Author Archives: Maria Saporta

By Maria Saporta

Atlanta’s civic leaders are standing by, ready to help provide services to the homeless men currently living in the Peachtree-Pine shelter in downtown Atlanta.

The United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta Thursday announced that it has established Operation RESPECT, a community plan to provide services and resources to the homeless men who have been staying in the shelter.

Operation RESPECT stands for: Respond. Educate. Serve. Protect. Effective. Care. Transition.

The Peachtree-Pine shelter has been

By Maria Saporta

The second annual France-Atlanta symposium opened Wednesday — forging partnerships in business, technology, education and culture between the French and Georgians.

France’s ambassador to the United States, Francois Delattre, said such a comprehensive partnership does not exist anywhere else in the country. In fact, Delattre said the France-Atlanta event could become a model and an inspiration for other U.S. regions and France.

France-Atlanta was the brainchild of Pascal LeDeunff, the French consul general in Atlanta.

By Maria Saporta

The Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation — hoping to bring new life to 10 special places in the state — has come out with its latest “Paces in Peril” list.

The 10 historic locations are sprinkled all over the state — from Rutherford Hall at the University of Georgia in Athens to Chattahoochee Park Pavilion in Gainesville to the W.W. Law House in Savannah to the Secondary Industrial High School in Columbus.

The 2012 Places In Peril list includes the historic railroad buildings including AMTRAK’s Brookwood station on Peachtree street to the 1912 Norfolk Southern buildings next to the gulch in downtown Atlanta.

By Maria Saporta

Atlanta is the third largest market for Wells Fargo, according to the bank’s CEO John Stumpf, who spoke to the Atlanta Press Club at a Newsmakers luncheon on Monday at the Commerce Club.

But despite the city’s importance to the bank, there is no Atlantan on Wells Fargo’s board.

“If we could find the right person from Georgia, that would be welcomed,” Stumpf said in an off-the cuff interview after his talk. “That is one of the things we absolutely would like to do.”

Stumpf said that when looking for new board directors, the bank looks for “a diversity of experience and a diversity of geography” as well as other factors. “We are always looking for great directors,” he added.

By Maria Saporta

Thanks to a multi-million dollar gift from philanthropist Bernie Marcus, Grady Memorial Hospital opened its new and expanded Level 1 trauma center Friday — transforming the formerly dingy emergency facilities into a brightly-lit, modern and state-of-the-art center.

That is the latest project that’s part of a $325 million campaign to upgrade and improve the largest public hospital in the State of Georgia. The fundraising effort so far totals nearly $319 million, meaning about another $6 million needs to be raised.

One of the major donors to the campaign was Marcus, who contributed $20 million to Grady for two major projects. Just 18 months ago, Grady held a ribbon-cutting ceremony opening the Marcus Stroke and Neuroscience Center. That was followed by Friday’s ribbon-cutting of the $7 million Marcus Trauma Center.

By Maria Saporta

Hundreds of people turned out Wednesday night at the Mason Murer Gallery to celebrate the PATH Foundation’s 20th year anniversary.

The “cocktail buffet” was hosted by Cindy and Bill Fowler, who is chairman of the PATH Foundation; and Sarah and Jim Kennedy, who have been the most generous donors to the organization.

“It’s amazing that a small group of cyclists got together and said: ‘Let’s build a few trails before the 1996 Olympics,’” Jim Kennedy said at the event. “Today we have 170 miles of multiuse trails around the City of Atlanta and Georgia.”

By Maria Saporta

The Latin American Association has eliminated its CEO position and has streamlined its organizational structure, according to an announcement Oct. 19.

The restructuring includes making Jeffrey Tapia, the association’s chief operating officer, will become responsible for leading the organization. Tapia has been working for LAA for several years and has worked with other Latino organizations for more than 30 years.

“We are appreciative of the leadership that former CEO Millie Irizarry has provided the LAA during these last three years,” said Carmelo Alvarez, chair of the nonprofit organization and an agency field executive for State Farm. “With the economic challenges facing nonprofits,

By Maria Saporta

The Atlanta Regional Commission’s search committee has selected long-time Atlantan Doug Hooker to be the new executive director of the regional planning agency.

The ARC board will vote on Hooker’s nomination in the next couple of weeks, possibly at a rescheduled board meeting to permit a 14-day advance notice.

Hooker currently is employed as vice president and director of Southern States for Atkins engineering and services firm that was formerly-known as PBS&J.

The search committee, chaired by Cherokee County Chair Buzz Ahrens, conducted a national search before unanimously picking Hooker as its lead candidate.

By Maria Saporta

In 1994, the Atlanta Housing Authority was one of the worst in the country.

“It was basically managing substandard housing units in a substandard way,” recalled Henry Cisneros, who was secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development at the time. “It was one of those authorities that HUD was considering taking over under my watch.”

That’s when Renee Lewis Glover, who had been serving on the AHA board, agreed to quit her job as a corporate attorney to become CEO of the troubled authority.

“Renee brought excellence,” said Cisneros, who was in Atlanta on Oct. 7 to participate in a national conference. “She did what I would assert is the best job running a housing authority in the country.

By Maria Saporta

All eyes were on Arthur Blank at the Georgia Conservancy’s annual “ecoBenefête” dinner Thursday, Oct. 13 at Puritan Mills.

Blank, the co-founder of the Home Depot and the owner of the Atlanta Falcons, was accepting the “Distinguished Conservationist” award on behalf of his family and the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation.

The Georgia Conservancy had made the decision to honor both Arthur Blank and his wife, Stephanie, before the couple announced that they were separating after 16 years of marriage.

A video tribute to the Blanks highlighted all the contributions that the couple and the family foundation had made to the environment.

By Maria Saporta

Two sentiments dominated Tuesday’s Atlanta Regional Transportation Roundtable meeting.

First, there was a feeling of relief and exhilaration that the diverse interests in the region were able to find consensus.

And the second feeling was that now it was up to the state to become a full partner in the development and funding of transit in the Atlanta region.

“It feels good,” said Tim Lee, chairman of the Cobb Commission after the roundtable was able to agree on a strategy for the remaining four amendments to the draft list of transportation projects.

By Maria Saporta

If Elisabeth Marchant has her way, Atlanta will become a hub of women’s issues and collaboration.

Three years ago, Marchant started Womenetics, a global media platform that reaches readers in more than 140 countries.

And then Marchant started the annual Womenetics conference in 2010 bringing thought leaders from around the country and the world to focus of four different areas — economic employment, health and hunger, education and literacy, and human rights.