Michael Halicki, Executive Director for Park Pride,  and George Dusenbury Georgia State Director for the Trust for Public Land Atlanta’s reputation for its parks and recreation system is getting a lot of attention. Last week The Trust for Public Land (TPL) released the 2022 ParkScore ranking, which compares the park systems of the 100 largest cities in the US based on how they are meeting the needs of the communities they serve. Since TPL began ranking cities, Atlanta has never fared well. But this year, Atlanta vaulted from 49th to 27th out of 100, raising questions about the current state of our park system and where we are headed. View Atlanta’s ParkScore results here.  While Atlanta’s movement on the ParkScore is promising, no one has ever been satisfied with coming in 27th place. A lot of challenging work lies ahead to achieve the park system that Atlantans want and deserve.  Below, Michael Halicki (Executive Director of Park Pride) examines the categories upon which the ParkScore is built to better understand the local context of Atlanta‘s standing and identify the opportunities to progress. Then, George Dusenbury (Georgia State Director of The Trust for Public Land) frames Atlanta’s ParkScore ranking within a national context and provides insight into how Atlanta compares to other leading and peer cities.   The Local Context Michael Halicki  Acreage   Over the last few years, Atlanta has done big things well, adding significant acreage to the park inventory. In 2021 alone, the City opened Lake Charlotte Nature Preserve and Westside Park (among other acquisitions and expansions), making 496-acres of greenspace accessible to the community through these two projects alone. Despite these wins, the overall area dedicated to parkland in the city (6.2%) is still well below the median of the 100 ParkScore cities (19%). Atlanta’s population is exploding, and strategic greenspace acquisition of all sizes must similarly accelerate to meet the park and natural space needs of current and future residents.   Access  The 2022 ParkScore indicates that 77% of Atlanta’s population lives within a walkable half-mile of a park, a sizable increase from 72% in 2021, and above the median for the 100 ParkScore cities, which is 75%. This is great news. While the progress made is noteworthy, however, everyone deserves to live within walking distance of a park. And we still have a distance to go to accomplish this vision.   Investment  It is not enough that Atlantans simply have access to trails and parks, though—they need to be quality trails and parks. Parks that look nice, are well maintained, and that are comfortable to be in. The City of Atlanta must appropriately fund the park budget to achieve a level of maintenance that neighborhood parks need and have so far not seen, a level of investment which is not accurately reflected in this year’s ParkScore.   Amenities  According to the ParkScore data, Atlanta ranks above average in the Amenities category. The primary takeaway is clear and simple: great parks are those whose amenities meet the needs of the communities they serve. We must do what we can to ensure that as communities evolve, so do our parks.  Equity  Atlanta has work to do in terms of equity of access to parks along the lines of race and income. Data from the ParkScore indicates that:  residents living in neighborhoods of color have access to 48% less nearby park space than those living in White neighborhoods,   and residents living in lower-income neighborhoods have access to 33% less nearby park space than those in higher-income neighborhoods  Atlanta must do better. The Department of Parks & Recreation will soon make available to the public a park equity tool which they’ll use to ensure that investments and acquisitions are made equitably, prioritizing neighborhoods that have the most urgent need for park space and improvements. I am hopeful and optimistic that, with enhanced use of data in decision making within the department, we’ll see movement toward greater park equity in the future.  ***   The National Context George Dusenbury  Nationally, the City of Atlanta should be very proud of its 2022 ParkScore. In moving from 49th to 27th, Atlanta was The Trust for Public Land’s biggest mover. Continuing this momentum and getting to the top means overcoming a 100-year head start by the highest rated cities. Minneapolis and St. Paul invested early and heavily in their park systems – starting in the 1880s. Washington, DC was planned in the 1790s to provide access to parks, plazas and public spaces, and benefits from its many parks owned and maintained by the National Park Service.  If Atlanta is to catch up to these national leaders, we will have to do two things. First, we must continue to invest in innovative new parks that address our acreage gap while ensuring that all Atlanta residents have access to the outdoors. The Chattahoochee RiverLands, South River Forest and Community Schoolyards, for example, will allow Atlanta to continue to improve its park system and its ParkScore.  A closer look at TPL’s Community Schoolyards program illustrates how this could be done. In Atlanta, we partner with Park Pride, Atlanta Public Schools, and the Urban Land Institute to increase access to park-like space through community schoolyards that are designed by students, teachers, and neighbors as nature-rich hubs for outdoor play, community health, and climate resilience. They are open to the community as parks after school hours, on weekends, and over the summer. TPL launched the Atlanta Community Schoolyard program in 2019, opened our first two schools in February, and will complete the ten-site pilot program within a year.  Seventy three of the 100 cities ranked by ParkScore allow some use of schoolyards to function as park-like space. The City of Cincinnati greatly increased park access for its residents by converting all schools to community schoolyards – and moved from 8th to 4th in the national rankings. Similarly, increased public investment in Atlanta could allow the pilot to expand system-wide, increasing access and providing new greenspace to tens of thousands of residents.   Second, Atlanta will have to continue to […]

The MARTA Police Department (MPD) has received the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Gold Standard Award for its security program. Representatives from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and TSA presented the award to MARTA Police Chief Scott Kreher and his department at a recent MARTA board committee meeting. The award recognizes excellence in MPD’s security plan and security training, drills and exercise programs, public outreach efforts, and background checks. “I am proud to accept this award alongside the dedicated officers in the MARTA Police Department,” said Chief Kreher. “In particular, MPD’s Emergency Preparedness Unit has worked to ensure that MARTA is a safe, secure transit system and that officers are trained and well-prepared to handle all types of emergencies.” The Baseline Assessment for Security Enhancement (BASE) Program is a voluntary security assessment of mass transit and passenger rail systems performed by TSA transportation security inspectors. The Gold Standard Award is the top recognition the TSA gives to a transit agency for achieving the highest scores on its BASE review that evaluates 17 categories of security and emergency preparedness action items identified as fundamentals for a sound transit security program. The BASE Program was developed to increase domain awareness, enhance prevention and protection capabilities and further response preparedness of transit systems nationwide. BASE is aimed at meeting the requirements in the 9/11 Commission Act’s security assessment section that directs the TSA to identify critical assets, infrastructure systems and their vulnerabilities, as well as assist public transportation authorities to address their security programs.   This is sponsored content.

