On Leadership

There are as many as 200 businesses in the metro Atlanta area that consider themselves advertising agencies. That’s stiff competition for Bill Coontz, CEO of Dalton, a 34-year-old firm with three offices in Atlanta, Nashville, and Jacksonville, FL. Coontz says what sets Dalton apart is its focus on people—its clients and its 100 employees. This year, Dalton has increased its international business...

Alana Shepherd never planned to co-found one of the nation’s top rehabilitation hospitals. But when her son sustained a spinal cord injury in 1973, Shepherd, her husband, son and an orthopedic surgery specialist, sprang into action. In 1975, Shepherd Center opened with six leased beds. Today, it has treated more than 35,000 patients who survived injuries to the brain or spinal cord, and other neur...

Jared Belsky is “living his dream job.” He is CEO and Co-founder of Acadia, an Atlanta-based digital marketing agency. He launched the company in 2021 with co-founder Sean Belnick, and hasn’t looked back. Acadia serves mid-market companies including brands such as Red Roof Inn, Message Envy and Atlanta Mission. In the past two years, the company has seen its employee count grow from zero to more t...

Gary Stokan is as competitive as they come, especially when trying to score sporting events for metro Atlanta. He is president and CEO of Peach Bowl, Inc., the nonprofit organization that owns and operates, among other things, the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl and Aflac Kickoff Game. He helped lure the College Football Hall of Fame to Atlanta in 2014. And is a champion for philanthropic causes. Since 200...

As CEO of The Carter Center, Paige Alexander is focused on “doing hard things in hard places.” With the backing of the organization’s founders, President Jimmy Carter and First Lady Rosalynn Carter, Alexander leads a team of 3,300 who are working on the center’s efforts of “waging peace, fighting disease and building hope,” in nearly 90 countries around the globe. See Privacy Policy at https://art...

As president and CEO of the Atlanta Humane Society, Cal Morgan is focused on the organization’s middle name, ensuring that the 150-year-old nonprofit is humane to employees, animals and members of the community. While it continues the work it’s known for, such as pet adoptions, it’s also increasingly collaborating with human services groups to ensure people have the food and resources they need to...

Garrett Langley is out to change the world, one neighborhood at a time. He is the founder and CEO of Flock Safety, a fast-growing company that makes surveillance products to help law enforcement solve crimes. Its cameras and license plate readers are in 3,000 cities. Nationwide, about 7% of crimes that happen, will be solved because of Flock Safety, Langley said, at that pace the company will reac...

Paul Donahue is only the fifth CEO Genuine Parts Company has had in its 95-year history. The company owns NAPA Auto Parts and also distributes industrial parts to manufacturers. While he admits, it’s not especially sexy, Genuine Parts Company also isn’t stodgy. Donahue says its goal is to be the disruptor in the industry. It’s one of the dominate players with 10,000 locations spanning 17 countries...

Kevin Gillespie has come up with his own recipe for successful leadership. The award-winning chef and founder of Red Beard Restaurants aims for what he calls “honest leadership” where people follow him because they trust him and believe in the mission of the organization. Part of that mission is serving up a top-notch experience for diners. In 2023, his flagship restaurant Gunshow marked 10 y...

As president and CEO of the Atlanta Community Food Bank, Kyle Waide’s figurative plate is full. He oversees the distribution of nearly 100 million pounds of food each year across 29 counties in Georgia. While the organization is taking on food insecurity, Waide sees the food bank’s role more broadly, as an organization that creates greater access to people in need so that food is one less barrier...

Even prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, Stephanie Nadi Olson saw a need in the marketplace for more flexibility for workers whose lifestyles required time to care for children or an aging family member. She said she felt compelled to act. And in 2018, she founded We Are Rosie which connects more than 25,000 freelancers, mostly in the marketing sector, with project-based work at more than 25 Fortune 5...

As president and CEO of Graphic Packaging, Mike Doss believes in the circular economy. The company makes paperboard from trees for everything from fast food cups to cereal boxes. The goal is to recycle them many times over, then compost and restart the process. It’s investing in innovation to support the mission, Doss says. By 2030, Graphic Packaging could be a $20 billion company.  See Priva...

