2025 Atlanta 500: Professionals

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The King & Spalding building

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Accounting & Consulting | Law | Marketing & Public Relations | Media | Legends

ACCOUNTING & CONSULTING

Atlanta 500 Chloe Barzey

Chloe Barzey
Office Managing Director
Accenture Atlanta
Global Client Account Lead
Accenture

As office managing director for Accenture Atlanta, Chloe Barzey leads Accenture’s vision and operations across Georgia, Tennessee, and Alabama. The first woman and African American in this position, Barzey works with clients to identify and target superior business value and to achieve and sustain that business value while increasing customer satisfaction and business agility. Leveraging digital capabilities, she leads programs focused on transformation and rapid earnings expansion and has worked with her clients through all phases of transformation, from strategy through implementation.  An active member of the Atlanta community, Barzey serves on numerous boards including the boards of the Metro Atlanta Chamber, Leadership Atlanta, and Atlanta History Center.

EDUCATION Cornell University, Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania (MBA)
Hometown Harlem, New York
NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENTS Atlanta Business League Lottie H. Watkins Female First Award Honoree (2024), Atlanta Business Chronicle Most Admired CEOs (2022), Technology Association of Georgia DE &I Impact Tech Leader of the Year (2021), Atlanta Business Chronicle Women Who Mean Business (2020)


Atlanta 500 Jeff CallJeff Call
Managing Partner
Bennett Thrasher LLP

Jeff Call, a veteran of more than 20 years at Bennett Thrasher LLP, serves as the managing partner, overseeing the firm’s strategic plan, growth, and the advancement of its culture. With a specialization in wealth transfer/estate planning, investment, tax and financial planning, Call provides expert counsel to high-net-worth individuals, family business owners, and executives. His extensive experience encompasses a wide range of financial matters, including income tax, estate and gift tax, investment, insurance, charitable and retirement planning. Call is well-versed in individual, partnership, S corporation, and fiduciary taxation. Before joining Bennett Thrasher in 2002 to establish its Personal Financial Services group, Call, a CPA, worked for Arthur Andersen as a tax manager in the Private Client Services practice. In 2023, Call was named an Atlanta Business Chronicle Most Admired CEO, helping Bennett Thrasher earn $100 million in revenue. In 2024, Call was recognized by Forbes as a part of its inaugural America’s Top 200 CPAs list.

EDUCATION Auburn University (MAcc)
HOMETOWN Springfield, Illinois
FIRST JOB Office cleaner at Sikich CPA firm where my father was a partner


Richard KopelmanRichard Kopelman
CEO and Managing Partner
Aprio

Richard Kopelman is the CEO of Aprio, a nationally recognized business advisory, tax, and accounting firm. He leads a team of over 2,100 professionals who serve clients in all 50 states and more than 50 countries, speaking over 60 languages. Since Kopelman assumed the CEO role in 2013, Aprio has experienced significant growth, including securing 26 strategic mergers and acquisitions, and expanding its footprint to 26 U.S. offices and two international locations. In 2024, the Atlanta Business Chronicle recognized Kopelman as a Most Admired CEO.

EDUCATION University of South Florida
FIRST JOB Selling funeral services (age 12) with my mother
HOBBIES Traveling, skiing, sailing
FAVORITE MOVIE The Imitation Game


Atlanta 500 F. David Leiter Jr.

F. David Leiter Jr.
Managing Partner, Atlanta Offices and Mid-South Hub
KPMG

David Leiter Jr. is the managing partner of KPMG’s Atlanta offices and leads the accounting firm’s mid-South hub, which includes Nashville, Birmingham, Memphis, Knoxville, and Jackson. In addition to leading the more than 2,200 people in these offices, Leiter is a partner in the firm’s business tax services practice and oversees the firm’s Atlanta Ignition Center, a technology-driven space where innovative solutions are crafted to help clients transform their businesses. With over three decades of experience in the field, Leiter provides multinational tax services to a broad range of KPMG’s audit and non-audit clients and has served as a lead partner for numerous Fortune 1000 companies, as well as other publicly traded and privately held organizations. Leiter was named an Atlanta Business Chronicle Most Admired CEO in 2023.

EDUCATION University of Georgia (MAcc)
HOMETOWN Marietta
NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENT Leadership Atlanta class of 2009
WHY I CHOSE THIS WORK Accounting is the language of business.
BEST ADVICE RECEIVED Put people first.
FAVORITE TRAVEL DESTINATION Paris


Atlanta 500: Glenn Mitchell

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Glenn Mitchell
Atlanta Managing Partner
Ernst & Young

As Atlanta managing partner for Ernst & Young, a U.S. member firm of the global EY organization, Glenn Mitchell oversees nearly 2,800 professionals across EY’s service lines of tax, consulting, assurance, strategy, and transactions, and is strongly connected to the approximately 1,500 IT and advisory professionals in Alpharetta. Since returning to Atlanta with his family in 2015, Mitchell has joined the boards of the United Way of Greater Atlanta, Georgia Chamber of Commerce, Morehouse School of Medicine, and Woodruff Arts Center, among others.

EDUCATION Auburn University
NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENTS Atlanta Business Chronicle Most Admired CEO (2018), Leadership Atlanta class of 2017
TOUGHEST CHALLENGE When I moved my family out of Atlanta to take a leadership position with EY
HIDDEN TALENT I’m a pretty good cook.


LAW

Atlanta 500 Theodore I. Blum

Theodore I. Blum
Managing Shareholder and Chair, Atlanta Corporate Practice
Greenberg Traurig

Ted Blum is the managing shareholder of Greenberg Traurig’s Atlanta office, as well as chair of the Atlanta corporate practice. With expertise in corporate and business law, mergers and acquisitions, venture capital, and corporate finance, he leads and advises on complex business transactions and provides counsel on day-to-day operations. He’s also a member of the boards of the Woodruff Arts Center and the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival, general counsel to and a member of the board of advisers for the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta, and former chair of a Rotary Club of Atlanta task force on human trafficking.

