Westside Future Fund’s Quince Brinkley steps down after seven months

By Maria Saporta

The Westside Future Fund announced today that Quince Brinkley, its executive director since June, has resigned.

Quince Brinkley

Brinkley announced he was stepping down for personal and family reasons.

“The Westside Future Fund is a great organization with an engaged and active board, and I wish them well as they undertake the important work of resuscitating Atlanta’s historic, west side communities,” Brinkley said in a statement.

Richard J. Dugas Jr., the chairman of the Westside Future Fund and the CEO of Pulte Homes, said the board is grateful for Brinkley’s service and wishes him well.

“Under Quince’s leadership, the Westside Future Fund has made tremendous gains in a short period of time, and we will work to build on the strong foundation he helped establish,” Dugas said in the release.

In a follow up email, Dugas said that he did not believe the organization’s efforts would be interrupted by a transition in leadership.

“This will not slow us down – we have excellent momentum, terrific funding support and are moving forward with our plans as we speak,” Dugas wrote in an email. “The board is extremely engaged and are moving ahead with everything that was in motion with help from Nasim Fluker (part of the WFF team) and the board.”

Richard Dugas, CEO of Pulte Homes, at the announcement in December 2014 that he was going to chair the Westside Future Fund (Photo by Maria Saporta)

Dugas also said they the organization has started recruiting for Brinkley’s successor with the Diversified Search firm leading the effort. He said he hopes “to have an exceptional candidate in place as soon as possible,” but he did not specify any timing.
“The (Westside Future Fund) is on track and is committed to the residents of the Westside,” he said.

I sent an email to Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed’s communications team to get a quote on the Brinkley’s resignation.

“We appreciate his service and wish him the best,” replied Jenna Garland, a spokeswoman for the mayor.

The Fund is working in conjunction with Invest Atlanta and the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation, and it is seeking to galvanize philanthropic, corporate and community support to create jobs, build affordable housing, enhance safety and create new educational opportunities for residents of the Vine City, English Avenue and Castleberry Hill neighborhoods.