The MARTA Board of Directors advanced pre-development work on two transit-oriented development (TOD) projects on the East/West Line, with the award of master planning contracts for Indian Creek and H.E. Holmes rail stations and surrounding areas, and approval to issue a TOD Request for Proposals (RFP) for Indian Creek. The Indian Creek TOD RFP approval positions the property equally with TODs at H.E. Holmes and Kensington Stations, which received previous board support. Next, MARTA and its consultants will complete the master planning and rezoning of these significant land areas, then issue TOD RFPs to the development community. The board also awarded master planning contracts to WSP for Indian Creek and HKS for H.E. Holmes. Both firms bring teams with a depth of experience in both planning and community engagement. Indian Creek and H.E. Holmes are end-of-line stations, residing at the westernmost and easternmost points of the Blue Line and together have significant land area for development, with 52 and 22 acres respectively. “Development at and around these rail stations presents a significant opportunity to benefit the surrounding communities while allowing for an increase in ridership and a better overall experience for our customers,” said MARTA Interim General Manager and CEO Collie Greenwood. MARTA has been a member of these communities in unincorporated DeKalb County and the City of Atlanta for decades and the master planning efforts will provide stakeholders the opportunity to help shape an equitable, mixed use development plan. The Blue/Green Line is experiencing significant TOD activity including the grand opening of a mixed-income multifamily community, Marchon, at King Memorial Station, the near complete mixed-income multifamily community, Quill, at Edgewood/Candler Park Station, a senior affordable housing project that will break ground at Avondale Station this fall, a partnership with the Housing Authority of DeKalb County for a 250-unit affordable community at Kensington Station, and the recent issuance of a TOD RFP for Bankhead Station.   This is sponsored content.

The MARTA Board of Directors advanced pre-development work on two transit-oriented development (TOD) projects on the East/West Line, with the award of master planning contracts for Indian Creek and H.E. Holmes rail stations and surrounding areas, and approval to issue a TOD Request for Proposals (RFP) for Indian Creek. The Indian Creek TOD RFP approval positions the property equally with TODs at H.E. Holmes and Kensington Stations, which received previous board support. Next, MARTA and its consultants will complete the master planning and rezoning of these significant land areas, then issue TOD RFPs to the development community. The board also awarded master planning contracts to WSP for Indian Creek and HKS for H.E. Holmes. Both firms bring teams with a depth of experience in both planning and community engagement. Indian Creek and H.E. Holmes are end-of-line stations, residing at the westernmost and easternmost points of the Blue Line and together have significant land area for development, with 52 and 22 acres respectively. “Development at and around these rail stations presents a significant opportunity to benefit the surrounding communities while allowing for an increase in ridership and a better overall experience for our customers,” said MARTA Interim General Manager and CEO Collie Greenwood. MARTA has been a member of these communities in unincorporated DeKalb County and the City of Atlanta for decades and the master planning efforts will provide stakeholders the opportunity to help shape an equitable, mixed use development plan. The Blue/Green Line is experiencing significant TOD activity including the grand opening of a mixed-income multifamily community, Marchon, at King Memorial Station, the near complete mixed-income multifamily community, Quill, at Edgewood/Candler Park Station, a senior affordable housing project that will break ground at Avondale Station this fall, a partnership with the Housing Authority of DeKalb County for a 250-unit affordable community at Kensington Station, and the recent issuance of a TOD RFP for Bankhead Station.   This is sponsored content.