EDUCATION University of Michigan, Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law (JD)
HOMETOWN Champaign, Illinois
NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENTS Rotary Club of Atlanta Ivan Allen Club Service Award (2019), Atlanta Business Chronicle Most Admired CEOs (2016), The Best Lawyers in America (2007-2020), Georgia Super Lawyers (2006-2019)
BEST ADVICE RECEIVED The great Hank Aaron showed me that his success in business is important, but more important is his dedication to the community.


Atlanta 500: Althea Broughton

Althea Broughton
Partner
Arnall Golden Gregory

Althea Broughton is a partner at Arnall Golden Gregory. The Atlanta native, who is chair of the Affordable Housing Advisory Council of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta, has played a critical role in the creation or preservation of tens of thousands of units of affordable housing. Additionally, Broughton serves as chair of the board of trustees at Cascade United Methodist Church and is on the board of National Church Residences. Other board memberships include Drew Charter School, Atlanta BeltLine Partnership, and the Atlanta Community Food Bank. Broughton has been recognized in The Best Lawyers in America and Georgia Super Lawyers.

EDUCATION Emory University, University of Virginia (JD)
NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENTS Atlanta Women’s Affordable Housing Network Hyperion Award (2022), GlobeSt. Women of Influence (2021), HOPE Atlanta Heroes for HOPE Honoree (2021), Leadership Atlanta class of 2013
WHAT I’D TELL MY 18-YEAR-OLD SELF Don’t let fear hold you back.


Atlanta 500: Janine Brown

Photograph courtesy of individual

Janine Brown
Partner in Charge, Atlanta Office
Alston & Bird

Janine Brown is the partner in charge of Alston & Bird’s Atlanta office, with experience handling multibillion-dollar domestic and international transactions focusing primarily on M&A, joint ventures, and strategic alliances. Brown served eight years as chair of Alston & Bird’s corporate technology practice group and is currently cochair of the Atlanta office diversity committee. She’s also on the boards of Spelman College, Duke University School of Law, and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.

EDUCATION University of Michigan, Duke University School of Law (JD)
NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENT Featured in The Best Lawyers in America continuously since 2001
FIRST JOB Counter clerk during high school at the Fannie May candy shop in Kalamazoo, Michigan
FEW PEOPLE KNOW My husband, daughter, and I have traveled across the U.S., Canada, and the U.K. to see all of Shakespeare’s plays.


Atlanta 500 Amy B. ChengAmy B. Cheng
Partner
Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough

Amy B. Cheng, a partner at Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough, specializes in labor and employment, business litigation, white collar defense, and government investigations matters.  Cheng defends individuals or companies and conducts complex and high-stakes internal investigations on behalf of companies and higher education institutions into highly-sensitive termination and related grievance procedures, issues related to alleged race and gender discrimination, and a myriad of other topics. In 2023, she became the first individual of Asian, Asian American, and Pacific Islander descent to be elected president of the Atlanta Bar Association since it was founded in 1888. Cheng has been recognized in Georgia Super Lawyers every year since 2019.

EDUCATION Emory University, University of South Carolina Arnold School of Public Health (MPH), Emory University School of Law (JD)
HOMETOWN Charleston, South Carolina
FAVORITE EVERYDAY RESTAURANT LanZhou Ramen
FAVORITE TRAVEL DESTINATION 30A to celebrate my wedding anniversary with my husband
NONPROFITS Atlanta Bar Association, Georgia Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Georgia Lawyers for the Arts, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra


Atlanta 500 Mawuli Mel Davis

Mawuli Mel Davis
Founding Partner
Davis Bozeman Law Firm

Mawuli Mel Davis leads the civil rights division of Davis Bozeman and has represented and helped organize legal support for activists engaged in protests including the Occupy movement, Moral Mondays, and Black Lives Matter. He is a cofounder of Let Us Make Man and The Black Man Lab. In 2019 Davis received the Ben F. Johnson Jr. Public Service Award, the highest honor given by Georgia State University College of Law. In 2022 Davis delivered the commencement address for the Georgia State University College of Law.

EDUCATION United States Naval Academy, Bowie State University (MPA), Georgia State University College of Law (JD)
NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENTS Named humanitarian of the year by the Atlanta chapter of the NAACP, the Kappa Alpha Sigma chapter of Phi Beta Sigma, and the Atlanta alumni chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi, and an outstanding advocate of the year by the American Civil Liberties Union, the Urban League, the Southern Center for Human Rights, and the Gate City Bar Association. The DeKalb Lawyers Association named the Mawuli Davis Legal Warrior Award in his honor.


Atlanta 500 Jonathan E. Eady

Jonathan E. Eady
Chairman and Partner
Arnall Golden Gregory

Jonathan E. Eady is Arnall Golden Gregory’s chairman and a partner in the Real Estate practice. Formerly the firm’s managing partner for two, consecutive, four-year terms, he was named chairman in 2024. Eady maintains a prolific practice counseling business and real estate clients as they make important financing, investment, acquisition, development, and operational decisions. Clients select Eady for his expansive knowledge of joint ventures, asset purchases and sales, mergers, entity governance, commercial agreements, leases, workouts, capital restructurings, and numerous types of debt and equity financing. Developers, owners, and investors count on Eady’s steady counsel through all phases of the real estate development process. Eady has been recognized in The Best Lawyers in America and Georgia Super Lawyers.

EDUCATION Emory University, University of Georgia School of Law (JD)
HOMETOWN Oxford, Georgia
WHY I CHOSE THIS WORK I like solving complex problems involving people and money.
NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENTS Worked on developing the legal and financial model that helped transform the face of public housing revitalization in Atlanta and across the U.S.


