Author Archives: Maria Saporta

By Maria Saporta
As published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on July 22, 2016

The Center for Civic Innovation, already known for taking an unconventional approach to solving community problems, turned a fundraising event into a comedy show.

The event on July 14 ended up transforming six civic leaders — Bill Bolling, Alicia Philipp, Kate Atwood, Ayesha Khanna, Ann Cramer and Frank Fernandez — into improv comedians (with the help of professionals.)

The theme of the evening was “Mo’ Money, Mo’ Problems” — which was described as “a playful spin on the woes of both raising money and giving it away.”

By Maria Saporta
As published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on July 15, 2016

Atlanta-based Purpose Built Communities, the national nonprofit established to replicate the successful transformation of Atlanta’s once-troubled East Lake neighborhood to other communities in the nation, is expanding.

“Purpose Built is working with more cities and more prospective cities than ever before,” said Shirley Franklin, who has been executive chair of Purpose Built for about a year after serving as the organization’s CEO since January 2011.

Franklin, who served as Atlanta’s mayor from 2002 to 2010, has turned the day-to-day leadership responsibilities to David Edwards, the nonprofit’s CEO, and Carol Naughton, its president.

“The board feels really good about the progress,” Franklin said.

By Maria Saporta
As published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on July 8, 2016

The Laureus Sport for Good Foundation, already in dozens of cities around the country, now is turning its focus on Atlanta. As a way to better understand Atlanta, Laureus is partnering with nonprofit group Families First to help with community engagement efforts before deciding how best to invest its resources.

The reason for the Atlanta focus?

By Maria Saporta
As published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on July 8, 2016

For 25 years, the PATH Foundation has been building multi-use trails wherever it could around Atlanta — segment by segment.

Now PATH is in the midst of a $15.8 million campaign to help connect the various segments so that metro Atlanta will eventually have a regional network of trails.

The James M. Cox Foundation has contributed $6 million to the campaign, The Robert W. Woodruff Foundation awarded PATH $4 million, and The Coca-Cola Foundation has contributed $500,000.

By Amy Wenk and Maria Saporta
As published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on July 8, 2016

The developer planning to buy and remake Underground Atlanta has contracts to buy more than a dozen additional buildings in south downtown that have sat blighted for years.

Mount Pleasant, S.C.-based developer WRS Inc. has under contract about 14 buildings along Peachtree Street that sit south of Underground.

Those properties, such as the Metro Mall at 73 Peachtree St., include a collection of row-style buildings totaling about 240,000 square feet that once made up the heart of downtown Atlanta’s retail district.

By Maria Saporta
As published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on July 1, 2016

Although Atlanta was not selected to be General Electric’s future corporate headquarters, the process did lead to GE increasing its investment in the city.

On June 27, the company announced that it will locate the North American headquarters of GE’s Digital Operations in Atlanta – initially bringing 250 jobs to the Midtown area.

It reaffirms the comments Chris Carr, Georgia’s commissioner of economic development, made last December after the state found out it had been cut as a candidate for GE’s corporate headquarters.