Lauren Koontz leads one of the oldest nonprofits in Atlanta. She is president and CEO of the YMCA of Metro Atlanta. The organization was founded in 1858, but Koontz calls it “a 165-year-old start up” because it has had to be resilient and able to adapt to the changing needs and demographics of the Atlanta communities it serves.  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California P...

Armed with its inaugural, “State of Black Georgia” report, the Urban League of Greater Atlanta, under the leadership of its president and CEO Nancy Flake Johnson, aims to make the Peach State more equitable for people of color. It has identified the historical factors fueling modern day disparities, and ways to collaborate with community groups, lawmakers, and philanthropists to level the playing...

For 30 years, Mit Shah has been buying and developing hotels across the country through his company, Noble Investment Group. While the COVID-19 pandemic created some unique challenges for the industry, it also produced opportunities. During the past two years, Noble has acquired $2 billion of assets—namely struggling hotels. Shah is optimistic about the future, as trends favor increasing consumer...

Egbert Perry has found a way to balance the profitability of commercial real estate with projects that have positive community impact. Since he founded The Integral Group in 1993, the Atlanta-based development firm has produced 10,000 units of multifamily housing with retail and office space. One of its most notable projects was the transformation of the Techwood Homes public housing project in Mi...

As managing partner of Deloitte for Atlanta and Birmingham, Ed Heys leads one of the largest professional services firms in the region. When he joined the Atlanta office nearly 40 years ago, there were about 110 employees. Now he oversees more than 4,000, providing each with opportunities for career advancement and ways to give back to the community. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy...

Bill Nordmark III is a tech executive and John Grant is executive director of major college football championship bowl games. On the surface, they’re as different as two people can be. That’s exactly what makes them an ideal duo to lead the Atlanta Friendship Initiative. The nonprofit has more than 250 pairs of Atlanta executives. The aim is to dismantle divisions around race and class, and build...

John Yates is the partner in charge of Morris Manning & Martin’s corporate technology practice. But the long-time attorney is probably best known as a master connector—of people to positions, nonprofits to donors and tech founders to funders. He helped launch Venture Atlanta. Since starting in 2007 the annual conference has led to $7.5 billion in fu...

After 12 years as vice president of global corporate social responsibility for Chick-fil-A, Rodney Bullard is taking on a new challenge, leading a new nonprofit called The Same House. It will promote education, employment and entrepreneurship. The organization will also put on the Beloved Benefit, an annual fundraiser. Since it started in 2019, the Beloved Benefit has raised $12 mil...

For more than two decades, Bruce Deel founder and CEO of City of Refuge, has served some of Atlanta’s poorest residents, those living in the 30314 zip code. The nonprofit provides a variety of services including workforce training, housing and childcare. To mark its 25-year anniversary, last fall it launched a $25 million fundraising campaign to expand its offerings in Atlanta...

When it comes to the luxury housing market, Jenny Pruitt has probably seen it all. She has been in the business for more than 55 years. She started as a sales agent when the average price for a house was about $22,000. Today, as co-founder and executive chairman of Atlanta Fine Homes Sotheby's International Realty, she leads one of the region’s largest residential real estate firms with 2021 sales...

Andre Dickens had his eye on Atlanta’s top office since he was a child growing up in the city’s Adamsville neighborhood in the 1980’s. Elected as Atlanta’s 61st mayor in 2021, he leads one of the nation’s fastest growing regions. His administration oversees assets worth nearly $11 billion. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at htt...

Frank Fernandez leads one of the largest philanthropic organizations in the country. The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta donates about $140 million annually. Under his leadership as president and CEO, the organization launched TogetherATL, a strategy that makes equity the group’s primary mission. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art1...

The 87-year-old Stuckey’s brand is synonymous with the American road trip. But Stephanie Stuckey, CEO of Stuckey's Corporation (and granddaughter of its founder) is charting a new course for the family brand that takes it from the nation’s highways to your local grocery store aisle. Since she purchased the business in 2019, Stuckey says gross sales have increased more than 500%. See Privacy Policy...