“Looking at resilience and looking at empowerment, it is the heart and soul of Families First,” shares Patricia Whatley Showell, Atlanta community leader and the agency’s former CEO, who will be honored with the Legacy Award on May 12.  Families First will gather civic, philanthropic, corporate and individual partners at the Georgia Aquarium to celebrate Ms. Showell’s call to social work and a career that emphasized the values that still drive the organization today. Emceed by CBS46’s Jennifer Valdez, the event joins co-chairs Teresa Rivero of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Ivan Shammas of Univision Atlanta, Peter Williams of BlackRock Atlanta and honorary chair Bentina Terry of Georgia Power in the Families First drive to innovate and build resilience families and equitable communities. Patricia reflected, ”I think one of the things that has made this organization unique is that it has always responded to changes in the community. I think it’s a part of the legacy and the tradition of the agency to identify and be on top of the changes that are occurring in the community and to make sure that our programs are not only responsive but are ahead of the curve.” Dining for a Difference will also highlight community change agents who understand the power of resilience to make lasting change. Mary Yates, community advocate and longtime Families First supporter, will be honored with the Montag Family Volunteerism Award for her caring spirit and continued support. Mary said, “I think with our resilient initiative, Families First has found its highest and best approach to helping families in crisis. To me, it is giving our clients a bear hug of services that tackle their biggest barriers to success while helping them build resilience. When we work together with our clients and other nonprofits to get our clients what they need, the family and our community win.” In addition to Patricia Showell and Mary Yates, the annual event will recognize the followings: ● Wendy Stewart, President, Global Commercial Banking, Bank of America who will be honored with the Community Impact Award for her work with The Grove Park Foundation to bring together the community to tackle the systemic issues of poverty, along with her service with the Metro Atlanta Chamber, Leadership Atlanta, Woodruff Arts Center, and Atlanta Committee for Progress. ● Kevin Greiner, President & CEO, Gas South who will be honored with the Social Equity Award for his leadership at Gas South focuses on children’s initiatives that create a more equitable future, along with his determination to create exceptional career paths for his employees. ● Dallas Smith, Founder, President & CEO, T. Dallas Smith & Company who will be honored with the Making a Difference Community Service Award for his focus on creating a diverse business and network of service providers to create innovative businesses and thriving communities. Dining for a Difference is supported by amazing corporate partners who allow Families First to expand our community connections to ensure families in crisis get the continuum of care they need to thrive, today and for generations to come. Thanks to the investment of presenting sponsors Georgia Power Company and Gas South and Inc., as well as Chick-fil-A, Cox Enterprises, Bank of America, UPS, TruRating, Georgia-Pacific LLC, Lucy Carpenter Vance, Univision, Synchrony, Wells Fargo, PNC,  Publix Super Markets Charities, Verizon, Montag, The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation, Driver Automotive Services, Truist, Jabian Consulting  and The Home Depot, Families First’s Dining for a Difference on May 12 will help children, parents and guardians become resilient when facing challenges. This is sponsored content.

Each year, the Metro Atlanta Chamber (MAC) hosts the region’s most prominent and innovative business leaders for frank discussions through the Insights on Leadership speaker series, sponsored by Delta Air Lines.  In February, MAC President and CEO Katie Kirkpatrick sat down with Inspire Brands Co-founder and CEO Paul Brown. Brown serves a multi-brand restaurant company whose portfolio includes nearly 32,000 Arby’s, Baskin-Robbins, Buffalo Wild Wings, Dunkin’, Jimmy John’s, Rusty Taco and SONIC Drive-In restaurants worldwide.  Inspire is supported by more than 650,000 company and franchise team members. Its brands achieved more than $30 billion in global system sales, making Inspire the second largest restaurant company in the U.S. For Brown and his team, this creates unique opportunities and challenges with brand management.  “It is critical to find the balance of keeping the rich essence of the brand and keeping the culture that goes along with it, particularly in the franchise business,” Brown said. “What we do at the beginning of every acquisition is we go through a process of stepping back and defining the target customer, a clear brand purpose and the values of the brand.” “We’re very careful with what are the values of Inspire, and what are the values of the particular brand. It is really important to find how we work together as a defined entity and not operate as silos.”  Inspire Brands announced the new location of a global headquarters in Sandy Springs in 2018, at the same time creating 1,100 jobs for the metro Atlanta region spread out across the following years.   “Atlanta is a phenomenal place. It’s very easy to attract people to Atlanta, particularly people who want to be in a consumer-oriented business and there are a lot of companies in restaurant/hospitality already,” Brown said. “The main talent we are hiring is in data and technology and there’s just a great source of that talent here in Atlanta.” In addition to a ready supply of talent, Brown and his team have also been embraced by metro Atlanta’s inclusive innovation ecosystem. The community of innovation inspired the company and it’s leadership to navigate newfound challenges differently through the course of the pandemic.  “Regarding technology innovation, it accelerated a lot of trends. It is a gamechanger to move this industry into more digital spaces. We’re now over 50 percent digital with Jimmy Johns’ and 45 percent digital with Buffalo Wild Wings,” Brown said. “We’ve also learned how to be agile and flexible – that was a massive operational transformation.” “During COVID-19, we learned bad management habits. Things were happening all the time, and we were having to make flash decisions and it seemed like everything was changing. That is not how you run an organization like this in the long term. We talked as a team about how we un-learn that and how we move back to best practice management.” In 2021, Inspire Brands launched the Alliance Kitchen in Atlanta. Featuring food items from across Inspire’s brand portfolio, the kitchen also focuses on innovation in the culinary space and provides other forward-looking benefits to operations. “With the Alliance innovation kitchens, let’s find a way to get real efficiencies. Let’s find ways to fundamentally share equipment, share labor, share work stations, and it forced a lot of innovation around the design of kitchen equipment and staffing models. The result is 75% less equipment cost and a large reduction in energy consumption,” Brown said. Brown and his team are optimistic about the trends they are witnessing in the restaurant industry as a whole. Looking ahead: “I do think we will see more consolidation in this industry. A lot of what we’re focused on is baking in the culture, baking in the systems integration and getting the organization fully up-staffed. We’re going to try hard to hire about 400 people here this year,” Brown said. “We’re feeling supply chain challenges and staffing challenges. What makes it difficult right now is length of time that these challenges have been going on from the start of the pandemic. There’s a real fatigue out there, particularly on the frontlines. So keeping employees motivated, and knowing that things will eventually get better – that’s a lot of what we’re focused on.” For more information on Delta Air Lines Insights on Leadership, visit https://www.metroatlantachamber.com/events/featured/insights-on-leadership   This is sponsored content.