By Madgie Robinson The Metro Atlanta Chamber recently invited photographer and author Andrew Feiler to discuss his latest book, A Better Life for Their Children: Julius Rosenwald, Booker T. Washington, and the 4,978 Schools that Changed America, published in 2021 by the University of Georgia Press.  Feiler’s second published book of photography brings the story of Georgia’s Rosenwald schools to life – born out of a partnership committed to the education of African American children in the early 20th century. Many are still unaware of the role these schools played in the history of the American South.  Coming off his first book, Feiler was developing ideas for his next project. After crossing paths with an African American preservationist, he first heard the story about the Rosenwald schools. “She [was] the first person who told me about Rosenwald schools and the story shocked me,” Feiler said. In 1912, philanthropist Julius Rosenwald and civil rights icon Booker T. Washington launched a program to partner with Black communities residing in the segregated South to create schools for Black children.  Before the program launched, Black children attended schools in their living rooms, front yards, church pews or sitting in a field to receive their education. Their schools were severely underfunded stemming from the racism and segregation so prominent in the Jim Crow South. Julius Rosenwald was a leader and part-owner of Sears, Roebuck and Company and utilized his means to create the Rosenwald grant, funding the schools’ building program. His partnership with Booker T. Washington formed an independent foundation to manage the Rosenwald school program. Rosenwald encouraged collaboration between Black and white populations by requiring communities to commit public funds and labor to the schools as well as contribute additional donations post-construction.  African American communities raised millions of dollars throughout the South to support better education for their children with white school boards agreeing to engage in maintaining the schools.  The collaboration was monumental as an example of Jewish and African American partnership, united to advance Black education nurturing future scholars and civil rights leaders.  “Julius Rosenwald and Booker T. Washington are reaching across divides of race, religion and region in 1912 America,” Feiler said. Curious to find any biographical pieces about the history, Feiler began researching the topic finding few published books and no photographic documentation.  Between the period of 1912 and 1937, Washington and Rosenwald launched a total of 4,978 schools across the Southern states to which only a selection of those remains. “Only about 500 schools survived, half of those have been restored, and I shot 105 of the surviving schools,” Feiler said. “Over the next three and a half years, I drove 25,000 miles across all 15 of the Rosenwald school program states. With this extraordinary story, it wasn’t immediately clear to Feiler how to visually tell it. After conducting further research, he determined that the architecture of the schools themselves had a compelling story to share. “I started by photographing the exteriors of these schools, which tells us an architectural narrative, small white clapper buildings and by the end of the program, they’re building one-, two- and three-story red brick buildings,” Feiler said. The architecture supported the story but not enough to propel it in a way Feiler intended with only half the schools surviving. He knew in order to get a sense of the history and narrative of the school, he needed to see the interior.  Feiler sought permission to see the inside of the schools and met with Rosenwald alumni and staff who proudly shared their own stories. “That is when I meet all these extraordinary individuals, former students, former teachers, civic leaders, preservationists and I bring their connections into this work for portraiture,” Feiler said. One of those individuals was former U.S. Representative and civil rights leader John Lewis, who himself attended a Rosenwald school in Alabama. He shared how influential the program was in not only his education but for all Southern Black communities.   “Andrew Feiler’s photographs and stories bring us into the heart of the passion for education in Black communities: the passion of teachers who taught multiple grades and dozens of students in a single classroom; the passion of parents and neighbors who helped to raise the money to build our schools and then each year continued to dig deep to purchase school supplies; the passion of students like me who craved learning, worked hard, and read as many books as we could put our hands on.” Lewis said, in the book’s foreword. Feiler expressed how proud the community was of these schools that played an important role in their family’s history.  “They’re proud of the role that education has played in the rise of their families,” Feiler said. “They really welcomed me into this extended family because they appreciate me sharing this story that was central to their lives and lives of their family.” When asked what he hoped future generations would take from this work and the story conveyed, Feiler emphasized the historical significance of the book. “We often think that problems in America are intractable, especially those related to race,” Feiler said. “But this narrative reminds us that individual actions matter and change the world. I think the center of this story is the inspiration to all of us and all those on the frontlines of change in our communities that our actions in fact matter.” A Better Life for Their Children was honored with an Eric Hoffer Book Award, an Axiom Book Award Gold Medal, Association of University Presses Book Award and more.  On top of the recognitions and awards received, the book is currently on a traveling exhibition which will be on display at The Do Good Fund Gallery in Columbus, Georgia, on June 25 through Aug. 5.  To buy A Better Life for Their Children visit: https://www.andrewfeiler.com/shopping-cart#!/A-Better-Life-for-Their-Children-Photographs-&-Stories-by-Andrew-Feiler/p/294403066/category=0  For more information on Metro Atlanta Chamber events, visit:  https://www.metroatlantachamber.com/   This is sponsored content.

