In 2024, the Atlanta Beltline delivered 569 affordable housing units — nearly twice as much as the project’s annual goal of adding 300 units, according to Beltline leaders. That means the Beltline has reached 74 percent of its target to create or preserve 5,600 affordable housing units by 2030 in the Beltline Tax Allocation District […]
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
Michael Hightower’s career focused on lifting up the Southside
In the late 1990s, Michael Hightower was flying high. Hightower, a native of College Park, was serving on the Fulton County Commission (defeating a two-term commissioner in 1986) representing southwest Atlanta and South Fulton. He already had served seven years on the City Council of College Park — the first Black person elected to that […]
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Grady Health Foundation raises $114 million to meet growing needs
Over the past 15 months, the Grady Health Foundation has had a quiet $110 million “Power of Grady” campaign for a host of projects to meet critical healthcare needs in the community. Today, at the first “State of Grady” event at the Commerce Club, foundation leaders are announcing they are $4 million above the goal, […]
Posted inColumns
Georgia exploring opportunities to lead in brain health and neuroscience
The Georgia Research Alliance has received a $475,000 grant to explore the opportunities for the state to become a dominant center for brain health and neuroscience. The Robert W. Woodruff Foundation provided the grant to identify high-impact research opportunities to understand and treat diseases that are part of the brain and nervous system. The landscape […]
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Morehouse College has raised $322 million of its $500 million campaign
Morehouse College will celebrate its 158th birthday on Valentine’s Day with plans for a new campus heart. On Friday afternoon, Morehouse College will announce its $500 million “Campus of the Future” and the “Making Men of Consequence” campaign to redevelop the nation’s only historically Black liberal arts institution dedicated to educating and empowering men of color. […]
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Atlanta City Council President Doug Shipman not running for re-election
In a statement posted on social media Wednesday afternoon, Atlanta City Council President Doug Shipman announced he would not be running for re-election in November because his family is facing “significant medical challenges.” Shipman said he will need to focus time and effort on his family instead of seeking a second term. But Shipman added […]
Posted inMaria's Metro
Atlanta keenly positioned to be the region’s center of gravity
The Atlanta region is at a significant moment in time. Leaders of several regional entities have one attribute in common. They all are from the City of Atlanta. For several organizations, it’s unprecedented to have a leader from the City of Atlanta serving at the helm. Take the Council for Quality Growth, which is celebrating […]
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Two Atlanta mayors on the city’s legacy for civil rights and music
Live Nation Atlanta kicked off its first Legacy Lunch on Feb. 5 at its relatively new headquarters in the Atlanta Dairies complex on North Avenue. The guests were two former mayors of Atlanta — Andrew Young and Bill Campbell. Peter Conlon, chairman of Live Nation Georgia – U.S. Concerts, moderated a conversation between both former […]
Posted inColumns, Maria's Metro
Another seamless transition underway at the Woodruff Foundation
Few organizations in Atlanta rival the impact and influence of the Robert W. Woodruff Foundation and its related family of foundations. But if foundation leaders have their way, people will barely notice that Erik Johnson, 48, became the new president of the Woodruff Foundation on Feb. 1 following the Jan. 31 retirement of Russ Hardin, […]
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Riley Blount named as the new president of AT&T Georgia
AT&T has selected Riley Blount as the new president of its Georgia operations. She is succeeding Venessa Harrison, who is retiring after for decades of service with the telecommunications company. “We are thrilled to have Riley take on the role as president of AT&T Georgia,” Harrison said in a release. “With her extensive experience in […]
Posted inMaria's Metro
Rail transit key to Downtown revitalization
Atlanta has a strategic opportunity to embrace Downtown revitalization efforts by fueling new and improved transit service. In conversations with about a dozen business and civic leaders, it has become obvious that our city is at a pivotal juncture when it comes to Downtown and transit. First, stars are aligned to bring new life to […]
Posted inMaria's Metro
Norfolk Southern’s Ed Elkins becomes 2025 chair of the Georgia Chamber
For the first time in its 110-year history, the Georgia Chamber of Commerce has an executive of a major railroad as its chair. Ed Elkins, executive vice president and chief marketing officer of Norfolk Southern Corp., became chair of the Georgia Chamber at its Eggs & Issues breakfast on Jan. 14. On everyone’s chair at […]
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Rabbi Alvin Sugarman: ‘Be thou a blessing to every life you touch’
Walking into Atlanta’s historic synagogue, the Temple, on Sunday felt like entering a Looney Tunes episode. An illuminated sign flashed: “That’s all folks!” Those were the parting words Rabbi Alvin Marx Sugarman wanted to share with the world. Sugarman, who served as the senior rabbi of the Temple from 1974 to 2008, died Jan. 17 […]
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Wellstar’s Candice L. Saunders to retire as CEO June 30
Candice L. Saunders, who has been CEO of Marietta-based Wellstar Health System since July 2015, announced today her intention to retire on June 30. Saunders, who began her career as a critical care nurse, joined Wellstar in March 2007 as president of Wellstar Kennestone Regional Medical Center. In May 2013, she was promoted to executive […]
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Gov. Brian Kemp proud of Georgia’s business rankings
The Rotary Club of Atlanta warmly welcomed Gov. Brian Kemp on Jan. 13 — the first day of the 2025 legislative session — by the Rotary Club of Atlanta. Before his introductory remarks, Kemp laughed about being happy to speak to Rotary so he could get away from the legislative session. “Only 39 more days […]
Posted inMaria's Metro
ArtsCapital|Atlanta: $100 million needed to stabilize regional arts groups
The Atlanta arts community can relate to the phoenix rising from the ashes as its symbol — just like our namesake city. Over the last couple of years, the arts community has had two key events to drive home that theme. On March 7, 2023, the Atlanta Lyric Theatre abruptly announced it was closing its […]
Posted inMaria's Metro
Saying goodbye to Jimmy Carter: He left the world — and Atlanta — a better place
Former President Jimmy Carter defied the odds in life. On Aug. 20, 2015, Carter held a news conference to announce how melanoma had spread to his brain. For ordinary human beings, that would have been a death sentence. But Carter was no ordinary human being. Thanks to receiving treatment with a ground-breaking immunotherapy drug, Carter […]
Posted inColumns
Remembering Steve Mensch, 62, a thrill seeker and film industry leader
The Sunday before he died in a small plane he had built, Steve Mensch was honored by the Atlanta Falcons as a tribute to all he had done to support Georgia’s film industry. Mensch, 62, was president and general manager of studio operations at Tyler Perry Studios. Mensch was so much more than his title. […]
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Annual HOPE Global Forum focuses on the future, AI and fighting poverty
It’s hard to overstate what happens every year during the HOPE Global Forum, and the 10th annual meeting did not disappoint. John Hope Bryant, the founder of Operation HOPE and the Global HOPE Forum, has turned it into a multifaceted event that looks at the latest developments in society, business, technology, mental health, AI, financial literacy, […]
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Tides Center picks Ayesha Khanna of Atlanta to be its top executive
Long-time Atlanta civic leader Ayesha Khanna is the new executive director of the Tides Center, a national philanthropic organization dedicated to advancing social justice. San Francisco-based Tides, founded nearly 50 years ago, is the “mother” organization of Tides Foundation, which has about $1 billion in assets through donor-advised funds and initiatives, and Tides Center, which […]