By Jim Durrett, President of the Buckhead Coalition and Executive Director of the Buckhead CID In two weeks, on May 24, City of Atlanta voters have a chance to cast ballots to address more than their candidates of choice for certain elected offices. There are also three very important special election questions regarding the City’s critical infrastructure needs regarding public safety facilities, parks, public recreation facilities, roads and sidewalks. If approved, the three measures would yield $750 million out of an estimated $3 billion total need to address priorities approved by Atlanta’s City Council late last year.  A sampling of Buckhead projects on the list (developed by city staff and consultants using an objective needs-based analysis) includes $13 million to replace Fire Station #26, $7.8 million to resurface and improve safety along West Paces Ferry Road, $6 million for the Lenox Road complete street and multiuse path, $4.5 million for public safety improvements, and $2.9 million for Peachtree Hills recreational center improvements. Voters will decide whether to approve the issuance of two infrastructure bonds yielding $400 million combined. Voters will also decide whether to continue paying a four-tenths-of-a-penny sales tax for the next five years that will be dedicated to addressing important transportation needs. The sales tax, called a transportation special purpose local option sales tax, or TSPLOST, would yield $350 million over the five years the tax would be in effect. The City of Atlanta has a good webpage that describes the ballot measures, and Axios has posted a voting guide providing another take on the measures.  Voters in Buckhead may wonder what Buckhead’s share of the infrastructure improvement pie will be. They may also wonder if their city government can be trusted to deliver what is being promised if the measures pass. Here is my response to those hypothetical questions. Funding for Buckhead Projects The project lists for both the TSPLOST and infrastructure bonds are categorized by the district within which the project lies, or whether the project has city-wide benefit. Keep in mind that there are 12 districts in the City of Atlanta. So, if you total up the cost of the city-wide projects and subtract that from the total cost of the projects, you would expect the district in which you live to receive approximately one-twelfth of the remaining dollars. I did the math and here is what I found. Of the $400 million expected to be raised by the issuance of the two bonds, $144.3 million would go to city-wide projects, leaving $255.7 million to be split among the 12 districts. If each district were to receive an equal share, that would be approximately $21.3 million per district. Buckhead is represented predominantly by Districts 7 and 8. By my calculation, District 7 is to receive $18.3 million and District 8 is to receive $27.8 million. That is an average of more than $23 million per Buckhead district, greater than the expected average of $21.3 million per district. Considering the $350 million expected to be raised by the five-year TSPLOST, approximately $324.9 million will go to projects with city-wide benefit, leaving approximately $25.1 million to be spent on projects with a particular district benefit. That would yield an expected average of approximately $2.1 million per district. By my calculation, District 7 is to receive approximately $3 million in benefit, and District 8 is to receive approximately $6.75 million in benefit. That is an average of approximately $4.875 million per Buckhead district, much greater than the expected average per district. Delivering Projects As to whether the city government can be trusted to deliver on its promise, last week Councilmember Matt Westmoreland introduced legislation to help ensure just that. The legislation makes the project list attached to the initiative binding and requires City Council to oversee expenditure of any extra funds. In addition, the city now has a Department of Transportation that did not even exist when the last TSPLOST was passed and that has been working hard to build its project delivery capabilities. So please get familiar with these three ballot questions and what they will cost and deliver, and please go vote on May 24 if not before. Early voting is underway.   This is sponsored content.