Erica FleetwoodErica V. Fleetwood
Labor & Employment Partner
Akerman

Twenty years ago, Erica Fleetwood left a successful career running a multimillion-dollar record label to attend law school. Today, she is a nationally recognized employment law partner whose business experience helps her defend clients in federal court litigation or advise executive leadership teams on how to protect their three biggest assets: employees, company culture, and brand reputation. In 2019, Fleetwood joined Akerman’s newly minted Atlanta office, where she leads a diverse, multilingual team that assists clients with everything from employment law issues to routine HR advice to class actions. Clients range from start-ups to Fortune 100 companies. She has received numerous awards recognizing her pro bono and community service and served as president of the Hispanic National Bar Association from 2017 to 2018.

EDUCATION Georgia State University, University of Pennsylvania Law School (JD)
LESSON LEARNED Your toughest boss or those who seemingly give you the hardest time are often those who teach you the most.


Sharon GaySharon Gay
Senior Counsel
Dentons

As senior counsel of the Atlanta office of the world’s largest global law firm, Sharon Gay works at the intersection of government, business, and public policy. She helps governments and businesses do business with one another, especially in the areas of land use and zoning, tax allocation districts and other economic development incentives, transportation, public-private partnerships, and state and local government affairs. She’s worked with public- and private-sector clients to amend state and local laws to facilitate brownfield redevelopment, community improvement districts, and water and wastewater privatization projects. Additionally, Gay served as cochair of the transition team for Mayor Andre Dickens.

EDUCATION Vanderbilt University, Emory University School of Law (JD)
NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENT Coordinated the successful effort to amend the Georgia Constitution to confirm that school systems could participate in tax allocation districts to support community redevelopment
FAVORITE TRAVEL DESTINATION Saint Barthélemy


Atlanta 500: Kevin A. Gooch

Kevin A. Gooch
Partner
Holland & Knight LLP

Kevin Gooch is a financial services partner at Holland & Knight LLP. With a diverse practice, he has the most experience serving as outside general counsel as well as negotiating and documenting large debt transactions on behalf of financial institutions or corporate borrowers. Over the course of his career, Gooch has closed loan transactions and restructurings worth over $20 billion. He worked previously for McKenna Long & Aldridge (now Dentons), Alston & Bird, and DLA Piper. A past board chair of 100 Black Men of Atlanta, he served as an adjunct professor at Emory Law and is a guest lecturer at University of Georgia School of Law. Gooch is a member of boards for The Carter Center and the University of Georgia Alumni Association.

EDUCATION Emory University, University of Georgia School of Law (JD)
BEST ADVICE RECEIVED Success is leased, not owned, and rent is due every darn day.
FAVORITE SONG ABOUT ATLANTA “Player’s Ball” by OutKast
FAVORITE EVERYDAY RESTAURANT Taqueria del Sol


Atlanta 500: Robert D. Hays

Photograph courtesy of individual

Robert D. Hays
Chairman
King & Spalding

Robert D. Hays is the fifth chairman in King & Spalding’s more than 130-year history, currently serving his seventh term. During his tenure, the firm opened 23 offices and created a global platform. It has launched offices in Miami, Chicago, Brussels, and Sydney and marked a number of milestones, including $2 billion in revenue and 1,100 lawyers. Additionally, The Daily Report and Law.com named King & Spalding its 2024 Law Firm of the Year as part of its annual Southeastern Legal Awards. A nationally recognized trial lawyer, Hays led the firm’s tort and environmental practice group for 12 years. He is a summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he was a Morehead scholar. Hays earned his law degree from Vanderbilt University Law School, where he was selected to the Vanderbilt Law Review and was a Patrick Wilson scholar.

EDUCATION University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Vanderbilt University Law School (JD)


Atlanta 500: Michael E. Hollingsworth

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Michael E. Hollingsworth II
Managing Partner, Atlanta Office
Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough

When Michael E. Hollingsworth II was named managing partner of Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough’s Atlanta office, he was 38—one of the youngest lawyers to hold such a position at a large Atlanta firm. In the decade since, Hollingsworth has led the growth of the office from 83 to 155 lawyers. He’s also cohead of the firm’s mergers and acquisitions group and its investment management group, focusing on middle-market corporate transactions including mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, and joint ventures.

EDUCATION Tulane University, Samford University Cumberland School of Law (JD), University of Alabama School of Law (LLM)
FIRST JOB Sales clerk for my parents’ sporting-goods store
FAVORITE TRAVEL DESTINATION Gulf Coast beaches
NONPROFITS Empty Stocking Fund, Woodruff Arts Center, City of Refuge
BUCKET LIST Family trip to Africa at some point
WHO’D PLAY ME IN A BIOPIC Jason Bateman


Atlanta 500: Candis Jones Smith

Candis Jones Smith
Partner
Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith

Candis Jones Smith is a partner in the Atlanta office of Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith and a member of the firm’s general liability practice. Since 2011, Smith’s practice has focused on insurance defense, premises liability, personal injury, and medical malpractice; she has a strong track record in automobile liability and tort/premises liability trials with demands of $1 million or more. Her clients have included several Fortune 500 companies, numerous insurance carriers, and a major metropolitan transit authority. She has successfully tried and won federal and state jury and bench trials.

EDUCATION Spelman College, Georgia State College of Law (JD)
HOMETOWN Atlanta
FIRST JOB Party City
NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENTS Super Lawyers Rising Star (2019-2024)
FAVORITE ATLANTA PLACES TO VISIT Ponce City Market, the Beltline


Atlanta 500: Jen JordanJen Jordan
Partner
The Summerville Firm

Consistently recognized as one of the top lawyers in the state, Jen Jordan is an attorney who specializes in complex civil cases and stands up for those the system has failed. In 2015, Jordan brought suit against then Secretary of State Brian Kemp over a data breach that exposed the personal information of Georgia voters. She was elected to the Georgia legislature in a 2017 special election—breaking a Republican supermajority in the state Senate—and won reelection in 2018 and 2020. She was the 2022 Democratic nominee for Georgia’s Attorney General. In 2023, Jordan joined The Summerville Firm as a partner.