By Jim Durrett, President of the Buckhead Coalition and Executive Director of the Buckhead CID, and Adam Mathes, President of Prime Power Services and Chair of Buckhead Coalition Committee on Homelessness Several times every month, we are asked essentially the same questions by individuals from all walks of life: “Can’t you do something about the homeless in/at (fill in the blank)?” These questions arise when people see others experiencing homelessness on sidewalks, in doorways or in parks, and are concerned about real or perceived impacts on the quality of life or safety of customers, residents or employees. They come with the proliferation of tent encampments around Atlanta and the understanding of how those encampments have become problems in other U.S. cities. But they also come when people don’t know what can be done to help those who clearly need assistance. The Buckhead Coalition’s Committee on Homelessness was created first to learn about homelessness in Buckhead and Atlanta, and then prepare to work alongside and amplify the efforts of the region’s homeless and housing service organizations. The objective is to help relieve suffering of our neighbors experiencing homelessness and strengthen bonds in our Buckhead community. The committee is comprised of Coalition members who care about those living on the streets and who throughout the year give their time, money and attention to issues of housing and homelessness.  To achieve our mission, the group has worked alongside BCM Georgia in their efforts to keep people housed and with Lost-n-Found Youth to care for, and support, LGBTQ+ youth experiencing homelessness. Our work is informed by the “housing first” principles championed by the Atlanta Gateway Center and Partners for HOME with the aim to “ensure homelessness is prevented whenever possible” and to make it “a rare, brief and nonrecurring experience.” The committee is also preparing to work with the MARTA HOPE program and Frontline Response (formerly the Atlanta Dream Center) to help move people off the streets and, in the case of Frontline Response, out of sex trafficking. These are only a few of the many excellent Atlanta-area organizations working tirelessly to end homelessness in our communities. Here is a little of what we have learned: Homelessness is a complex challenge that requires humility and patience from those who contend with it. According to the annual point in time count, the number of people experiencing homelessness (sheltered and unsheltered) in Atlanta appears to have actually decreased nearly 40% from 2020 to 2022 (from 3,240 to 2,017). A reason you might find that last point hard to believe is that tent encampments, which are more visible, have increased, in part because more tents are being donated to the unsheltered. The causes of homelessness are numerous, from mental illness or substance abuse to fleeing domestic abuse or losing a job and not having the resources to remain housed. Last year, the Buckhead Rotary Club, the Buckhead Coalition, Livable Buckhead and students from the Atlanta International School came together to help those dealing with homelessness. Together, the organizations raised over $2,000 in funding and donations which was used to assemble more than 100 “necessity kits” which were distributed throughout our community by partners at Lost-n-Found Youth and Frontline Response. To build on the success of the event, the organizations will meet again on October 3 with the same goals in mind. Like all complex social issues, a community-wide partnership is necessary to get to the root of homelessness. We must focus on support services, housing and employment opportunities for the most vulnerable. Reducing homelessness can also help solve other social problems such as childhood education issues, food insecurity, substance abuse and public safety.  Jeff Parker, the late General Manager and CEO of MARTA, once said, “We won’t tolerate criminal behavior, but homelessness is not a crime.” We agree and we hope to continue to do more to help those organizations and institutions which are doing the hard work to keep people in their homes and to engage and assist people in need of shelter.   This is sponsored content.

