During the evening of Aug. 28, Atlanta Way 2.0 brought together community members for the Empowering Atlanta Way 2.0 Activators on Auburn Ave event, to reflect on the city’s past and lay a foundation of bricks for its future.
Ann Cramer, board chair of Atlanta Way 2.0, opened the gathering at Constellations ATL, a shared workspace inside the Southern School Book Building.
Cramer explained the initiative as a tool used to strengthen civic belonging for everyone, no matter how long they’ve lived in the city or where they come from. She said her vision is of an Atlanta where people recognize one another, greet each other on the street and feel seen as part of the community.
According to Maria Saporta, co-founder of the initiative, Atlanta Way 2.0 was launched to strengthen Atlanta’s civic fabric and update an older model once dominated by wealthy, white male leaders. “All of us belong at the table.”.
Britton Edwards, chief operating officer of Atlanta Way 2.0, described her deep connection to the city center. Edwards expressed how she enjoys everything from Centennial Olympic Park and the Ferris wheel, to the Center for Civil and Human Rights and Mercedes-Benz Stadium. “My favorite thing about downtown is everything … I can’t get enough of it, so I’m really excited about the next phase of downtown, too.”.
The owner of Constillations,Gene Kansas, situated the gathering in history. He noted that the Constellations workspace stands in Sweet Auburn, where the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee was once headquartered under a young John Lewis. “If you feel this like, incredible energy, it is coming from not just the people, but the work that they did and what it represents,” Kansas said.
Kansas spoke of the preservation of historic places like the Southern School Book Building, the resilience of communities that fought to save them, and the recognition of those carrying the work forward. As part of that recognition, he presented Saporta with a symbolic brick, chosen, he said, because bricks are both common and enduring, yet each can also stand alone as something original. The brick is inscribed with the Latin phrase “a posse ad esse” from being able to being. “That’s what Atlanta Way 2.0 is, and it’s what we can all do together,” Kansas said.
The event also became a forum for participants to share personal connections to downtown Atlanta.
“For me, my favorite thing about downtown Atlanta is kind of the spirit of cooperation,” said Wright Mitchell, who grew up in the city. “And these memories I have of my father working with Atlanta civic leaders like Lander, Jackson and Andrew Young to get things done. And so I grew up kind of witnessing that, and I’m glad to see that it’s still going on through the efforts of Atlanta way 2.0.”
Others spoke of innovation, history and culture.
“My favorite part downtown is South Downtown,” said Blake Stoner, chair of the Heart of South Downtown. “ (is) What South Downtown is about to become … America’s biggest innovation district.”
“I feel like it’s a huge cultural touchstone,” said Gabriella Hart, a Georgia State University graduate student. “There’s a lot of perseverance in the city, a lot of people willing to come and like us, of course, you know, make that change and put in that effort to see better for our city and our country.”
The group that expressed challenges and concerns involving the development of Downtown.
“Mass transit is my big thing,” said Nadia Giordani, a longtime resident, and Airbnb host. “Having grown up in a city where I didn’t have to have a car … and what I love is getting a sense of city in Atlanta now. I can walk anywhere from where I live … but yeah, I love this city, and (it’s) great to be here.”
“Downtown is treated like an armpit, if I’m not picking up the litter, or reporting the garbage can needs to be emptied,” said Jennifer Brooks, who has lived downtown for 18 years. “The dignity of human beings is at stake …to me, it’s a big [issue].”
The forum circled back to future initiatives: planting peach trees on Peachtree Street, preserving civil rights landmarks, restoring Atlanta’s Zero Milepost, and expanding civic hackathons before the 2026 World Cup.
As Saporta summed it up: “To make downtown, central Atlanta as strong as it can be, we need to preserve our civil rights history and the buildings where that history happens.”
The conversation about downtown’s future didn’t end on Auburn Avenue. It’s part of a larger movement to reimagine Atlanta’s civic life. Save the date for Atlanta Way Day on Sept. 25 at the Tara Theatre, where community leaders and changemakers will converge with real solutions and a shared vision for advancing economic mobility and civic collaboration across Metro Atlanta.
