Category: Former Thought Leaders

Community members and business leaders convened at The Gathering Spot July 21 for the Transform Westside Summit.  The program began with a moving devotion from Reverend Winston Taylor, legacy Westside resident local preacher, and founder of The Beloved Community Inc. Taylor also owns the historic St. Mark AME Church, which he plans to make a community […]

The Historic Westside, and its neighborhoods including English Avenue, Vine City, Ashview Heights, Atlanta University Center and Just Us are part of our nation’s Civil Rights history and full of rich culture. During our bi-monthly community tour, Westside Future Fund (WFF) invites the community to learn more about the stories, and history, behind the landmarks […]

Transform Westside Summit began in 2014 as the brainchild of Chick-fil-A president Dan Cathy. Created to bridge the gap between Westside residents and organizations with a true passion and desire to see the Westside grow, the audience includes longtime neighborhood residents, community and faith leaders, heads of non-profits and corporate executives. These diverse stakeholders come together […]

When she first started working with the Westside Future Fund (WFF), Carol Waddy knew the organization was positioned to make a tremendous impact in the underserved, disinvested Westside community – and she was committed to help make it happen. Waddy, director of Corporate Social Responsibility for Chick-fil-A, Inc., joined Chick-fil-A with the specific intent to help support company Chairman Dan Cathy’s […]

Community members and business leaders attended the May 19 Transform Westside Summit to learn about Atlanta Housing’s work on the Westside. The morning opened with connection and community building, where members of the audience shared resources for the group’s collective efforts to improve the Westside. Jerry McGaughy, Real Estate Development Director at Quest CDC, led the […]

Westside Future Fund (WFF) recently hosted an information session about our signature program, Home on the Westside (HOTW), on the campus of Spelman College. The event was hosted with support from Dena Terrell, Training and Development Program Manager at Spelman College to educate college faculty on their opportunity to “live and work” on the Westside. Our program […]

For Shawn Watwood, the Westside has always been home. He moved to Atlanta in 2017 to take a job with Kenny Leon’s True Colors Theatre, and from there began to learn about his new community by attending NPU meetings and early Transform the Westside Summit’s hosted by Westside Future Fund (WFF). Years later, and in […]

A big year is in the works for Westside Future Fund’s (WFF) Home on the Westside program as we plan to complete 45 affordable homes in the community by the end of 2023. The plans include 33 rental units across five multi-family properties and 12 single family homes. All of the properties are located within the English […]

When she first arrived in Atlanta in 2002, Dr. Beverly Tatum stepped into a critical role for the success of the City. A life-long educator, Tatum was named President of Spelman College – a leading educational institution for Black women, not only here in Atlanta but around the world. She brought years of experience with […]

A Worker from a Young Age In 1933, Dorothy Bolden began working as a domestic worker for a white Atlanta family near her Vine City home in the Westside community. She was nine years old. Every day after school, she’d work at the family’s home, caring for their baby, washing diapers and cleaning the house. […]

Born in 1908, Dr. Irene Dobbs Jackson was the first of six daughters born to Irene and John Wesley Dobbs. In her early years, Irene, known as “Renie,” and her family resided in Auburn Avenue, a thriving neighborhood in Atlanta known as an epicenter of Black culture and excellence in the South. She was a […]

While exploring the historic Westside, you’ll find Black history that made American history on nearly every block — including the streets you’re driving on. There are several streets in the community named after nationally prominent Black leaders from Atlanta, each of whom contributed to advancing civil rights and democracy for all Americans. While some names […]

Westside Future Fund (WFF) is excited to be supporting thought leadership in the SaportaReport on Atlanta’s Historic Westside. At the October 15 Transform Westside Summit we announced the Westside Future Fund (WFF) PRI Program!  A program-related investment (PRI) is low-cost capital that not-for-profit organizations can use to spur community development. Thanks to charitable support from […]

After a hiatus, the Westside Future Fund is back to supporting thought leadership in the SaportaReport on Atlanta’s Historic Westside.   As the leader of WFF, I am grounded and inspired by WFF’s vision statement, to “help develop a community Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. would be proud to call home.”  Much of Dr. King’s life […]