We spoke with Quinn about his passion for real estate and how to get the most through ULI “A jack of all trades,” is how Quinn Green described his consultive role at CENTURY 21 Connect Realty. Working on both the commercial and residential side of the business as a generalist – with investors, small businesses, nonprofits and for tenants and landlords, as well as homebuyers and sellers – Quinn said he is fluid and goes where the business takes him. This is how he started working most recently with Quest Communities on the Westside. An existing relationship brought him on as advisor, and, acting as sort of a quarterback, he has since worked to bring in the right people to the table to help get the project done. Quinn always seems to have a lot going on at once, which may have helped lead to his progressive career in real estate. As a toddler, Quinn’s mom likes to tell the story about how hard it was to keep his attention. She would take him on long walks and whenever they passed a construction site, that would be the one thing that could hold his attention. “I could spend hours watching the earth movers,” he said. Thus began his interest – or obsession, he says – with the real estate industry. Quinn – or Q, as most people know him – accepted a co-op position during his last semester at Georgia State University with H.J. Russell and gained his first exposure to the industry by working on a Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) and Senior Housing development. From there, he earned a scholarship from the Russell construction company to get his real estate license. Though he is grateful for the exposure and opportunities from working a semester for H.J. Russell, Quinn says getting a footing in commercial real estate is still a tremendous challenge for people of color. “Support in CRE is extremely limited,” he says. “And that is where the greatest opportunity exists.” His biggest challenge led to what he says is his biggest success – serving as the local planning co-director for Project REAP, the Real Estate Associate Program which works to advance diversity, equity and inclusion in the commercial real estate industry. After going through the program, he helped lead it in the Atlanta market for more than 5 years and continues to advise locally with the organization today. This involvement with REAP is how Quinn was introduced to ULI.  ULI Atlanta has longstanding partnership with Project REAP where REAP participants receive a complementary one-year membership to ULI. For the last several years, ULI globally has partnered on a ULI/REAP Academy – which is meant to bridge the gap between diverse professionals and the world of commercial real estate. (To further cement the collaboration Project REAP announced earlier this year that Manikka Bowman, a former ULI staff member is now leading the initiative nationally.)  As many ULI members know, once you dip your toe in volunteering with ULI, it’s hard to stop. Quinn graduated from Center for Leadership in 2016 and started volunteering with the CFL interview and candidate selection process. He then started helping with the Awards for Excellence dinner, garnering sponsorships, but he continued helping with the CFL program because of his experience with REAP. He wanted to make sure the women and people of color going through the program, “knew more than I did,” about how to get the most out of ULI and the experience. He is now on ULI Atlanta’s Advisory Board and through his involvement with the DEI Committee led the inaugural Etkin Scholars program earlier this year. ULI Atlanta was one of five district councils selected to pilot the Etkin program which was designed to introduce college and university students with a real estate interest to the resources available through ULI membership while integrating those students into the ULI path of learning.  “Exposure is everything,” Quinn says. He was able to help expose students from Morehouse, Kennesaw State University, Emory, Georgia Tech and Georgia State University to development, responsible land use and placemaking. “Everyone says they are striving to provide a diverse professional working environment, but then ask, ‘but where is the diverse talent?’ – Exposure and access are the missing pieces of the puzzle. How can these students be it, when they can’t see it?” Quinn has just agreed to head up the Etkin Scholars program again later this year.  When he’s not guiding the next generation of diverse students and working professionals to the CRE industry and wearing multiple hats deal making at his day job, his two daughters consume most of his personal time. He also says you can find him jogging on occasion on the Westside trail of the BeltLine.  Quinn has had exposure to the industry through the support of Atlanta greats – like H.J. Russell and Egbert Perry, who helped facilitate the return of REAP to the Atlanta market. Servant leadership like theirs is something he wants people know him for as well – being an advocate for women and people of color in the CRE industry. Mostly, Quinn says he’s still working on completing his “dash” – as in the dash in-between the years he started and will finish on his tombstone. “I’m still working on what I want to be when I grow up,” he said. And he’s not done yet!   This is sponsored content.

By Jared Teutsch, Executive Director Through our mission to build places where birds and people thrive, Georgia Audubon works to educate and engage Georgians of all ages. And we use birds as the lens through which we introduce youth and adults alike to birds, birding, and an overall conservation ethic. In the past year, Georgia Audubon’s educational programs have been taking flight in the metro area and across Georgia.  Beginning in September, our Georgia Urban Ecologists program will again be offered for new and returning students in Atlanta, as well as in the Athens-Clarke County area. This program provides teens with fun, hands-on outdoor learning experiences with environmental nonprofit organizations while introducing them to conservation careers.  