Access to quality early childhood education programs is critical to the broader economy as it allows parents and guardians to work and earn, while giving children the foundational skills to succeed in life. A 2018 study by GEEARS and the Metro Atlanta Chamber found child care challenges led to at least $1.75 billion in losses in economic activity annually and an additional $105 million in lost tax revenue for Georgia.  The COVID-19 pandemic has only further illuminated child care challenges. As the nation moves from stabilization to recovery, more attention is being paid to the fragility of the child care system, in particular the tenuous operating model and the high cost of building and maintaining a high-quality supply of child care that meets the needs of families. A fundamental need if we are to create a thriving child care sector, is access to capital.  So what does the current child care capital infrastructure look like? A new study by Reinvestment Fund for the National Children’s Facilities Network (NCFN) sheds light on access to capital in the child care industry and the community ecosystem that is necessary to support a thriving sector. The study analyzed three major sources of funding for child care businesses: Small Business Administration (SBA) loan programs, Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs), and philanthropic support from foundations. The findings point to major gaps in the nation’s financial infrastructure and the significant challenges that child care providers face when they seek capital for their businesses.  Access to capital is an essential component of small business development in every sector, and child care is no exception. Startups and young businesses need capital to purchase the equipment and supplies that will make their businesses viable. Established businesses looking to grow also need capital to fund their expansions into new markets or develop the products and services that can fuel their growth. Even businesses not focused on expansion need capital for more mundane but essential activities like paying operating expenses, managing cashflow, refinancing debt, and replacing or repairing physical assets. National surveys of entrepreneurs find that between 90% and 95% of entrepreneurs required financing to start their businesses. Most entrepreneurs struggle to raise the capital their businesses need. For the entrepreneurs and small businesses working in the child care industry, the challenges financing startup and growth are magnified. For one, nearly half of center-based child care programs are nonprofits or affiliated with schools or other government entities, making them ineligible for federal small business lending programs. For businesses that can apply for small business or traditional bank loans, the economics of the child care industry make it difficult for entrepreneurs to satisfy traditional underwriting criteria.  Child care is a highly regulated industry with low margins and high fixed costs. Because many families are limited in what they can afford to pay and government subsidies do not cover the full cost of care, most programs operate with margins that barely cover their costs and limited reserves. A study of the finances of providers in Pennsylvania, for example, found that the average child care provider had cash reserves for just five weeks of operating expenses. On top of these challenges, many of the entrepreneurs running child care businesses face additional barriers to credit. A disproportionate share of entrepreneurs working in child care are women of color, a group that has historically faced the double disadvantage of gender and racial bias that limits access to traditional capital. While all of these factors make it challenging for child care businesses to access the kinds of financing they need, urgent capital needs and facilities improvements mount. States require child care facilities to meet rigorous and often expensive health and safety standards. These standards are integral to maintaining quality environments for our youngest children, but also make setting up or expanding a child care business expensive.  This reality was not lost on Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens, who last month, announced that the City of Atlanta will invest $5 million toward early education services in his State of the City address. As part of his announcement, he also urged the school system to match this commitment and challenged the private sector to raise $10 million to match the public sector’s contribution.    The investment will build on the work of PAACT, a city-wide alliance of public and private partners convened by GEEARS that is collaborating to improve learning, health, and well-being outcomes for Atlanta’s youngest children and their families. Reinvestment Fund is part of PAACT, which in the past two years, has leveraged more than $3 million to provide stabilization grants, capital grants, quality improvement initiatives and scholarships in Atlanta. Estimated Supply and Demand on the Westside, Atlanta and Five-County Metro Area based on the 2018 Westside Early Childhood Needs Assessment by School Readiness Consulting. As the Capitalizing Child Care report points out, child care providers are a strong fit for the mission and focus of many CDFIs and they are not restricted by a child care program’s for-profit or nonprofit status. Communities with the strongest child care sectors are those where stakeholders from the child care, philanthropic, banking, and community finance sectors work together to identify and fill gaps in the availability of resources that child care businesses need. As a CDFI working in the child care sector, we understand that the financial challenges facing the child care industry are too great for any single organization in the private sector to solve alone. However, by building connections between organizations, we have seen communities achieve amazing results, and we are confident that a similar approach in Atlanta will be successful.   This is sponsored content.

Michael Halicki, Executive Director for Park Pride,  and George Dusenbury Georgia State Director for the Trust for Public Land Atlanta’s reputation for its parks and recreation system is getting a lot of attention. Last week The Trust for Public Land (TPL) released the 2022 ParkScore ranking, which compares the park systems of the 100 largest cities in the US based on how they are meeting the needs of the communities they serve. Since TPL began ranking cities, Atlanta has never fared well. But this year, Atlanta vaulted from 49th to 27th out of 100, raising questions about the current state of our park system and where we are headed. View Atlanta’s ParkScore results here.  While Atlanta’s movement on the ParkScore is promising, no one has ever been satisfied with coming in 27th place. A lot of challenging work lies ahead to achieve the park system that Atlantans want and deserve.  Below, Michael Halicki (Executive Director of Park Pride) examines the categories upon which the ParkScore is built to better understand the local context of Atlanta‘s standing and identify the opportunities to progress. Then, George Dusenbury (Georgia State Director of The Trust for Public Land) frames Atlanta’s ParkScore ranking within a national context and provides insight into how Atlanta compares to other leading and peer cities.   The Local Context Michael Halicki  Acreage   Over the last few years, Atlanta has done big things well, adding significant acreage to the park inventory. In 2021 alone, the City opened Lake Charlotte Nature Preserve and Westside Park (among other acquisitions and expansions), making 496-acres of greenspace accessible to the community through these two projects alone. Despite these wins, the overall area dedicated to parkland in the city (6.2%) is still well below the median of the 100 ParkScore cities (19%). Atlanta’s population is exploding, and strategic greenspace acquisition of all sizes must similarly accelerate to meet the park and natural space needs of current and future residents.   Access  The 2022 ParkScore indicates that 77% of Atlanta’s population lives within a walkable half-mile of a park, a sizable increase from 72% in 2021, and above the median for the 100 ParkScore cities, which is 75%. This is great news. While the progress made is noteworthy, however, everyone deserves to live within walking distance of a park. And we still have a distance to go to accomplish this vision.   