By Doug Hooker, Executive Director of the Atlanta Regional CommissionArts and culture are both an important asset and a critical sector for metro Atlanta. For one, as a region we certainly benefit from the economic impact of both commercial and nonprofit arts. The nonprofit arts sector alone has a $719 million annual financial impact and […]
Category: Thought Leader
Posted inMetro Business, Thought Leader
The Metro Atlanta Chamber 2017 Year in Review
In 2017, we celebrated Atlanta, and you celebrated with us. With the help of our business community and Georgia legislation that recognized and worked to support our vision of a more vibrant and prosperous region, the Metro Atlanta Chamber was proud to serve. In Atlanta, we connect, we invent, we inspire and we thrive, and […]
Posted inHigher Education, Thought Leader, Uncategorized
Are You Back for Good or Still Shopping Around? Predicting Customer Churn
By V. Kumar, Agata Leszkiewicz, and Angeliki Christodoulopoulou Herbst With switching costs becoming progressively lower, customers in mature service industries tend to churn repeatedly, switching from one provider to the next. In turn, companies extend attractive promotional offers to win them back — until the next best offer lures them away. After the successful reacquisition […]
Posted inUncategorized
The Importance of Vision
“Where there is no vision, the people perish.” Proverbs 29:18 By Michael Halicki, Park Pride’s Executive Director People often think of nonprofits as mission driven organizations. While mission is vital to defining what an organization does, it is the vision that defines what you aim to achieve. In these uncertain times, it is vision, not mission, […]
Posted inThought Leader, Transit
STATE OF MARTA EVENT HIGHLIGHTS YEAR’S ACCOMPLISHMENTS
The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) will host the annual State of MARTA breakfast on Friday, Jan. 5 from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. at the W Hotel Midtown. The event, co-hosted by the Council for Quality Growth, provides a financial and service report card for 2017 and sets goals for the new year. Atlanta journalist […]
Posted inUncategorized
Better Hearts Better Cities
By Judy Monroe, MD, president and CEO of the CDC Foundation According to the World Health Organization, noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) kill 40 million people each year, equivalent to 70 percent of all deaths globally. To help in the fight against NCDs, the Novartis Foundation launched the Better Hearts Better Cities initiative in 2017 to improve […]
Posted inUncategorized
New Year brings challenge and opportunity
By Alicia Philipp, president, Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta The New Year is traditionally a time for reflection, for looking at lessons from the past and making goals for the future. This year, I see two huge issues looming that mark both challenge and opportunity for our region. The first issue is how nonprofits will […]
Posted inPhilanthropy, Thought Leader, Uncategorized
17 reasons United Way of Greater Atlanta had a great year!
1. United Way of Greater Atlanta launched the Child Well-Being Agenda this year, setting out strategic goals to improve child well-being in our region. We set a goal to improve the well-being of 250,000 children over the next decade. We also unveiled the Child Well-Being Index, including interactive maps, which allows Greater Atlanta residents to […]
Posted inMetro Business, Thought Leader
Recognizing the economic value of the arts in Atlanta
By Tom Cunningham, Senior Vice President and Chief Economist, Metro Atlanta Chamber Last month the Atlanta Regional Commission produced a Forum on the Arts and Economic Prosperity. The event focused on the most recent in a series of reports produced by the American for the Arts organization that attempts to document the economic contribution of […]
Posted inUncategorized
Investing in a Healthy Future
By Charles Redding 2017 has been a difficult year for many. Outbreaks of infectious diseases like cholera and diphtheria have ravaged medically underserved communities in multiple countries. Poor healthcare in refugee camps has caused complications for pregnant mothers fleeing dangerous areas. The distribution of a faulty vaccine has left children in the Philippines at greater […]
Posted inHigher Education, Thought Leader, Uncategorized
Georgia State University’s 2017 Year in Review
Georgia State had a momentous 2017. The news media, government leaders, and businessman and philanthropist Bill Gates, who visited the university in June, gave the university more national recognition for its efforts to increase student success. Georgia State also received recognition for its efforts in boosting social mobility, and received high rankings globally for its […]
Posted inArts & Culture Seen, Thought Leader
Welcome to the Stage
By Doug Shipman, President and CEO of The Woodruff Arts Center Welcome to the Arts Community! That phrase can be applied in many different ways: it’s a welcome that has been extended to me many times over the past few months since I became CEO of The Woodruff Arts Center. A hearty welcome should certainly […]
Posted inThought Leader, Transit
MARTA SAVES MILLIONS DURING BOND REFUNDING
The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) Board of Directors approved a resolution to refund $56.8 million of its series 2012A bonds, saving the Authority $6.5 million in net present value of future interest costs. MARTA’s average interest savings is $588,000 per year. MARTA moved quickly on this partial refunding to take advantage of favorable […]
Posted inGlobal Health & Development, MAP International, Thought Leader, Uncategorized
What Do Charity Watchdog Ratings Really Mean?
Thanksgiving and Giving Tuesday traditionally signals the kick-off of year-end giving season for non-profits. For many organizations, a third or more of their annual giving is received during this time. In fact, nearly 12 percent of all donations to charities occur in the last three days of the year. With 1.8 million non-profits raising their hand during […]
Posted inHigher Education, Thought Leader, Uncategorized
Georgia Avoided Fiscal Maneuvers to Close State Budget Gap, But Needs Improvement in Planning, New Study Shows
Georgia’s government, unlike others around the country, has succeeded in avoiding one-time fiscal maneuvers to close gaps in its state budget without moving special funds into general funds to pay for current expenditures. But as found in a new study conducted by the Volcker Alliance in partnership with the Center for State and Local Finance […]
Posted inUncategorized
Welcome to our newest Thought Leader the Woodruff Arts Center
SaportaReport’s Thought Leadership columns are a forum where experts host discussions about current and trending topics in their respective fields. Our newest partner at The Woodruff Arts Center will curate posts by local artists and art organizations under the header “Arts & Culture.” Check back each Tuesday for new content. We look forward to sharing this […]
Posted inUncategorized
Developing Countries Need Access to Essential Medicines for Noncommunicable Diseases
By Dave Ross, ScD, president and CEO, The Task Force for Global Health I recently had the opportunity to meet with an Atlanta-based pharmaceutical firm about partnering to improve access to epilepsy treatment for people in developing countries. Our conversation quickly turned to the dilemma facing many private sector companies that want to do more […]
Posted inMetro Business, Thought Leader
Atlanta Courts Companies and Investors in NYC and Declares Itself “Center of Holiday Shopping and Entertaining”
More than 30 executives from leading Atlanta companies, such as UPS, The Home Depot, First Data, Intercontinental Exchange and Mercedes-Benz USA, convened in New York City to celebrate the region’s success in business, talent attraction and innovation. With Fortune 500 and high-growth companies represented, metro Atlanta is the first U.S. region to gather at the […]
Posted inUncategorized
New collaborative directs funding to fight HIV/AIDS in the South
By Dan Williams, program officer, Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta Friday, December 1, marked the 29th anniversary of World AIDS Day, a day we pause to lend support to people living with HIV and to remember those who have died from AIDS. Over 29 years we have seen great progress in the fight against HIV, […]
Posted inThought Leader, Transit
Introducing the MARTA Mobile Command Vehicle
The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority Police Department continues to lead the way in public transportation emergency preparedness. Members of MARTA’s police force, executive management team, and board members gathered recently to dedicate the Authority’s new $1.2 million state-of-the-art Mobile Command Vehicle. The 45-foot vehicle allows the MARTA Police and Emergency Management Department to have […]