In this program, students get much-needed time outdoors where they learn about wildlife, native plants, water quality, waste management, and more from an exciting lineup of new and returning partners. Some highlights from last year’s sessions were visiting the largest bat bridge roost site in Georgia with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, seeing birds up close at the Panola Mountain Banding Station, and a campfire and bioblitz at Arabia Mountain Nature Preserve. Many students in the Atlanta program have participated throughout high school and several have continued on to college to pursue conservation careers. Thanks to donor support, students with financial hardship are able to participate in the program tuition-free. Training educators how to teach students about birds and conservation has a multiplier effect as teachers return to their school systems to share their knowledge with classrooms full of students. To that end, Georgia Audubon’s three-day Taking Wing professional development workshops immerse teachers in place-based, bird-related experiences and science, coupled with active demonstrations of how to successfully engage students in STEM and meaningful outdoor learning experiences. Teachers receive a pair of binoculars, Georgia Audubon’s Learning About Birds Curriculum, and books, field guides, and posters to take back to the classroom. Follow-up workshops in the fall and spring extend the learning and enable teachers to share teaching ideas. In 2022, Taking Wing was offered on St. Simon’s Island and at Lake Oconee, and we will be offering the training in different parts of Georgia each year. One of last year’s participants from McLendon Elementary, a Title I school in DeKalb County, not only incorporated birds into her lessons regularly, she also installed window feeders at the school, started a bird club, and mentored a team in their first Georgia Youth Birding Competition. Georgia Audubon’s Connecting Students with STEM through Birds program allows us to bring even more resources to teachers and schools with additional tools they need to teach students about birds and the environment. As part of this program—provided at no cost to each partner school—a bird-friendly native plant garden is installed on campus with the help of students and teachers. Areas of dirt and turf grass are transformed into valuable wildlife habitat, and teachers receive training to provide standards-based lesson ideas and curriculum resources in STEM and other subjects to enhance their use of the new outdoor classroom. In addition, each school partner receives a classroom set of binoculars and field guides, as well as other resources to help teachers instill a conservation ethic in the next generation.  For adults, Georgia Audubon is offering our popular Master Birder program in Atlanta and the Savannah/Hilton Head Island area this fall. We will have two cohorts in Atlanta. A third cohort, co-hosted by Ogeechee Audubon Society and Hilton Head Audubon, is being offered on the coast. This six-week program includes virtual weeknight courses in bird classification and identification,  birding apps, equipment, bird songs, bird ecology, anatomy, and physiology, bird behavior, flight and migration, and conservation. Weekend field trips with birding experts reinforce lessons learned in the class and help participants hone bird ID skills. Upon graduation, Georgia Audubon Master Birders are encouraged to complete annual volunteer service hours for Georgia Audubon or their local Audubon chapter.  Scholarships are available. From youth to teachers to adults, Georgia Audubon is excited to build a network of informed, engaged bird lovers, volunteers, and community scientists in Atlanta and across Georgia.   This is sponsored content.

1MBB initiative continues to expand nationwide support Atlanta, GA – (July 25, 2022) – Operation HOPE announced a groundbreaking partnership with the city of Jackson, Mississippi to expand its One Million Black Business Initiative (1MBB), which aims to create one million Black entrepreneurs and business owners by 2030. As part of the city’s ongoing efforts to spur economic development, Jackson’s Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba and John Hope Bryant, Operation HOPE’s Chairman, Founder and CEO signed a formal agreement, signifying the city’s commitment to transforming economic opportunities for minority-owned businesses.   Through 1MBB, the city of Jackson will offer 500 aspiring Black entrepreneurs free access to resources needed to successfully build, sustain and scale their business endeavors over the next two years. Launched in October 2020 with the support of founding partner Shopify, 1MBB aims to remove traditional hurdles to Black entrepreneurship by providing the critical tools for success such as technology, education, and increased access capital. The movement is part of Operation HOPE’s broader mission to promote financial inclusion and dignity, aimed at empowering the underserved of America.  “The state of Mississippi is largely known as a battleground during the height of the civil rights movement in the 1960s. Today, we’re shifting the tides and ensuring that her next generation benefits from what I call “silver rights.” That means planting seeds of hope through entrepreneurship,” said Operation HOPE founder, chairman and CEO, John Hope Bryant. “I applaud Mayor Lumumba for joining our 1MBB mission and leading the charge to make free enterprise and capitalism work for all.”  The partnership with Operation HOPE is a natural extension of the administration’s commitment to building Black businesses in the greater Jackson community. Powered by Trustmark and Cadence Bank, 1MBB will be an integral part of the city’s annual Jackson Minority Business Expo, highlighting black business enterprises and patronage on Saturday, August 20, 2022.  To learn more about 1MBB, visit HOPE1mbb.org.  About Operation HOPE, Inc. Since 1992, Operation HOPE has been moving America from civil rights to “silver rights,” with the mission of making free enterprise and capitalism work for the underserved—disrupting poverty for millions of low and moderate-income youth and adults across the nation. Operation HOPE has received seven consecutive 4-star charity ratings for fiscal management and commitment to transparency and accountability by the prestigious non-profit evaluator, Charity Navigator. For more information visit OperationHOPE.org. Follow the HOPE conversation on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram. Media Contacts: Lalohni Campbell, for Operation HOPE LA@persemediagroup.com   This is sponsored content.