Investment  It is not enough that Atlantans simply have access to trails and parks, though—they need to be quality trails and parks. Parks that look nice, are well maintained, and that are comfortable to be in. The City of Atlanta must appropriately fund the park budget to achieve a level of maintenance that neighborhood parks need and have so far not seen, a level of investment which is not accurately reflected in this year’s ParkScore.   Amenities  According to the ParkScore data, Atlanta ranks above average in the Amenities category. The primary takeaway is clear and simple: great parks are those whose amenities meet the needs of the communities they serve. We must do what we can to ensure that as communities evolve, so do our parks.  Equity  Atlanta has work to do in terms of equity of access to parks along the lines of race and income. Data from the ParkScore indicates that:  residents living in neighborhoods of color have access to 48% less nearby park space than those living in White neighborhoods,   and residents living in lower-income neighborhoods have access to 33% less nearby park space than those in higher-income neighborhoods  Atlanta must do better. The Department of Parks & Recreation will soon make available to the public a park equity tool which they’ll use to ensure that investments and acquisitions are made equitably, prioritizing neighborhoods that have the most urgent need for park space and improvements. I am hopeful and optimistic that, with enhanced use of data in decision making within the department, we’ll see movement toward greater park equity in the future.  ***   The National Context George Dusenbury  Nationally, the City of Atlanta should be very proud of its 2022 ParkScore. In moving from 49th to 27th, Atlanta was The Trust for Public Land’s biggest mover. Continuing this momentum and getting to the top means overcoming a 100-year head start by the highest rated cities. Minneapolis and St. Paul invested early and heavily in their park systems – starting in the 1880s. Washington, DC was planned in the 1790s to provide access to parks, plazas and public spaces, and benefits from its many parks owned and maintained by the National Park Service.  If Atlanta is to catch up to these national leaders, we will have to do two things. First, we must continue to invest in innovative new parks that address our acreage gap while ensuring that all Atlanta residents have access to the outdoors. The Chattahoochee RiverLands, South River Forest and Community Schoolyards, for example, will allow Atlanta to continue to improve its park system and its ParkScore.  A closer look at TPL’s Community Schoolyards program illustrates how this could be done. In Atlanta, we partner with Park Pride, Atlanta Public Schools, and the Urban Land Institute to increase access to park-like space through community schoolyards that are designed by students, teachers, and neighbors as nature-rich hubs for outdoor play, community health, and climate resilience. They are open to the community as parks after school hours, on weekends, and over the summer. TPL launched the Atlanta Community Schoolyard program in 2019, opened our first two schools in February, and will complete the ten-site pilot program within a year.  Seventy three of the 100 cities ranked by ParkScore allow some use of schoolyards to function as park-like space. The City of Cincinnati greatly increased park access for its residents by converting all schools to community schoolyards – and moved from 8th to 4th in the national rankings. Similarly, increased public investment in Atlanta could allow the pilot to expand system-wide, increasing access and providing new greenspace to tens of thousands of residents.   Second, Atlanta will have to continue to …

Thirty years ago, from the ashes of a smoldering city impacted by violence and despair a beacon of hope emerged for the poor, the forgotten, and the disenfranchised: Operation HOPE. From its inception, HOPE has always been a source of inspiration for the potential that lies in every person, city, and community that’s uplifted with the transformative power of dignity, financial literacy, and opportunity. Three decades later, that mission is as relevant as ever. Following the tumultuous riots that had raged on in Los Angeles for days on end, I had a vision that I believed could profoundly impact and change the city forever. I believed that with financial literacy coaching and preparation, the average man and woman could lift themselves out of economic despair and begin experiencing the fullness of the American Dream. With tireless pursuit and coalition building, my dedicated team and I began launching HOPE Centers, which would later develop into what we now call HOPE Inside. These HOPE Inside locations have become a symbol of the collective work and partnership of banks and institutions that understand the importance of extending the life-giving power of financial freedom to their clients, communities, and employees. From them, we have empowered 2.4 million adults with financial dignity across nearly 1,500 U.S. cities and towns. 71% of clients have seen an increase of 47 points to their FICO scores. Additionally, we have created nearly 3,000 small businesses and have helped fund 11,000 homeowners with nearly $2 billion in mortgage loans.  We are successful because we are making a difference. Since 1992, Operation HOPE has become a champion for the underserved and Invisible Class. Following in the social justice tradition of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his lieutenant in the fight for equal rights and our Global Ambassador, Ambassador Andrew Young, we have been the financial advocate and banker for the American people. I have had the privilege and honor of taking this fight to the highest levels of government, ensuring that financial literacy is a priority for the nation by securing it as federal policy under the George W. Bush Administration. Further, our work led to the renaming of the Treasury Annex building in Washington D.C. to the Freedman’s Bank Building in honor of Frederick Douglass and President Lincoln’s vision for the economic empowerment of formerly enslaved people in America. Following the horrific attacks of 9/11, I saw the need to connect federal services and nonprofit entities to better serve communities across the nation in the face of disaster. This resulted in the birth of HOPE Coalition America (HCA), which is linked to one of our major programs, HOPE Inside Disaster. HOPE’s style of advocacy and public-private partnerships came to a head in 2020 when our nation dealt with twin pandemics of COVID-19 and a social justice reckoning that emerged in the wake of the death of George Floyd. Nearly 28 years after its inception, HOPE was called back to the forefront of public discourse, highlighting the social ills of Black people in America as well as the economically underserved across the nation. Our voice helped lead the charge towards change on the national level, as well as with our corporate partners and others seeking to make a difference. Out of this national revival of consciousness emerged new meaningful programs that extended our work into a new era, what I call the Third Reconstruction. National programs and initiatives like 1 Million Black Businesses (1MBB) powered by HOPE and Shopify, Financial Literacy for All (FL4A), and the Investors’ Bill of Rights provide an immediate solution with long-term consequences that everyone at every level can be a part of to help change our national narrative and course-correct towards collective growth and prosperity. Locally, we continue to be a trusted partner in helping to achieve financial wellness for all people – from corporate wellness initiatives like HOPE Inside the Workplace for adults down to the youngest citizens, as with the newly launched Atlanta Child Savings Program. As we celebrate 30 years of impact and uplift, we look forward to 30 more years of progress, economic empowerment, and opportunity for all Americans of every race, creed, and economic background. Today, I want to challenge you to ask yourself, “What does success look like to me?” Are you simply measuring success by cash flow? Your tangible assets? The number of vacations you take? Or are you measuring success by the lives you touch and the impact you make on the world? The answer doesn’t have to be either/or. Rather it can be both. I encourage you to continue being kind to others and do good to all while you continue your pursuit of economic excellence. If you’re looking for an opportunity to give back and get involved through your giving and participation in our work, initiatives, and programs, visit www.operationhope.org. Thank you for celebrating with us. Happy birthday, Operation HOPE!    This is sponsored content.