EDUCATION Georgia Southern University, University of Georgia School of Law (JD)
NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENT In 2019, with the legislature debating a bill that would strictly limit access to abortion, Jordan delivered a dissent that went viral, drawing more than 3 million views on a single platform.
FIRST JOB Historical extra at Mossy Creek Festival. I would put on period clothing and be a hostess for visitors to the arts and crafts festival in Middle Georgia.


Atlanta 500: Wab Kadaba

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Wab Kadaba
Global Chair
Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton

Effective July 1, 2024, Wab Kadaba was named global chair of Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton, leading the technology-focused law firm with 670 attorneys in 22 offices worldwide. For more than 11 years, Kadaba served as the global chair of the firm’s intellectual property department, leading a team of more than 300 attorneys in offices across the U.S. and Asia. Kadaba concentrated his practice on litigation related to intellectual property as well as strategy and management of intellectual property and technology issues; his experience in patent, trade dress, and trade secret litigation matters has involved technologies as diverse as software, telecommunications, e-commerce, medical devices, footwear, and chemical compositions.

EDUCATION Georgia Tech, Case Western Reserve University (MA), University of North Carolina School of Law (JD)
FIRST JOB Dunkin’ Donuts at age 14
BEST ADVICE RECEIVED My father told me to complete my education because it is that which no one can ever take away from me.
BUCKET LIST A bike-riding trip through Tuscany


Atlanta 500 Linda A. Klein

Linda A. Klein
Senior Managing Shareholder
Baker Donelson

Linda A. Klein is senior managing shareholder at Baker Donelson and a past president of the American Bar Association, the world’s largest voluntary professional association. As the first woman to serve as president of the State Bar of Georgia, she devised a proposal and advocated for the state to allocate funding for lawyers to help indigent victims of domestic violence. Klein served as managing partner of Gambrell & Stolz beginning in 2001, leading the firm’s 2007 merger with Baker Donelson. In 2024, Klein was named an Atlanta Business Chronicle Most Admired CEO.

EDUCATION Union College, Washington and Lee University School of Law (JD)
HIDDEN TALENT I collect Shirley Temple memorabilia and can even impersonate her.
FAVORITE ATLANTA PLACE TO VISIT Center for Civil and Human Rights
FAVORITE TRAVEL DESTINATIONS Big city: Toronto; leisure: Hawaii; Old Europe: Zagreb, Croatia


Atlanta 500 Ernest LaMont Greer

Ernest LaMont Greer
Co-president
Greenberg Traurig

Ernest Greer is copresident of Greenberg Traurig, an international law firm of over 2,750 attorneys in 47 locations. Greer also serves as chairman of the Washington, D.C. office. He was a vice president of the firm from 2013 to 2015 and Atlanta managing shareholder for nearly a decade. As managing shareholder, he directed the growth of the Atlanta office, which has more than 100 attorneys. Greer has also maintained an active legal practice, trying cases across the country, and is past chairman of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce—the first lawyer to serve in that capacity in the chamber’s 100-year history.

EDUCATION Harvard University, Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law (JD)
NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENTS Swan House Ball honoree, Atlanta History Center (2024); Georgia Trend 100 Most Influential Georgians (2023); Anti-Defamation League Southeast Region Lifetime Achievement Award (2022); 2022 inductee into the Junior Achievement of Atlanta Hall of Fame; a corporate recipient, National Bar Association, 40th Annual Mid-Year Conference Heman Marion Sweatt Award (2020); Women Works Media Group, Law and Justice Awards, Man of the Year


Atlanta 500: Simon R. Malko

Photograph courtesy of individual

Simon R. Malko
Managing Partner
Morris, Manning & Martin

Simon R. Malko brings more than 20 years of courtroom and law firm experience to his leadership role at Morris, Manning & Martin, where he is the third and youngest managing partner in the firm’s 49-year history. His approach is to leverage technology and innovation to position the firm for new challenges and opportunities. Malko began his legal career in New York City, where he represented Fortune 50 companies and large investment banks.

EDUCATION Emory University, Fordham University School of Law (JD)
FIRST JOB Mowing lawns
HIDDEN TALENT I am a very good cook.
LESSON LEARNED Never let your ego get in the way of your success.
FAVORITE ATLANTA PLACE TO VISIT Soccer at Liga Guinguard on Saturday mornings
BUCKET LIST Learning to play the bagpipes
WHO’D PLAY ME IN A BIOPIC Edward Norton


Atlanta 500: Ceasar C. Mitchell Jr.

Ceasar C. Mitchell Jr.
Partner
Dentons

A partner at Dentons, Ceasar C. Mitchell Jr. is a member of the firm’s public policy team as well as the head of its interdisciplinary Local Government Solutions practice, which bridges the public and private sectors to meet the challenges facing local and state governments in the U.S. Mitchell is past president of the Atlanta City Council, where he served two four-year terms as an at-large member while maintaining a legal practice in which he brought his policy advocacy, regulatory compliance, and real estate experience and relationships to bear. An Atlanta native, Mitchell serves on the boards of Hands On Atlanta and the Midtown Alliance.

EDUCATION Morehouse College, University of Georgia School of Law (JD)
BEST ADVICE RECEIVED What people are fussing about ain’t always what they are mad about.
LESSON LEARNED The best way to get your next initiative done is to tell people about your last initiative.
FEW PEOPLE KNOW I have to keep a box of tissues handy when watching romantic comedies.