By Charles Redding, MedShare CEO & President Astonishingly, over 400 million people worldwide lack access to essential health services typically delivered through primary and secondary health care. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), over 5 million children under the age of five who live in developing nations, die annually due to inadequate medical care. Potentially life-saving surgeries are cancelled simply due to the lack of basic supplies like sutures, clean needles, gauze, and alcohol wipes.  Nowhere is this humanitarian crisis more evident than in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DNC). While the DRC is abundant with natural resources and a thriving ecosystem, decades of armed violence and displacement have left the nation impoverished and unable to adequately fund a struggling, understaffed, poorly maintained health care system. What’s more, with only certain regions of the country able to access health care, those living in medically underserved communities which also lack food and healthy drinking water are destined to be sicker and live shorter lives — further underscoring the DRC’s dire need of support and aid.  MedShare has a long history of addressing health care Inequities in the DRC by working with strategic partners like International Medical Corps (IMC) and the Coca-Cola Foundation, combining to donate over $16 million dollars in aid since 2004. Recently, with underserved recipient health facilities in the DRC already strained due to COVID-19 and other disease outbreaks, MedShare, IMC and the Coca-Cola Foundation donated and delivered much-need medical equipment and supplies for wound care, eye care, surgical procedures, general inpatient care and outpatient consultations.  Focusing on seven hospitals in five provinces which serve as referral facilities for cases requiring higher levels of care, these hospitals were approved by the DRC Ministry of Health for inpatient care and outpatient follow-up of COVID-19 cases. With the Coca-Cola Foundation helping to fund the MedShare shipment, a handover ceremony took place on November 19th, 2021, at Virunga General Hospital in Goma. Distribution to all the remaining health facilities, including secondary and tertiary/teaching hospitals serving a population of over 2 million people, followed the official donation ceremony in Goma.  The donated items have improved the quality of care across the entire patient population, supporting respiratory therapy and oxygenation for COVID-19 patients, laboratory paraclinical tests, the quality of admission support to help patients ambulate once admitted to a facility, and the effectiveness of minor and major surgical care. Eye care at the FORMULAC Hospital has also advanced through the donation of an ophthalmic surgical microscope to facilitate an array of eye surgeries. Even the donation of single-use surgical drapes for minor and major surgeries has proven to be invaluable, especially as power outages, which are common in the DRC, can make sterilization of multi-use drapes challenging.  “The donation is a joyful initiative because it is a real need for the hospital as we are going through a COVID-19 pandemic and our hospital needs equipment for the intensive care of patients. MedShare, the Coca-Cola Foundation, and others responded to our need to improve the care of our patients,” said Dr. Pius Murotso, Director of Virunga Hospital. Closing the gap in quality primary and secondary health care is essential to improving global health outcomes. For when quality primary care is available, it meets the immediate healthcare needs of patients and decreases the need for further, more critical care. MedShare is committed to continuing to help decrease these global health disparities by improving access to quality medical supplies and equipment, increasing capacity to effectively treat and care for patients in underserved health care systems throughout the world on a day-to-day basis, and strengthening them so they are prepared to treat patients during future health crises.   This is sponsored content.

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 Truist and PNC banks, WFF will provide low-cost loans to small, minority-owned businesses based in or serving the Historic Westside.  This program builds on a pilot initially funded by AT&T and the Beloved Benefit.  Our goal is to mobilize people with current, historical, or aspirational ties to the community to organically support the Westside’s economic development.  The October 15 Transform Westside Summit highlighted the importance of economic empowerment of African American entrepreneurs with three special guest panelists – Courtney Smith from PNC Bank, Paul Wilson, Jr. from the Russell Innovation Center for Entrepreneurs (RICE), and Keitra Bates of Marddy’s Shared Kitchen and Marketplace.  A common theme from the panelists was the need for equity in access to capital for Black business owners.  Keitra Bates noted that white startups have access to $100,000 from family, on average, while for black startups, it’s only $11,000. In June 2020, PNC Bank announced its bold $1 billion commitment to playing a role in combatting racism and discrimination.  During the Summit, Courtney elaborated on PNC’s commitment to the Westside by helping end systemic racism by donating to WFF for program-related investments.  Keitra Bates is a recipient of a WFF PRI that she used to renovate and expand her shared kitchen.  Marddy’s focus is on economic inclusion, business development, and growth opportunities for local food entrepreneurs with their primary service groups of people of color, women, and other marginalized populations. With the help of RICE, the PRI recipients will have access to resources to innovate, grow, create jobs, and build wealth. Part business generator, innovation lab, and museum, RICE invests in African American entrepreneurs, strengthens businesses, and creates community. We have many miles to eliminate the wealth gap between white and black startups.  Thanks to our panelists and the organization they represent, we are making progress and hopefully serving as models for others!  Check out our newsletter to learn more about the October 15 Summit. This is sponsored content.