By Charles Redding, MedShare CEO & President The Columbia University Department of Pediatrics published that the incidence of childhood cancer is estimated to be around 10,938 cases per year in Central America. In Guatemala, nearly 900 children between the age of 0-14 years are diagnosed with childhood cancer each year. Unidad Nacional de Oncología Pediátrica is the only public hospital in Guatemala specializing in treating pediatric cancer, providing complete cancer care to approximately 450 new diagnoses each year. UNOP’s work is supported mostly by the diverse fundraising efforts of Fundación Ayúdame a Vivir (AYUVI), an organization dedicated exclusively to pediatric oncology, and the Ministry of Public health, allowing to provide all resources required to offer a high-quality treatment free of cost to children. Since its founding in 1997, AYUVI has helped increase the survival rate of pediatric cancer patients from 20% to 70%. UNOP currently treats over 500 children each year and has opened a satellite clinic in Quetzaltenango to provide additional services. Partnership with MedShare MedShare and AYUVI have a longstanding partnership dating back to 2012, when MedShare sent its first shipment of aid in December of that year, sponsored by the Kimberly-Clark Foundation (KCF). KCF would go on to fund a total of 7 shipments of high-quality medical supplies and equipment valued at over $1.9 million to AYUVI between 2012 – 2017. These shipments were part of MedShare’s first maternal and child health initiative in Central America and ensured that key public hospitals would have the adequate resources to serve their patients year-over-year without spending limited budget resources on critical medical supplies and equipment. Over the past 10 years MedShare and AYUVI have partnered together to deliver critical medical supplies and equipment to pediatric cancer patients in Guatemala, serving roughly 125,000 patients across the country in the process. Most recently, MedShare provided $250,000 worth of examination gloves to AYUVI in support of COVID mitigation efforts at UNOP and throughout Guatemala’s public health sector. This project was made possible by Kaiser Permanente, which both funded the effort to redistribute PPE abroad and provided over 1 million examination gloves included in this shipment. “We want to thank you and the entire MedShare team for the wonderful donation you sent us. These pictures show how it has impacted the treatment of children in Guatemala, (as have all) the donations you sent us.” – Sarah Altalef, Directora de Especie y Voluntariado Medical supply and equipment donations from MedShare help children in Guatemala with cancer, and their families continue to benefit from high-quality services free of charge and provides support for improvements in infrastructure and education needed to improve the quality of life and survival rates of children with pediatric illnesses.   This is sponsored content.

By Ashley Bell Amid the widespread racial justice movement that emerged last year following the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and others, many large corporations were lauded for their work combatting the racial inequities that have plagued our nation since its inception. While these companies have certainly helped advance the cause, their efforts have fallen short of truly addressing the deeply entrenched inequalities in Black communities across the country. To be truly effective in this effort, we need companies and organizations of all shapes and sizes to step up to address the pressing issues of diversity, equity and inclusion, and provide resources to accelerate this much needed change. While this can seem like a daunting task, there are fortunately many groups that are already engaged that can provide a roadmap for those looking to get involved. Arguably one of the most well-known organizations taking up the mantle is the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks, which is refinancing the construction loan for the team’s Emory Sports Medicine Complex with a syndicate of Black-owned banks. The $35 million loan, which was facilitated with the support of the National Black Bank Foundation (NBBF), marked the first time that a professional sports franchise took out a significant loan that was underwritten exclusively by Black banks. To understand the significance of this loan, it is important to know the state of Black banks in the country today. Black banks are often the primary source for fair, non-predatory lending within the African American community, yet since 2001, their numbers have fallen by more than half. In 1976, there were 50 Black banks spread across the country, but according to the FDIC’s latest count, that number is now just 18. The loan taken out by the Hawks not only helps Black banks as it allows them to compete with the major commercial banks, but it is also a win for the Black community. The dearth of access to basic financial services in many Black neighborhoods has forced underserved populations to rely on predatory businesses like check-cashing and payday loans. But by supporting the health and growth of Black banks, the Hawks are not just helping these vital financial institutions but are ensuring equitable access to capital for underserved communities of color and helping close America’s racial wealth gap. It is not just professional sports teams and household names, however, that are working to upend racial inequities. There are many cases of less well-known organizations making a big impact in Black communities throughout the country. For example, there is the Atlanta-based real estate firm Ornstein-Schuler Investments (OSI), which has donated $25,000 to the NBBF to help modernize the Black banking sector. While OSI has contributed for the past two decades to improve the lives of the people in the communities they operate in, this particular donation could not come at a more opportune time. In 2019, 49 percent of Black households were underbanked or completely unbanked compared to just 15 percent of white households, according to the Federal Reserve. A large reason for this is the sad fact that the Black community has very few trustworthy banking options at its disposal. Investing in Black banks – whether it be by introducing new digital tools or expanding the number physical branch locations in minority neighborhoods – means also making an investment in Black-owned businesses and Black neighborhoods. That is why the Hawks’ and OSI’s contributions to the NBBF are so important to help modernize the black banking sector and ensure Black-owned businesses not only survive but thrive. The Atlanta Hawks and Ornstein-Schuler Investments are two great examples of organizations of different sizes doing their part to combat structural racism and inequities in Atlanta and beyond. But they can’t be the only ones. To make a real and lasting change, businesses and organizations large and small need to step up, speak out and make a difference through their voices and their donations. As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once famously said “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter,” so do not be silent. Ashley Bell is a partner at the global law firm Dentons and co-founded the National Black Bank Foundation, which facilitated a first-in-professional sports deal between the Atlanta Hawks and 11 Black-owned banks.   This is sponsored content.