Atlanta 500 Chuck PalmerChuck Palmer
Partner, Atlanta
Troutman Pepper Locke

In three decades of practice, Chuck Palmer has advised clients in a range of industries, helping them navigate their interactions with government. His work on behalf of major corporations, including Delta Air Lines, Emory, Verizon, and others, has earned him a reputation as a skilled advocate and a positive leader in Atlanta’s business community. Palmer is grateful to have played a role in the revitalization of Atlanta’s famed East Lake Golf Club, which, through its East Lake Foundation, has revitalized the surrounding community. He is currently serving as chair of the Bobby Jones Golf Course Foundation board and volunteers with a number of Atlanta civic and cultural organizations.

EDUCATION University of Georgia, Emory Law School (JD)
HOMETOWN Lindale, Georgia
FIRST JOB Central Maintenance Department at the West Point-Pepperell cotton mill
inspiring person Georgia Governor Carl Sanders, elected the same day as George Wallace in Alabama. He led Georgia in a completely different direction, making the state a magnet for business and professional sports.


Atlanta 500 Gerald L. Pouncey Jr.

Gerald L. Pouncey Jr.
Chairman
Morris Manning & Martin LLP

Gerald L. Pouncey Jr. is chairman of Morris, Manning & Martin, LLP. A senior partner in the firm, he also heads the environmental and infrastructure practices. His primary focus is the acquisition, disposition, and/or the redevelopment of properties with significant environmental impact; mergers, investments, and financing related to such properties; and the development and implementation of green energy technologies and strategies. The Opelika, Alabama, native has led efforts in the permitting, financing, acquisition, redevelopment, and regulatory closure of numerous industrial properties, mines, and landfills throughout the United States. In 2024, The Daily Report and Law.com selected Pouncey as a Lifetime Achievement Award honoree as part of its annual Southeastern Legal Awards. Additionally, Pouncey is the past chairman of the board of directors for the Council for Quality Growth, the Georgia Brownfield Association, the Walker School, and Cobb Landmarks and Historical Society.

EDUCATION Auburn University, University of Georgia (JD)
HOBBIES Golf, fly fishing


Atlanta 500 Steven H. Sadow

Steven H. Sadow
Criminal Defense Attorney
Steven H. Sadow PC

The sole practitioner at the firm Steven H. Sadow PC, Steve Sadow is a nationally known criminal defense attorney who has practiced law for 44 years. Sadow’s criminal trial and appellate practice focuses on white collar crime, including healthcare, cyber, securities and tax fraud, RICO, drugs and firearms, murder, and forfeiture. Notable successful high-profile representations have included rappers/entertainers T.I., Rick Ross, Usher, and Ty Dolla Sign; Howard K. Stern (Anna Nicole Smith’s attorney); and Steve Kaplan (owner of the former Gold Club).

EDUCATION Marietta College, Emory University School of Law (JD)
HOMETOWN Trotwood, Ohio
WHY I CHOSE THIS WORK It was a calling. I knew I wanted to be a criminal defense attorney at age 11.
HIDDEN TALENT College pocket-billiards champion
FAVORITE MOVIE My Cousin Vinny


Travis TownsendTravis Townsend Jr.
Partner
Townsend & Locket LLC

As cofounding partner of Townsend & Lockett and group leader of its business and transactional law practices, Townsend services businesses and supports their growth through the facilitation of financing, asset acquisition, and relationship management. Townsend led the corporate, securities, transactional, and banking practice groups at Townsend & Lockett, resulting in the firm closing over $18 billion in transactions for clients. Founded in 2010, the firm’s practice areas include mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, commercial real estate, intellectual property and technology, private equity and venture capital, and commercial litigation and arbitration in four locations: Atlanta, Dallas, Chicago, and Los Angeles.  Townsend, who is the president of the Atlanta chapter of the National Black MBA Association, is a member Leadership Atlanta’s Class of 2023.

EDUCATION University of Michigan, University of Michigan Law School (JD)
HOMETOWN Muskegon Heights, Michigan
WHY I CHOSE THIS WORK  Through a mentor, I learned about corporate law. She told me, “If we are advocates in this space, it will improve the community.”


Henry WalkerJ. Henry Walker IV
Chair Emeritus and Partner
Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton

J. Henry Walker IV is the chair emeritus and partner of Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton, an international law firm with more than 600 lawyers in 22 offices. During his tenure as chair and CEO of Kilpatrick from 2014 to 2024, the firm increased revenues and profits every year, and seven new offices were opened. Walker is a recognized leader in the legal and business communities, including serving as an active member of the Metro Atlanta Chamber executive committee, the Georgia Chamber of Commerce board of directors, and the State Bar of Georgia board of governors. In 2019, the Atlanta Business Chronicle named him one of the city’s Most Admired CEOs and honored him as an Executive Champion of Corporate Citizenship in 2024.

EDUCATION University of Virginia, Mercer University Walter F. George School of Law (JD)
HOMETOWN Griffin, Georgia


Atlanta 500: Mark D. Wasserman

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Mark D. Wasserman
Managing Partner and Co-CEO
Eversheds Sutherland

With more than three decades of experience in corporate law, Mark Wasserman has been the managing partner of Eversheds Sutherland (U.S.) LLP for 18 years and is the co-CEO of Eversheds Sutherland Limited. He’s represented and advised private and public companies in the U.S. and internationally, and has counseled clients on a range of business matters, especially mergers and acquisitions and issues relating to federal and state securities laws. He has served as chair of the Emory Law Dean’s advisory board and was named to The Best Lawyers in America in the area of corporate law for 2022-2025. Additionally, The Daily Report and Law.com selected Wasserman as a 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award honoree as part of its annual Southeastern Legal Awards.