By Nikonie Brown, content and social media associate, Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta Established in late 2020, the Southern Opportunity and Resilience Fund known as SOAR, provides economic recovery loans and free business assistance to small businesses and nonprofits across the South and Southeast to help them recover and rebuild from the economic effects of COVID-19. The Community Foundation’s GoATL Fund closed an investment of $500,000 in SOAR in March 2022 to support underinvested small businesses and the capacity of community development financial institutions (CDFIs) across Georgia. As of May 2022, SOAR has distributed more than $28 million in loans to over 570 small businesses and nonprofits across 15 SOAR states and Washington, D.C. Ninety-three of these loans have gone to businesses and nonprofits in Georgia. Of the SOAR funds distributed to date, 78% of loans have gone to business owners who self-identify as a woman or a person of color, with 51% going to Black-owned businesses. Nearly 90% of the loans went to businesses with 10 or fewer full-time equivalent employees, and 82% of recipients have annual revenues less than $500,000. Small business recipients operate across more than 20 industries including agriculture, construction, educational services, healthcare, restaurants and retail, among others. Learn more about SOAR’s progress here. Want to be an investor in GoATL? Use your donor advised fund (DAF) to get involved with a minimum investment of $25K. Contact your philanthropic officer for more details. GoATL is Georgia’s first diversified impact debt fund designed to achieve both a social and financial return. This innovative fund model accelerates and sustains positive community outcomes by providing cost-effective loan capital to address our region’s most critical needs. Learn more. Photo by Brooke Cagle on Unsplash   This is sponsored content.

Emory University and Georgia Institute of Technology have announced the inaugural recipients of the $100,000 seed funding as part of their collaborative AI.Humanity Seed Grant Program. The AI.Humanity Seed Grant Program is an extension of the existing partnership between the two universities forged through Emory’s Constructive Collisionsprogramming early this year. The grant recipients will use the funding to spur new research collaborations and expand existing partnerships to leverage artificial intelligence (AI) to improve society and the quality of human life. Projects may incorporate research including, but not limited to, aspects of ethical and social considerations, social justice, health disparities or bias in AI data. The winning proposals were selected from a pool of more than a dozen entries across the two universities. The recipients of the AI.Humanity seed grants are: Marcela Benítez (Emory University, Emory College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Anthropology) and Jacob Abernethy (Georgia Tech, School of Computer Science) for their proposal titled “AI Forest: Cognition in the Wild.”  In the proposed study, Benítez and Abernethy plan to develop and implement “smart” testing stations for long-term cognitive assessment and monitoring of wild capuchin monkeys at the Taboga Forest Reserve in Costa Rica. These testing stations will rely on AI and deep machine learning to recognize and track wild monkeys in real-time, allowing for targeted behavioral assessment and cognitive testing.  The stations will also provide a novel method for long-term monitoring of cognitive abilities in wild animals. In doing so, the team will achieve an unprecedented level of control in a wild environment, providing opportunities for several studies linking cognitive performance to natural behaviors and, ultimately, overall fitness. Lance Waller (Emory University, Rollins School of Public Health, Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics) and John Taylor (Georgia Tech, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering) for their proposal titled, “Applying Machine Learning Techniques to Improve Epidemiological Models Accounting for Urban Infrastructure Networks, Human Behavioral Change, and Policy Interventions.” Their project will examine novel infectious diseases, which can be dangerous and require rapid public health response but can be challenging to model, especially in the early stages of a potential major outbreak.  Particular to the team’s proposed research are the characteristics of urban infrastructure networks (e.g., transport networks), which add density to and alter the order and structure of contact networks, often accelerating local disease transmission in the event of widespread infectious disease.  The team proposes extending epidemiological models to incorporate the complex role of local differences in contact networks and the dynamic nature of human-human and human-infrastructure interaction networks in shaping disease transmission, human behavioral change and policy interventions within metropolitan areas.  