Westside Future Fund (WFF) is excited to be supporting thought leadership in the SaportaReport on Atlanta’s Historic Westside. At the October 15 Transform Westside Summit we announced the Westside Future Fund (WFF) PRI Program!  A program-related investment (PRI) is low-cost capital that not-for-profit organizations can use to spur community development. Thanks to charitable support from Truist and PNC banks, WFF will provide low-cost loans to small, minority-owned businesses based in or serving the Historic Westside.  This program builds on a pilot initially funded by AT&T and the Beloved Benefit.  Our goal is to mobilize people with current, historical, or aspirational ties to the community to organically support the Westside’s economic development.  The October 15 Transform Westside Summit highlighted the importance of economic empowerment of African American entrepreneurs with three special guest panelists – Courtney Smith from PNC Bank, Paul Wilson, Jr. from the Russell Innovation Center for Entrepreneurs (RICE), and Keitra Bates of Marddy’s Shared Kitchen and Marketplace.  A common theme from the panelists was the need for equity in access to capital for Black business owners.  Keitra Bates noted that white startups have access to $100,000 from family, on average, while for black startups, it’s only $11,000. In June 2020, PNC Bank announced its bold $1 billion commitment to playing a role in combatting racism and discrimination.  During the Summit, Courtney elaborated on PNC’s commitment to the Westside by helping end systemic racism by donating to WFF for program-related investments.  Keitra Bates is a recipient of a WFF PRI that she used to renovate and expand her shared kitchen.  Marddy’s focus is on economic inclusion, business development, and growth opportunities for local food entrepreneurs with their primary service groups of people of color, women, and other marginalized populations. With the help of RICE, the PRI recipients will have access to resources to innovate, grow, create jobs, and build wealth. Part business generator, innovation lab, and museum, RICE invests in African American entrepreneurs, strengthens businesses, and creates community. We have many miles to eliminate the wealth gap between white and black startups.  Thanks to our panelists and the organization they represent, we are making progress and hopefully serving as models for others!  Check out our newsletter to learn more about the October 15 Summit. This is sponsored content.

By Angel Maldonado, Co-Chair, Community Impact Committee, Mary Benton, Co-Chair Community Impact Committee  United Way of Greater Atlanta is on a journey to improve the lives of children and families throughout the Greater Atlanta area. Nearly half a million children in our region live in communities with low or very low child well-being. Through our Child Well-Being Mission Fund, we invest in nonprofit partners that provide the supports necessary to strengthen the community. We recognize that it takes many different nonprofit partners to meet the complex needs of families. In January, we opened a request for proposals for our 2022 Child Well Being Mission Fund with grant awards being announced in May. For this round of investments, we focused on new nonprofit partners with targeted funding opportunities for small; grassroots; and Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC)-led organizations. Overall, the median budget size for the organizations funded was $550,000. We also debuted organizational capacity building opportunities to provide partners with an opportunity to strengthen their organizational processes in order to undergird their programmatic efforts. Overall, 88% of the organizations funded have a budget size of under $2,000,000 and more than half of those receiving grant awards are BIPOC organizations.   “I am very impressed with the intentionality and thoughtfulness during this open request for proposals, and how amazing it is to be able to transition our investments in this way,” says Angel Maldonado, Co-Chair, Community Impact Committee. I know the team has been working extremely hard. I am really inspired that new organizations had the chance to receive funding, and I love the fact that even for those that didn’t get a chance to be funded in this round, the team will continue to work with them and continue to be a resource to them.” United Way received a total of 122 applications to review across all investment portfolio areas. After a thorough review of each application, United Way is pleased to announce that 32 applicants were awarded grants ranging from $25,000 – $150,000 under the following strategies:  Strong Learners:  Build Reading Skills – 4 grants Increase Healthcare Navigation – 1 grant College and Career Ready: Career Pathway – 2 grants Economic Stability: Secure Housing – 1 grant Basic Needs and Equitable Access – 6 grants  Build Wealth – 6 grants Brighter Future:  Strengthen Resident Leadership & Learning – 3 grants Community Organizing & Civic Engagement – 3 grants  Capacity Building:  Organizational Capacity Building​ – 5 grants Resiliency Planning Capacity Building – 1 grant  In this funding cycle, investments were also made through our strategic partnership with the Georgia Division of Family and Children’s Services (DFCS) to address learning loss​ through our College and Career Ready investment portfolio area. Those grant awards are scheduled to be announced by the end of May,” says Mary Benton, Co-Chair Community Impact Committee. I participated as an independent reviewer for grant applications in this open request for proposals. It was very interesting to be able to see the application process and what United Way is asking of the organizations in order to gauge if they will be a good fit to help us reach our goals. I was very impressed with the process and was happy to do it.” Putting our community’s children on an equitable path to fulfilling their potential requires us to work together toward a single, shared agenda. United Way knows that together, we can ensure this is an equitable, thriving community. That is the work of the Child Well-Being Mission Fund.  For more information on the grant awards for our open request for proposals or to donate to the child well-being mission fund, please click here.   This is sponsored content.