EDUCATION Clemson University (MA), Emory University School of Law (JD)
FIRST JOB Owned and operated my own lawn service
HIDDEN TALENT I was an all-American fencer in college.
FAVORITE ATLANTA PLACE TO VISIT The BeltLine


Atlanta 500 John C. Yates

John C. Yates
Partner and Chairman
Morris, Manning & Martin

In 2024, Morris, Manning & Martin LLP named John C. Yates co-chairman, serving alongside current firm chairman Gerald Pouncey Jr. A pioneer in technology law, Yates launched the firm’s technology practice more than three decades ago and has practiced exclusively in that area ever since. Under his leadership, the firm’s technology practice has represented more than 1,000 tech companies and offers comprehensive legal and corporate services to start-ups, growing tech companies, and investors. A prolific author and leading voice in technology law, Yates has been cited by the U.S. Supreme Court and quoted in publications including The Wall Street Journal and The Economist. In 2023, Yates received the Atlanta Business Chronicle Ann Cramer Lifetime Achievement Award.

EDUCATION Duke University, Duke University School of Law (JD)
HOMETOWN Cincinnati, Ohio
FIRST JOB Library assistant in Charlotte, North Carolina. I’ll never shelve another book!
FAVORITE TRAVEL DESTINATION The beaches of South Carolina


Atlanta 500: Sally Q. Yates

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Sally Q. Yates
Partner
King & Spalding

With the Department of Justice for 27 years, Yates rose through the ranks of assistant United States attorneys to become U.S. attorney in Atlanta, deputy attorney general, and acting attorney general. As deputy AG from January 2015 through 2017, she was the second-highest-ranking official in the department. She directed all U.S. attorneys’ offices and DOJ law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, DEA, ATF, U.S. Marshals Service, and the Bureau of Prisons. Having served as a visiting distinguished lecturer at Georgetown University Law Center, she has specialized in white collar crime and tried high-profile public cases such as the ones against former Atlanta mayor Bill Campbell and Olympic bomber Eric Rudolph.

EDUCATION University of Georgia, University of Georgia School of Law (JD)
NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENTS A fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers, Yates has received the Luminary Award from the Southern Center for Human Rights.


MARKETING & PUBLIC RELATIONS

Vaughn AlvarezVaughn Alvarez
Founder and CEO
CR8 Agency

Vaughn Alvarez is the CEO of CR8 Agency, an entertainment and lifestyle PR and marketing agency which Alvarez founded in 2016. His client roster has included TV One, Entertainment One, RCA Inspiration, Lifetime, We TV, BET, as well as entertainers Rickey Smiley, Brandy, Ray J, Kierra Sheard, Sheryl Lee Ralph, and Wendy Raquel Robinson. HuffPost recognized Alvarez as one of the Top 25 African American PR Millennials to Watch, and he has been a significant figure in promoting Black and LGBTQ+ voices in entertainment. Additionally, Alvarez provides PR and marketing at his church, The Vision Church of Atlanta.

HOMETOWN Ashburn, Virginia
FAVORITE TRAVEL DESTINATION Los Angeles, California
NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENTS Atlanta Black Pride Weekend Honoree (2023), Black Media Honors Agency of the Year (2021)


Atlanta 500: Kristin Cowart

Kristin Cowart
Founder and CEO
Brave Public Relations

With expertise in media relations, reputation management, crisis communications, new product launches, and partnership marketing, Kristin Cowart founded the boutique firm Brave Public Relations in 1999. The company has worked with notable Atlanta brands including mall developer Simon, Pike Nurseries, PGA Tour/Tour Championship, Fox Theatre, and Legoland Discovery Center. Before founding Brave, Cowart worked in London for the global public relations firm Edelman, directing campaigns for clients including Ericsson and IMAX. Prior to that she was an account supervisor at Golin in Atlanta. In 2024, Newsweek included Brave Public Relations in its inaugural list of America’s Best PR Agencies.

EDUCATION Boston College
INSPIRING PERSON My grandfather. He started as a busboy at Morrison’s Cafeteria and worked his way up to CEO of the company—with only an eighth-grade education.


Atlanta 500 Gina Espinosa-Meltzer

Gina Espinosa-Meltzer
CEO
Hope Beckham Espinosa Inc.

In 2023, Gina Espinosa-Meltzer became CEO and majority owner of the marketing and communications company formerly known as Hope-Beckham Inc., which added her name to become Hope Beckham Espinosa. An award-winning communications strategist, she has worked with for-profit companies and nonprofits to elevate their brand, increase sales and enhance messaging to both the Hispanic and mainstream markets. Originally from Mexico City, she has advised such organizations as the Latin American Association, the Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the Latin American Chamber of Commerce, and Ser Familia. Her media relations expertise stems from her years as a journalist—with the BBC, CNN and Mundo Now, among others. Additionally, she serves on the board of the International Women’s Forum and Hope Atlanta, and is a member of Leadership Atlanta’s class of 2025.

EDUCATION Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico City, Mexico


Genna KellerGenna Keller
Co-CEO
Trevelino/Keller

A PR and marketing practitioner for more than 30 years, Genna Keller served in executive leadership positions with global public relations firms for 16 years before launching Trevelino/Keller with longtime colleague Dean Trevelino in 2003. With a wealth of B2B and B2C and nonprofit experience, Keller is also passionate about the tech industry and innovation, serving in advisory roles with Tech Alpharetta, Atlanta Tech Angels, among others. A member of the Buckhead Coalition, Keller’s expertise is often sought for company launch strategies, M&A communications, crisis work, and campaign development.

EDUCATION Wake Forest University
WHAT I’D TELL A RECENT GRADUATE Do not be afraid of hard work, follow-up, and nondigital interactions.


Atlanta 500: Carolyn Sloss

Carolyn Sloss
Vice President
Allied Integrated Marketing

As vice president of Allied Global Marketing, Sloss has expertise in marketing, communications, digital initiatives, and business development. Her client list includes The Walt Disney Studios, Paramount Pictures, Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, Apple TV+, Cirque du Soleil, and GPS Hospitality. A Florida native, Sloss creates and manages integrated campaigns and brand strategy with an entrepreneurial spirit. She was honored recently with the Synergy Award given by the African American Film Critics Association for her impactful commitment in the arts and entertainment community.