The project’s goal is to provide more accurate results than homogeneous mixing models and remain computationally feasible for guiding rapid policy decisions.  Marcos Schechter (Emory University, School of Medicine, Department of Medicine) and Rosa Arriaga (Georgia Tech, School of Interactive Computing) for their proposal titled “Diabetic Ulcer Computational Sensing System (DUCSS).”  Schechter and Arriaga will co-lead a team of collaborative co-investigators as they explore computational approaches to detect changes in diabetic foot ulcers through models that analyze and interpret heterogeneous data and provide AI-driven interfaces that connect patients and clinicians.  The team’s proposed human-centered computational sensing system will bridge current gaps and address the clinical challenge of automating wound screening and monitoring by characterizing ulcer severity and wound progression and predicting wound healing and recurrence. Additionally, the team will focus on underserved and minority communities to promote technologies to reduce disparities.  This pilot proposal will enroll persons from underserved communities at Grady Memorial Hospital, a public hospital where more than 250 people are hospitalized with diabetic foot ulcers annually. Emory’s senior vice president for research, Deborah Bruner, shares her sentiments on the continued collaborations.  “These teams are partnering to revolutionize AI and promote equity and the improvement of the overall quality of human life,” says Bruner. “This is an exciting time for research departments at Emory and Georgia Tech. Congratulations to each of the winning teams.” Learn more about Emory’s AI.Humanity Initiative.   This is sponsored content.

by Ken Zeff, Ed.D  Georgia Milestones data for the 2021-22 school year was released last week, and as expected, the data revealed that educational recovery is underway, but at this pace, it will take years to return to pre-pandemic achievement levels. And lest we forget, pre-pandemic levels still served far too few students. While Milestones only tell part of the story of the student experience, these assessments do provide valuable insight into performance and, when used appropriately, can be an accelerant to learning recovery. To unleash insight from Milestones data, there are three key tips we at L4L have found to be helpful:  Use Milestones data to find what is working, not what is broken – Milestones data offers a unique opportunity to understand the relative progress of every school in the state. By looking at schools with similar demographics and challenges, it is possible to see which schools are delivering superior results, especially for historically underserved students. The data won’t necessarily tell you why, but it can tell you where to look. At L4L, we study these uncommonly successful schools and look for strategies and interventions to scale. There is a lot that is working for kids in metro Atlanta. Milestones data helps us find it.  Beware of the averages – Milestones data is not disaggregated by subgroups right now. A certain school may be “high-performing,” but it is unclear if all groups of students are growing. We know from national data that kids of color have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. We see these unequal proficiency levels in 2021-2022 NWEA data, which administers criterion-referenced assessments nationally. Source: NWEA Research, July, 2022.”Student Achievement 2021-22”. Before jumping to any conclusions about school-level data, it is important to look past the averages and understand if all students are being equitably served.  If the data tell an incomplete story, push for more data, not less – it is a challenging moment in teaching and learning, and time with students is at a premium. We need to strike a delicate balance between time spent on instruction and time spent on assessment. While useful data can illuminate the path forward, we should not spend time on assessments that do not lead to a more equitable recovery. While Milestones data does not drive instruction at the classroom level, it does play a critical role in overall educational decision-making at a school and district level, and in resource allocation to schools that need it most. Better data, not less, will greatly aid this recovery.  Milestones data from 2021-22 shows that progress is possible. Thoughtful and responsible use of data honors the work of educators throughout our region who are working tirelessly on behalf of kids. It is incumbent upon us all to ensure we use the information to support their work.  Each of L4L’s Change Action Networks will be diving into this data to identify ‘Bright Spots’ in metro Atlanta. Feel free to sign-up for invites to the Early Grade Literacy Network, Middle School Math Network or Postsecondary Success Network to join these conversations.   This is sponsored content.