Guest Columns
By Guest Columnist HEATHER HUBBLE, ULI Atlanta Advisory Board
Shaping the Future of the Built Environment for Transformative Impact in Communities Worldwide. This is the mission of the Urban Land Institute, a global nonprofit education and research organization, founded in 1936, with a strong local chapter.
By Guest Columnist JOE HUDSON, trailblazing Black business advocate, mentor and coach
When the Honorable Maynard Jackson installed the City of Atlanta Equal Economic Opportunity Program, one of its main highlights was “Joint Venturing,” where minority businesses were coupled with larger white firms to bid on and execute Atlanta contracts.
By Guest Columnist KAREN CASHION, CEO of Tech Alpharetta
The tech sector is booming in the metro Atlanta region. The city of Alpharetta, with nearly 700 technology companies within city limits, is the reigning epicenter of innovation for the North Fulton area today.
By RENA ANN PECK, executive director, Georgia River Network
During the last 18 months, as the COVID-19 pandemic closed gyms and other indoor entertainment venues, collectively, we have turned to the outdoors for relief. In particular, interest in water recreation has exploded. Manufacturers of canoes, kayaks, paddleboards and other boats – and associated businesses – have experienced unprecedented demand. More people than ever before are hitting Georgia’s rivers, lakes and streams.
By Guest Columnist SALLY FLOCKS, Founder and former president, PEDS
Nothing encourages walking more than the presence of other people and having places worth walking to.
By Guest Columnist DERIN DICKERSON, outgoing chairperson of Dad’s Garage
Being a leader in the arts is not an easy job, and especially so over the last year dealing with COVID-19.
By Guest Columnist JASON MARSHALL, executive director at Wesley International Academy
When George Floyd was killed, it became the norm for brands and organizations alike to issue statements of solidarity. Well-intentioned and important, these statements have become part of our collective practice as headlines impact society.By Guest Columnist JASON MARSHALL, executive director at Wesley International Academy
When George Floyd was killed, it became the norm for brands and organizations alike to issue statements of solidarity. Well-intentioned and important, these statements have become part of our collective practice as headlines impact society.
By Guest Columnist TRACY RATHBONE STYF, executive director of the Town Center Community Improvement District
Connection. It is a word, feeling and experience that gained a new and perhaps more poignant sense of meaning for each of us over the past 18 months. Through the pandemic, it is clear that being connected to other people and experiences is a fundamental necessity for a meaningful life.
By Guest Columnist JOE COOK, Georgia River Network guidebook author and freelance journalist
Titanium. When a German scientist isolated the element in 1795, he named it to honor the fanciful tales of the Titans, the giants that once ruled the Earth in Greek mythology.
By Guest Columnist RICHARD ROSE, president, Atlanta Branch of the NAACP
America’s enduring human tragedy is racism that started with Columbus’ miscalculated arrival in the Caribbean. The failure to successfully enslave Indigenous people led to the importation by force of sub-Sahara Africans in 1619 that was justified by Christianity.
By Guest Columnist IVORY CLOUD, founder of Dreams of Lois, Inc.,
My name is Ivory Cloud and I am a wife, mother, educator and entrepreneur. I have been in education for nearly 20 years. I am a proud founder of the registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit Dreams of Lois, Inc. I started Dreams of Lois more than 10 years ago in honor of my mother, Lois, who died at a young age from cancer.
By Guest Columnist PATTY DURAND, president of Cool Planet Solutions
Georgia Power has the only nuclear plant under construction in the United States, which I call “Georgia’s Shame.” It is shameful that the timeline the utility provided to regulators, investors and the public – those of us paying for this plant – is now six years behind schedule. And it is shameful that the utility’s cost estimates for this plant were off by a shocking 100%: The original cost estimate for the two new units was $14 billion, and 2021 costs are near or at $30 billion.
By Guest Columnist DUANE ELLIOT REYNOLDS, founder/CEO of Just Health Collective
Georgia is one of 12 states that have not adopted Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act. There are new incentives under the American Recovery Act for states to expand coverage and there is increasing evidence that Medicaid expansion is linked to improvements including in access, financial security, and some health status.
By Guest Columnist BOB WILLIS, CEO, Willis Investment Counsel
The last 20 years may not be the best representation of U.S. economic history. Likewise, it may or may not be a reliable predictor of the future. Whatever the case, recent trends of low interest rates and inflation appear to have entered the neural circuitry of decision-making and significantly impacted the passing of the economic policy torch in our country.
By AMIR FAROKHI, an Atlanta City Councilmember seeking reelection to serve a district reaching from Downtown Atlanta through Candler Park.
In the wake of Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms’ Atlanta City Design Housing report, a debate is taking place about what our city should look like in the future. Specifically, how we might alter our zoning code to manage our growth.
By Guest Columnists FONTA HIGH and PAUL MCLENNAN, co-chairs of the Beacon Hill Black Alliance for Human Rights’ Decolonize Decatur Committee
As organizers and board members of Decatur’s Beacon Hill Black Alliance for Human Rights, we are grateful for all we have learned from our movement-building work over the last year. We believe we are creating an organizing model other communities can replicate.
By Guest Columnist PAULITA BENNETT-MARTIN, Savannah-based field representative of Oceana
Every year in the southern Atlantic waters off Florida and Georgia, people get excited to see rare North Atlantic right whales, especially moms with calves. That’s because there are only around 360 of these critically endangered whales remaining, so any sighting is special. These whales can travel more than 1,000 miles to reach our coast every year in the fall. Many of them are females coming here to have calves.
By Guest Columnist BO HIERS, a semi-retired marketing officer in the reinsurance industry and super-proud grandfather of his beloved grandson, Fletcher
Here’s an introduction I used over the years when introducing Jerry Farber at various client and industry events. It worked then, and it might just work here:
By Guest Columnist OSCAR HARRIS, an Atlanta architect, entrepreneur and mentor
Atlanta’s trees are revered worldwide as our special natural “green soul” symbol of our city.
By Guest Columnist MATTHEW TERRELL, communications director for Dad’s Garage Theatre and a working artist in several mediums
Government funding for the arts makes our communities better. Arts funding is a relatively small sliver of the budgets that cities, counties, and states administer; however, even a small amount of arts funding can have a tremendous impact on a community.
