Districts (TADs).

Dickens said extending the Beltline TAD is needed if there’s going to be any hope of running rail on the 22-mile corridor. The mayor said ACP is supportive of extending the TADs.

“In general, TADs have been economic generators,” Russell said. “It’s important that we continue to support them as we move forward.”

Russell added that ACP members understand they need to work collectively to remove obstacles that exist to getting the TADs extended. The extensions would need to be approved by the City of Atlanta, Fulton County and the Atlanta Board of Education.

“Absolutely, you have to get all three of them,” Russell said of the governmental jurisdictions. “We can be advocates on behalf of the TADs to help the political entities understand the need for the TADs. No question that ACP wants to help the mayor be re-elected and continue to support his initiatives.”

To read the companion column about transit on the Beltline, please click here.