EDUCATION Auburn University
FEW PEOPLE KNOW I start every morning with a Coke Zero.
FAVORITE TRAVEL DESTINATION Greece
FAVORITE ATLANTA PLACES TO VISIT Atlanta BeltLine, Fox Theatre, and Truist Park
NONPROFITS Atlanta Film Festival, VOX ATL, and Girl Scouts of Greater Atlanta


Atlanta 500: Vince Thompson

Photograph courtesy of individual

Vince Thompson
Founder, Chairman, and CEO
MELT

Vince Thompson founded MELT in 2000 and built the company into one of the nation’s leading events and sports marketing agencies. Thompson also built MELT University into one of the industry’s most successful internship and career development programs; his book Build Brand You: Insights for Pursuing Your Dreams, a guide to building personal brands, was published in 2020. In 2018, the Atlanta Business Chronicle named Thompson one of its Most Admired CEOs.

EDUCATION Auburn University
HIDDEN TALENT I played the saxophone in high school.
HOBBIES Exercising, fishing, fine wine, cigars
FAVORITE ATLANTA PLACE TO VISIT Chops Lobster Bar
FEW PEOPLE KNOW I recently helped reopen the famous dive bar the War Eagle Supper Club at my alma mater.
WHO’D PLAY ME IN A BIOPIC Jeremy Piven


Dean TrevelinoDean Trevelino
Co-CEO
Trevelino/Keller Communications Group

Dean Trevelino had 16 years of experience in executive leadership positions at global public relations firms before he and longtime colleague Genna Keller launched Trevelino/Keller in 2003. Together they created a growth public relations and marketing firm that has been ranked as high as the fourth fastest-growing firm in the U.S. by O’Dwyer’s, and recognized as one of the best North American firms to work for by PRovoke Media. In 2024, the firm acquired Marsden Marketing to expand its growth marketing capabilities. Trevelino is a member of the Forbes Agency Council; he’s also a competitive ultrarunner and former Division I college wrestler.

EDUCATION Pennsylvania State University, University of Alabama (MA)
TOUGHEST CHALLENGE 33-hour run in the hills of No Business, Tennessee
HIDDEN TALENT Closet modern architect
BUCKET LIST Trek across Costa Rica


Atlanta 500 Caroline WilbertCaroline Wilbert
President
The Wilbert Group

Caroline Wilbert is president of the Wilbert Group, which she founded in 2009 and has since become one of the largest five PR firms in metro Atlanta. As president, she provides leadership and sets strategy for the firm, while developing programs that drive measurable business results for clients. Passionate about defining clients’ stories, she consistently tells those stories in the marketplace through a variety of channels, including traditional news and social media. Wilbert is particularly proud of the firm’s Wilbert Cares program through which hundreds of thousands of dollars in pro bono work is donated to the community. Wilbert began her career in journalism, including seven years as a business reporter for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and two years at the Atlanta Business Chronicle. Having won awards both for breaking news and feature writing, Wilbert’s work has appeared in The New York Times, Atlanta magazine, and many other publications nationwide.

EDUCATION University of Georgia


MEDIA

Donald AlbrightDonald Albright
President and Cofounder
Tenderfoot TV

Donald Albright is an entrepreneur, producer, and CEO of the content creation company Tenderfoot TV, which he cofounded in 2016 with Payne Lindsey, and which produces an array of entertainment media including podcasts, live shows, television, film, and other digital platforms. Since its launch, Tenderfoot TV has released multiple award-winning podcast franchises including Up and Vanished, Atlanta Monster, and To Live and Die in LA, amassing over 800 million downloads. Through Tenderfoot TV, Albright has forged partnerships with media companies including Apple, Spotify, iHeartMedia, Cadence13, NBCUniversal, HBO, Audible, Netflix, and Issa Rae’s label Raedio. Additionally, Albright serves as a founding governor of The Podcast Academy.

HOMETOWN San Jose, California
NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENTS iHeartRadio Audible Audio Pioneer Award (2020), Webby Crime & Justice Podcast Award (2020), iHeart Best True Crime Podcast (2019)


Atlanta 500: Brandon Butler

Brandon Butler
Partner and Chief Culture and Innovation Officer
Majority

Brandon Butler is a partner and chief culture and innovation officer for Majority, a marketing and advertising agency built upon a diversity-led talent model and founded in 2021 in partnership with Shaquille O’Neal and other marketers. Butler was formerly vice president of the advertising agency Dagger and executive director of its in-house media company, Butter.ATL. However, Butler’s move to Majority secured his majority ownership and control of Butter.ATL. Since its launch in 2019, Butter—a 2020 Webby Award nominee—has developed original programming featuring Atlanta figures such as Killer Mike, Goodie Mob, and DJ Scream, and gained more than 70,000 followers including Chrissy Teigen, Big Boi, and Tim McGraw. Butler, a seasoned marketing and creative leader, has previously led successful creative and digital teams at Accenture, Edelman, Public Broadcasting Atlanta, and NBA Digital.

EDUCATION Georgia Southern University, Georgia Tech (MBA)


Atlanta 500 Leroy Chapman Jr.Leroy Chapman Jr.
Editor-In-Chief
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A journalist for nearly 30 years, Leroy Chapman is the editor-in-chief of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He began working at the newspaper in 2011, originally as a story editor. Through a series of promotions, he went from managing a single local news reporting team to managing several reporting teams to being named managing editor in 2020, where he oversaw the daily news production in print and on ajc.com. Named editor-in-chief in March 2023, he is the first African American to hold this position since the paper was founded in 1868. Prior to his work in Atlanta, Chapman, who is a U.S. Navy veteran, worked at several newspapers in South Carolina primarily covering politics. He and his wife, Dawn Ford Chapman, have three children.

EDUCATION The University of South Carolina
NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENTS At 28, became the first African American named to The Greenville News editorial board.
WHY I CHOSE THIS WORK It’s one of the few ways you can make a living as a writer, and it speaks to my desire to serve.


