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 […]
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 inLatest News
Learn4Life’s annual report on metro Atlanta education a mixed bag
When it comes to public education in metro Atlanta, the outcomes are mixed. For the past seven years, Learn4Life has been tracking key education metrics among students in the five-county Atlanta metro area — a region that encompasses eight school districts. Learn4Life, founded in 2016, has been tracking six key indicators — kindergarten readiness, 3rd-grade […]
Posted inMaria's Metro
Mayor Andre Dickens says fixing MARTA will be a ‘big push’ in 2025
The Atlanta business community and Mayor Andre Dickens expressed concern about the state of MARTA, and they vowed that the transit agency would be a top priority in 2025. MARTA was a focus of the Dec. 13 meeting of the highly influential Atlanta Committee for Progress (ACP), an organization that includes top business, civic and […]
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A $2.5 million campaign will honor Kenny Blank’s vision for AJFF
The Atlanta Jewish Film Festival (AJFF) is celebrating its 25-year history by launching a $2.5 million fundraising campaign in honor of Kenny Blank, its executive and artistic director. AJFF announced Thursday morning its plan for the “Kenny Blank Vision Initiative” to grow and expand the film festival’s impact into a yearlong hub for cultural engagement, […]
Posted inMaria's Metro
Celebrating John C. Portman Jr. – an Atlanta icon – on his 100th birthday
Renowned architect and developer John C. Portman Jr. did not live to see his 100th birthday. But it wasn’t for lack of trying. “The only person who is not here and was determined to be is my dad,” said Jana Portman, one of Portman Jr.’s children at a celebration of her father’s life on Dec. 4. […]
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AT&T’s Venessa Harrison announces January retirement
After 45 years with AT&T, Venessa Harrison announced plans to retire at the end of January. Harrison moved to Atlanta in 2018 to serve as president of AT&T Georgia. Then, in 2022, she was given greater responsibility when she was named as president of AT&T Southeast Coastal States — a territory that includes Georgia, North […]
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Tom Bell, Camille Love and Carter to receive CAP awards
Central Atlanta Progress will bestow its top awards to longtime civic players in downtown and the city at its Jan. 28 annual meeting. CAP’s annual meeting, along with the Atlanta Downtown Improvement District, will be held at the Hyatt Regency Atlanta during lunch. The awards program has been part of the CAP/ADID annual meeting for […]
Posted inColumns
Andre Dickens: ‘I just want to be mayor’
At the Monday luncheon meeting of the Rotary Club of Atlanta, Mayor Andre Dickens made a pitch for his top priorities — affordable housing, early childhood education, housing the homeless, public safety and water infrastructure. Dickens will be running for a second term as mayor in less than a year. Monday’s Rotary meeting was a […]
Posted inMaria's Metro
A vibrant downtown Atlanta emerges as top priority
Downtown Atlanta has a new important ally. The Metro Atlanta Chamber, at its annual meeting on Nov. 21, spotlighted its new initiative, Downtown Reimagined, to help transform our central city into a bustling neighborhood. It’s a welcome development. Downtown Atlanta can benefit from a concerted and collaborative effort to reinvigorate our central business district. “I […]
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Metro Atlanta Chamber’s annual meeting highlights economy and downtown development
The Metro Atlanta Chamber invoked a sense of history and the importance of downtown at its 165th annual meeting Thursday morning. The location, the Georgia Freight Depot, was intentional. The depot opened in 1869, 10 years after the founding of the Atlanta Chamber. More than 900 business and community leaders from throughout the Atlanta region attended […]
Posted inMaria's Metro
Ted Turner’s dedication to world peace and saving the earth as critical now as ever
Ted Turner is turning 86 on Nov. 19, and a party was held at the Atlanta History Center exactly one week before his big day. On a big video screen in the auditorium, Turner was beamed in from his downtown Atlanta residence flanked by his daughters, Laura Turner Seydel and Jennie Turner Garlington, along with […]
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Remembering Bernie Marcus – a one-of-a-kind business leader and philanthropist
Bernie Marcus made a huge impact on Atlanta and the world. Maria Saporta shares some of her favorite memories of Marcus.
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Leadership transition is underway at influential Woodruff Foundation
Russ Hardin, president of the Robert W. Woodruff Foundation since 2006, announced plans to retire on Jan. 31. At that time, he will become a trustee of the prestigious foundation.
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One of Atlanta’s top philanthropists, Bernie Marcus, has died
Bernie Marcus, a co-founder of the Home Depot, died Nov. 4 in Boca Raton, Fla. He was 95 years old.
Posted inColumns
Eight public companies in Georgia have as many women on their boards as men
Georgia now has eight major public companies with at least as many women on their board as men. As recently as 2021, there were zero Georgia companies with gender parity on their boards.
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Will Georgia go blue or red on Nov. 5? Depends on who you ask
The Rotary Club of Atlanta on Monday invited political consultants Tharon Johnson (a Democrat) and Brian Robinson (a Republican) to talk about Georgia and the upcoming Nov. 5 election.
Posted inMaria's Metro
Self-Help Credit Union opens first Georgia branch in West End
Self-Help Credit Union opens its first Georgia branch in Atlanta’s West End community to help serve residents and businesses in underserved areas.
Posted inColumns
Integral’s Egbert Perry on Wellstar project: ‘We see this as re-knitting a part of the city’
Integral executives speak exclusively with SaportaReport about their plans to redevelop the Atlanta Medical Center site.
Posted inLatest News
Herman J. Russell family’s legacy intertwined with Atlanta’s
For the first time in its 34-year history, the Council for Quality Growth’s Four Pillars Tribute went to a family rather than an individual.
Posted inLatest News
Wellstar and Atlanta moving forward on redeveloping Atlanta Medical Center site
Wellstar Health System announced Thursday morning that it is partnering with the Integral Group to redevelop the former hospital site on Boulevard with the spirit of implementing the land-use plan that was approved last month by the Atlanta City Council.
