MAP International held the annual Bill Foege Global Health Awards May 15. Much to the delight of those attending the event at the Delta Flight Museum, Bill Foege was a featured guest. Foege, 89, picked Atlanta to be his home 65 years ago because it was the home of the federal Centers for Disease Control […]
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
Pat Mitchell on Sundance Film Festival: “Atlanta was a serious contender”
Atlantan Pat Mitchell has been part of the Sundance Institute and the Sundance Film Festival for decades. Mitchell joined the board in 1994 after getting to know Robert Redford when she was working on a documentary series about native Americans for Ted Turner. Redford asked her to join the Sundance board, and she served as […]
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YWCA Greater Atlanta reaches $19.5 million goal
The YWCA Greater Atlanta, founded at Spelman College in 1902, just celebrated one of its most eventful weeks ever. Danita Knight, president and CEO of the YWCA Greater Atlanta, announced it has raised its goal of $19.5 million to renovate the Phillis Wheatley YWCA on the Westside, a project that’s been years in the works. […]
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CCI’s Rohit Malhotra announces run for Atlanta City Council president
The race for Atlanta’s City Council President is becoming more competitive. Rohit Malhotra, the founder of the Center for Civic Innovation (CCI), is running for the office. He filed his paperwork on May 9, becoming the second candidate in the race. Atlanta City Council member Marci Overstreet announced she is running for the position in […]
Posted inMaria's Metro
Success on Sunset: restoring historic 220 Sunset for affordable housing
It was 2019, and the demolition permit had been issued. 220 Sunset Avenue — the apartment building developed by Rev. Maynard Jackson Sr. and where his family lived — appeared destined for the scrap heap. There was such history in the red brick building. The Jackson family lived on the top floor of the building, […]
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New plan to enhance Piedmont Park will need our support
What an undertaking! The Piedmont Park Conservancy unveiled its new comprehensive plan on April 24 that will guide the future growth, maintenance and use of Atlanta’s signature green space. The 28th annual Landmark Lunch provided the venue of the “Big Reveal” with a keynote speech by Thomas Woltz, senior principal of Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects. […]
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David Jernigan, diagnosed with ALS, leaving BGCMA on May 1
It was Nov. 21, 2024. David Jernigan bravely posted on LinkedIn that he had made the “difficult decision” to transition out of his role as president and CEO of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Atlanta (BGCMA), a job he’s held for five years. He wrote: For several months, I’ve been experiencing challenges with […]
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Front Porch opens its front door to Auburn Avenue
An outpouring of civic leaders and dignitaries participated in the ribbon-cutting and unveiling of the first phase of the Front Porch project on Auburn Avenue – just two blocks west of Ebeneezer Baptist Church. The entrance to the Front Porch felt like an open-air living room that provided a welcoming entrance to the $37.5 million […]
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Brian Hill says it’s his last year running the Atlanta Dogwood Festival
In the closing hour of the 2025 Atlanta Dogwood Festival, Brian Hill stood alone, watching the last musical performance of the three-day-long festival. “I’m having an emotional moment,” said Hill, while fighting back tears. “I love this festival.” Hill has been executive director of the Atlanta Dogwood Festival for 17 years — steering the event […]
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The past is present in Alfred Uhry’s plays about Atlanta
What a uniquely Atlanta tale. Atlanta-born playwright Alfred Uhry was honored at the Temple on March 30 – weaving together several strands of religious and racial history and prejudice. Uhry is an acclaimed author and playwright who has won two Tonys, an Oscar and the 1988 Pulitzer Prize for dramatic writing. He is best known […]
Posted inMaria's Metro
Former Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin finally getting her due
Although she was only mayor for two terms, from 2002 to 2010, Shirley Franklin has been a force in Atlanta dating from first term of Mayor Maynard Jackson, elected in 1973, when she served as his commissioner of cultural affairs. On Thursday, March 27, Franklin was honored with the naming of several blocks of Central […]
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Cherry Street Energy’s unique model to sell solar power to major customers
Michael Chanin knows exactly when the seed of Cherry Street Energy was planted. It was Friday, Sept. 18, 2015. “It was the light bulb moment,” Chanin said. “That was the seminal launch.” He was meeting with attorney Steven Richman at the Cherokee Town Club for a Friday fried chicken meal. Richman asked Chanin if he […]
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Alliance Theatre’s Mike Schleifer headed to NYC’s Lincoln Center
After 11 years in Atlanta as managing director of the Alliance Theatre, Mike Schleifer will become managing director of the Lincoln Center Theatre in New York City by the end of 2025. During his tenure in Atlanta, Schleifer has led two major renovation projects for the Alliance Theatre — a $36 million renovation of the […]
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ACP meeting: World Cup will be an opportunity to show off Atlanta
The 2026 FIFA World Cup was the major topic of discussion during the March 14 meeting of the Atlanta Committee for Progress (ACP), according to people who attended the meeting. Michael Russell, CEO of the H.J. Russell & Co. and the 2025 ACP chair, sat down after the private meeting, which was held at King […]
Posted inMaria's Metro
Atlanta must go forwards — not backwards — when it comes to Beltline rail
When Andre Dickens was elected mayor in November 2021, I was filled with optimism and hope for the future of Atlanta. Here was a leader who ran on running an ethical government, building affordable housing and implementing rail transit on the Beltline. After eight years of the contentious administration of Mayor Kasim Reed and the […]
Posted inMaria's Metro
Atlanta’s Ray C. Anderson Foundation to sunset in five years
The ray of light known as the Ray C. Anderson Foundation will sunset its operations by the end of 2030. The environmentally focused Foundation — named after the late corporate visionary Ray C. Anderson – decided it was time to “lean in” — to have as much impact as quickly as possible rather than be […]
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Atlanta Jewish Film Festival closes out its 25th annual season
The March 5 closing night celebration of the 25th annual Jewish Film Festival at the Sandy Springs Performing Arts Center, was chock full of highlights, news, awards and milestones. The film selected to close out the Festival was a Brazilian dramedy, “Cheers to Life,” that was mostly shot in Israel. Special guests attended the closing night, […]
Posted inColumns
Metro Atlanta is dead last when it comes to economic mobility
Atlanta ranks 50th out of the top 50 metro areas when it comes to upward economic mobility. That’s according to Harvard University’s Raj Chetty and his research group Opportunity Insights, which published an updated economic mobility study in 2024. The initial economic mobility study came out in 2014. At the time, Atlanta’s rank was 49th, […]
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Surprise: Shirley Franklin Pavilion soon will be part of downtown Atlanta
One of the two new wings of the National Center for Civil and Human Rights (NCCHR) will be named in honor of former Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin. The announcement of the Shirley Clark Franklin Pavilion was made Thursday evening at the annual Power to Inspire gala, a night already staged to honor the former mayor’s […]
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Maryland’s Ricky Smith named as Atlanta’s new airport commissioner
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens announced Tuesday that Ricky Smith will be the new general manager of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport beginning April 2. Smith most recently has served as executive director and CEO of the Maryland Aviation Administration, where he was responsible for managing and operating the Baltimore Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, Martin State […]