Imagine a world where the possibility of bacterial infections makes surgery insanely risky. According to research presented by Team Apocalypse, one of six teams to participate in the Healthcare Futuring Competition 2040 held earlier this year, a world where antibiotics no longer work is less than two decades away. “By 2040 we will have run out of effective antibiotics due to antibiotic-resistant organisms,” explained first-place Team Apocalypse’s Vikram Varadarajan.  Organized by the Goizueta Healthcare Association’s vice president of conferences and competitions, Humza Mirza, in association with Renee Dye, associate professor in the practice of organization and management, the competition tasked students with developing scenarios of what the U.S. health care system might look like in 2040. Mirza saw the competition as an opportunity to showcase Emory University’s strong public health and health care background and “bring in a host of diverse perspectives from across Emory,” he says. “This was an opportunity to create a unique competition, something more than a typical case competition.” Students from Goizueta Business School, Emory School of Medicine, Emory College of Arts and Sciences, Rollins School of Public Health and James T. Laney School of Graduate Studies were among the Emory schools represented in the competition. The top three teams took home a total of $5,000 in prize money. Dye sees the competition as a way to use “not only analytic capabilities but the creativity that you don’t always get a chance to exercise in graduate courses of study,” she explained during the competition, which was held at Goizueta Business School. “I love the way that this [competition] brings them together.” What challenges will our health care future hold? In the future described by Team Apocalypse, antibiotics, commonly given to patients after surgeries to ward off infection, no longer work. If the risk of infection from antimicrobial-resistant organisms outweighs the benefits of most surgeries, they contend that surgeries — especially elective ones — will decrease dramatically. Since surgeries makes up about half of hospital revenue, without innovations that stave off bacterial infections, by 2040, elective surgeries will take place far less often and hospital profits will suffer a serious blow, Team Apocalypse predicted. An aging population and an increased minority population will make matters worse due to increased disease susceptibility. The team painted a bleak backdrop where a combination of factors would lead to a reduction in the workforce and an annual loss in global economic productivity of $70 trillion by 2040. On a brighter note, Team Apocalypse’s scenario did include areas of innovation that might ward off catastrophe: RNA vaccine development, the use of CRISPR technology to boost individuals’ immune systems and preventative therapies. For a future scenario the judges deemed all too plausible, Team Apocalypse took home first place and $3,000. The benefits of diverse teams Allegra Porter, a member of the Emory United team, participated not only because she is pursuing a career in health care, but because she wanted to work with students from other graduate programs. “My teammates’ approach to the issue added new depth to my views and highlighted things that I hadn’t considered before — things that we don’t necessarily learn in business school,” Porter says. “Something that has become clear to me throughout my time in the program is how critical diversity is in a team. Not only of opinion, but of background, culture and expertise.” Think big and develop a strong narrative The presentations that most resonated with the judges “articulated a single vision of the future that was based in plausible trend analysis but that didn’t spend so much time fixated on the trends themselves that it failed to develop the narrative of the future,” explains Dye. The judges were impressed by those teams with a strong point of view “about a simple way that the world is going to evolve,” she adds, and teams that were “willing to stack the deck behind it.” In addition to Dye, the panel of judges included Linda Matzigkeit, chief administrative officer, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta; Josh Schwartz, head of business development, Verily Life Sciences; Julie Schiffman, chief delivery officer, Aetion; and John Kim, Goizueta senior lecturer of organization and management. Kim teaches a health care strategy class at Goizueta and is acutely aware of how fragmented, complex, inefficient and fluid U.S. health care is. “It’s helpful to think over the long-range future to imagine what health care could look like — for better and worse,” Kim says. “Thinking big gives us permission to look past tactics and discuss national health care strategy.” Second place and $1,500 went to Team CAS for its scenario that predicted a more robust preventative health care system. Comprised of three current Emory medical students, Team CAS noted that 94% of medical residents feel it is their duty to counsel patients on nutrition and lifestyle issues, but only 14% of those same residents feel they are equipped to do so. The team predicted that between now and 2040, the American Association of Medical Colleges would recognize this shortcoming and mandate lifestyle medicine courses in its core curriculum. “Academic systems will start to focus more and more on preventative health care and put more research money into preventative health care,” says Abinand Rejimon, an MD/PhD student. Team CAS added that improvements in remote patient monitoring and electronic medical record integration would boost the effectiveness of preventative treatments. Team REP Healthcare, comprised of masters of public health candidates at Rollins School of Public Health, took home third place and $500 for its scenario in which health care delivery models see major improvements due to lessons learned from the pandemic. In addition to predicting an exponential rise in telemedicine services, the team foresaw a future affected by hospital consolidation — and the subsequent lack of competition and increased prices — as well as an increase in patient treatment options outside of the hospital setting. During its presentation, the team also predicted a hefty contribution from technology and data — including the use of artificial intelligence for drug delivery and diagnosis as well as the adoption of Blockchain …

By GEEARS  On April 12th, GEEARS: Georgia Early Education Alliance for Ready Students hosted a luncheon called Leadership Matters. It was a festive gathering in a sun-drenched banquet hall at the Loudermilk Conference Center. We honored Rep. Katie Dempsey for her visionary legislation on behalf of Georgia’s children and celebrated retiring GEEARS partners, Pam Tatum, the CEO of Quality Care for Children, and Joe Perreault, from the Professional Family Child Care Alliance of Georgia.  The centerpiece of the event was a dazzling conversation between GEEARS board president, Stephanie Blank and Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, who became famous seven years ago for exposing the Flint, Michigan water crisis.  You wouldn’t think a discussion about government indifference and the devastating impact of lead poisoning could also be inspiring and entertaining. But in the hands of Stephanie and “Dr. Mona,” it truly was.   Dr. Mona spoke with the matter-of-factness of a pediatrician who’s been dealing with the horror of lead for a very long time. She told us about the callous decisions of 20th century American entrepreneurs and policy makers, which resulted in a preponderance of lead in paint and plumbing. She explained that pulverized particles of old lead paint can gather in the crevices and corners of old homes where babies crawl. She told us about the profound and incurable brain damage that can result from lead poisoning and how the youngest, smallest children are the most vulnerable to it. And she surprised no one with the observation that lead is a bigger problem in impoverished and Black and Brown communities than it is in wealthy, white ones.       But she also encouraged us to catalyze our despair into action. There is much we can do.  To start, we must encourage Governor Kemp to sign into law HB 1355—a bill sponsored by Rep. Dempsey that will lead to more effective lead testing, abatement and mitigation. To reduce lead hazard, HB 1355 would update Georgia law to align with CDC guidelines defining elevated blood lead level and the standard that triggers public health intervention. It would aid in the early identification of children with elevated blood lead levels to reduce harm and prevent further exposure. Finally, it would protect children under age six from lead exposure found in rental housing, schools and child care. GEEARS worked with partners during the legislative session to advocate for the passage of this vital legislation and the governor must sign it by May 14th so that it becomes law.  You can add your voice to this advocacy by contacting the governor before the bill’s deadline.  You can also encourage any Georgia public school to partner with Clean Water for Georgia Kids to test the school’s drinking and cooking taps for lead. This is an innovative organization that hopes to cover every base in the state (or rather, every water tap) by empowering citizen scientists to test their water and mitigate lead content with point-of-use filters.  Finally, you can educate yourself by reading Dr. Mona’s book about her journey as a medical activist, What the Eyes Don’t See.  At GEEARS, we’ve always approached our advocacy holistically. Education can only succeed when children—and their families and communities—are healthy. When it comes to this issue, health can only be achieved if we act together, and act urgently, to get the lead out of our children’s homes, their schools, and their sippy cups of water.    This is sponsored content.