After more than five years as president of the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation, Fay Twersky is planning to retire once her successor is on board. Twersky’s tenure at the Blank Foundation, which began in February 2021, will be known for its dramatic increase in giving. In 2020, the foundation awarded $67 million. In 2025, […]
Author Archives: Maria Saporta
Maria Saporta, executive editor, is a longtime Atlanta business, civic and urban affairs journalist with a deep knowledge of our city, our region and state. From 2008 to 2020, she wrote weekly columns and news stories for the Atlanta Business Chronicle. Prior to that, she spent 27 years with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, becoming its business columnist in 1991. Maria received her Master’s degree in urban studies from Georgia State and her Bachelor’s degree in journalism from Boston University. Maria was born in Atlanta to European parents and has two young adult children. She launched SaportaReport in February 2009.
Posted inMaria's Metro
Coca-Cola’s new CEO Henrique Braun: ‘Atlanta is my hometown’
Henrique Braun, who has been CEO of Coca-Cola Co. for less than two months, already is making his presence felt in Atlanta. Braun welcomed Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens to Coca-Cola’s headquarters on May 14 to be part of the FIFA World Cup Trophy Tour and to highlight Atlanta as one […]
Posted inMaria's Metro
Atlanta, please give Ted Turner his due
For years, Ted Turner called me Marcia. Finally, one evening I got the courage to tell him my name was Maria. It was the night Ted told the world, while sitting next to then-Atlanta Mayor Bill Campbell at an event in Buckhead, that he was not going to let his Atlanta Hawks leave downtown Atlanta, […]
Posted inLatest News
U.S. Soccer training center opens thanks to Arthur Blank and Dan Cathy
It’s official. Metro Atlanta is the new home for soccer in the United States. The Arthur M. Blank U.S. Soccer National Training Center officially opened on May 7 at its new home in Fayette County, bringing together a cadre of civic and corporate leaders. Two central changemakers were instrumental in bringing the national facility to […]
Posted inColumns
Rollins Inc. welcomes diversity on its board; still has in-person annual meetings
Rollins Inc., a legacy Atlanta pest control company, captures a unique blend of Southern traditions and societal evolution. As a close observer of Rollins for decades, change has been afoot as the company has transitioned from having only white males on its board (from 1964 to 2015) to one with three women and two Black […]
Posted inMaria's Metro
Seeking equity in Atlanta’s economic development strategies
When Eloisa Klementich started writing a book about equitable economic development five years ago, “equity” was not yet a dirty word. Klementich, president and CEO of Invest Atlanta, , the city’s economic development agency, wrote a book based on her observations of how government and civic entities can ensure their programs and policies foster greater […]
Posted inMaria's Metro
Let’s protect Piedmont Park’s green space while hosting special events
As a Midtown resident who has lived within two blocks of Piedmont Park for more than 50 years, I’ve seen it all. That includes the beloved legacy Atlanta Arts Festival (now defunct), Music Midtown (now Shaky Knees), the Peachtree Road Race, the Atlanta Jazz Festival, the Atlanta Dogwood Festival and countless other events large and […]
Posted inMaria's Metro
Mayor Andre Dickens on ACP Chair Andrew Schlossberg: ‘He’s all in’
The influential Atlanta Committee for Progress (ACP) held its April 10 meeting at Invesco’s headquarters in the Midtown Union development. The location was not a coincidence. It was the first ACP meeting to be chaired by Andrew Schlossberg, CEO of Atlanta-based Invesco, and it was the public-private group’s first quarterly meeting of 2026. ACP consists […]
Posted inLatest News
Arts-mental health legislation unanimously embraced by GA House
Before the close of the 2026 legislative session, the Georgia House doubled down on a resolution supporting the arts as a way to treat mental illness. The stage was set in mid-February when the House Special Rules committee approved House Resolution 1007, making Georgia the first state in the nation to pass a legislative measure […]
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Downtown’s A.J. Robinson to retire after 23 years
A.J. Robinson, at the executive committee meeting of Central Atlanta Progress (CAP) Wednesday morning, announced his intention to retire from the Downtown improvement organization. In an exclusive interview, Robinson reflected on his tenure with CAP. “When I took this job, the 191 building was 17 percent occupied,” Robinson said. “The Macy’s building was empty. The […]
Posted inColumns
The Carters live on through Habitat International’s Carter Work Project in Atlanta
Habitat for Humanity International is 50 years old this year, the same year of the 40th Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter Work Project. “How appropriate for our 50th year to come back to Atlanta, as we were born in Georgia,” said Jonathan Reckford, president and CEO of Habitat for Humanity International. “Obviously there’s no replacing President and Mrs. […]
Posted inLatest News
Georgia Works makes its new home in the restored Odd Fellows building
Georgia Works reached a major milestone on April 1 when Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens attended the ribbon-cutting celebration of the nonprofit’s new home in the Odd Fellows building on Auburn Avenue. Georgia Works is dedicated to breaking the cycle of homelessness and criminal recidivism by offering housing and employment to […]
Posted inColumns
Let people design public spaces
Some truths are self-evident. Spaces work best when they are designed for the people, by the people. I was reminded of this simple (but not often followed) truth when I attended the March 23 Parks & Greenspace Conference, organized by Park Pride each year. Please read the article my colleague – Delaney Tarr – wrote […]
Posted inLatest News
Atlantans celebrate Andrew Young’s 94th birthday
Although it was 13 days after his actual 94th birthday, Andrew Young was feted in style on March 25. Dozens of dignitaries gathered at the Retreat by the Gathering at the Interlock to pay their respects to former Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young, who has a long line of claims to fame: Civil rights leader who […]
Posted inColumns
Georgia legislature first in nation to link arts and mental health
Wait a minute. We’re first? Georgia is the first state in the nation to pass a statewide legislative measure linking the arts to improved mental health outcomes. Usually, Georgia ranks at the bottom when it comes to per-capita funding for the arts – an embarrassing fact for a state that enjoys promoting itself as a […]
Posted inLatest News
Coca-Cola announces $4.3 million in World Cup legacy donations
The annual State of the City Business Address once again crystallized the relationship between City Hall, the Coca-Cola Co. and the Atlanta Committee for Progress. The evening event filled Atlanta’s Symphony Hall, complete with a welcome from Hala Moddelmog, president and CEO of the Woodruff Arts Center. It was the third consecutive time the event […]
Posted inMaria's Metro
Stuck in reverse: An anti-transit climate persists at the Georgia legislature
As congestion in our region gets worse, some Republican state legislators are proposing bills to limit the expansion of transit in metro Atlanta. Specifically, two bills that have been percolating in this year’s General Assembly are clearly anti-transit. One of them, HB 1377, sponsored by Rep. John Carson (R-Cobb County), would have put an eight-year […]
Posted inColumns
Atlanta’s Jewish leaders can draw from city’s civil rights history
The Atlanta Jewish Film Festival’s mission calls for cultural understanding and using film to promote dialogue and bridge gaps between different cultural, ethnic and religious communities. The mission draws on Atlanta’s history as the cradle of the civil rights movement and a place that has championed human rights around the world. Unfortunately, right in the […]
Posted inColumns
Raphael Bostic: ‘The work is not done’
Raphael Bostic moved to Atlanta in 2017 to become president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta – breaking norms as the first Black and first openly gay president of one of the 12 Federal Reserve banks. Bostic, 59, stepped down at the end of February from what he called “the best job” he’s ever […]
Posted inColumns, Maria's Metro
The sad saga of the historic Paschal’s hotel and restaurant
For more than 20 years, one of Atlanta’s most notable civil rights venues has sat vacant – waiting for new life. It’s hard to overstate the role Paschal’s has played in Atlanta’s civil rights movement. Two brothers, Robert Paschal and James Paschal, began operating as a sandwich spot in 1947. Then, in 1959, the two […]