Atlanta 500 Jennifer Dorian

Jennifer Dorian
President and CEO
WABE 90.1FM and WABE.org

As president and CEO of WABE, Jennifer Dorian oversees Atlanta’s original, independent, nonprofit source for national NPR/PBS news and content and impactful local stories and programming. Since taking over the media outlet’s helm in January 2021, Dorian has led the consolidation of NPR station WABE-90.1, PBS station ATL-PBA, and digital-content hub WABE.org under one umbrella WABE brand. She also has made significant, strategic investments in the station’s newsroom and digital transformation to better serve Atlanta audiences. A recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Marketing Association Atlanta chapter, Dorian came to WABE after a 20-year career at Turner Broadcasting.

EDUCATION Emory University, University of Texas at Austin (MBA)
NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENT Most recently, Dorian led the creation of WABE’s Digital Transformation Capital Campaign dedicated toward growing and strengthening WABE’s ability to deliver independent news and programming to the next generation of Atlantans. In just nine months, she raised $6 million, including the largest single gift in WABE’s 75-year history, by sharing the story of WABE and its vital role in the metro Atlanta community.


Atlanta 500: Erick Erickson

Erick Erickson
Host, The Erick Erickson Show
WSB Radio

Author and nationally syndicated columnist Erick Erickson is one of the most popular local hosts in the country and was the voice of evening drive time on WSB for 10 years. His show now airs live noon to 3 p.m. each weekday. He has been a frequent panelist on NBC’s Meet the Press, HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher, and other programs. The Atlantic called Erickson the most influential conservative in America. He’s currently working on his master of divinity degree at Reformed Theological Seminary.

EDUCATION Mercer University, Mercer University School of Law (JD)
FAVORITE BOOK To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
WHY I CHOSE THIS WORK I didn’t. I fell into it by accident when a local host got arrested in Macon and his station needed a fill-in, but it is now the longest job I’ve ever had, and I can’t imagine doing anything else.


Atlanta 500: Jeff Genthner

Jeff Genthner
Senior Vice President and General Manager
FanDuel Sports Network South and FanDuel Sports Network Southeast

Jeff Genthner is the senior vice president and general manager of the Diamond Sports Group-owned regional networks FanDuel Sports Network South and FanDuel Sports Network Southeast. A 45-year industry veteran, Genthner played a pivotal role in developing FanDuel Sports Network (formerly Bally Sports and FOX Sports) into the nation’s largest regional sports network. Under his leadership, the networks were named 2022 RSN (Regional Sports Network) of the Year by the Cynopsis Sports Media Awards and have garnered over 100 Emmy Awards and numerous other national awards for production and marketing excellence. A native of Cold Spring Harbor, New York, Genthner began his career in 1980 at SportsChannel New York and has launched or managed eight regional sports networks.

EDUCATION Michigan State University
BEST ADVICE RECEIVED From Cablevision founder Charles Dolan: “You never learn when speaking, only when listening.”


Atlanta 500: Sanjay Gupta

Photograph by Getty/Jonathan Leibson

Sanjay Gupta, MD
Neurosurgeon
Chief Medical Correspondent
CNN

Emmy-winning chief medical correspondent Sanjay Gupta plays an integral role in CNN’s reporting on health and medical news for all of the network’s domestic and international shows, and he contributes to CNN.com. His medical training and public health policy experience inform his reporting from war zones and natural disasters. Gupta is also a member of the staff and faculty at Emory University School of Medicine and an associate chief of neurosurgery at Grady Memorial Hospital. An Atlanta resident, he regularly performs surgery at Emory University and Grady hospitals.

EDUCATION University of Michigan, University of Michigan Medical School (MD)
NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENTS Author of four New York Times bestselling books: Chasing Life, Cheating Death, Monday Mornings, and Keep Sharp: Building a Better Brain at Any Age. Named one of People’s Sexiest Men Alive in 2003.


Jeremy HelipernJeremy Heilpern
CEO and Founder
Ammunition

Having founded his first advertising agency when he was 14, Jeremy Heilpern is the CEO of Ammunition, a full-funnel advertising agency which he founded in 2017. One of Atlanta’s only genuine full-service agencies, Ammunition has been recognized on the 2024 Inc. 5000 list as one of the fastest-growing companies in the U.S., and in Atlanta by the Atlanta Business Chronicle for four consecutive years. Ammunition’s client roster includes LG, the Atlanta Hawks, and Georgia-Pacific. In 2023, Heilpern led the acquisition of Mad Hat Creative, an Emmy Award-winning video production company. Heilpern served as president of Morrison in Atlanta before resigning to start Ammunition.

EDUCATION The Art Institute of Atlanta
HOMETOWN Detroit, Michigan
BUCKET LIST I am a big sports fan and have been to almost every major sport except for a Grand Prix. I love racing, so that’s definitely on the list for this year.


Atlanta 500 Jenn Hobby

Jenn Hobby
Radio and Television Host
Star 94.1 and WSB-TV

Jenn Hobby is a content creator, a radio host on Atlanta’s Star 94, television host of The Daily 2 on WSB-TV, TEDx speaker, and podcaster. A well-known Atlanta personality for more than 20 years, her radio career has included WBTS-FM (95.5 The Beat),
WWWQ-FM (Q100), and WKHX-FM (Kicks 101.5), and her television work has included HLN, CNN, Georgia Public Broadcasting, and Fox 5 Atlanta. Hobby earned two Gracie Awards for her work in radio and an Emmy for her TV work at GPB. In 2010 she was a guest host on Live! with Regis and Kelly. After her younger daughter beat cancer, Hobby became an advocate for childhood cancer research, raising over $420,000 through Reese’s MaGIC Fund at the Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.

EDUCATION Florida State University
HOMETOWN Saint Petersburg, Florida


Atlanta 500 Hilton Howell Jr.Hilton Howell Jr.
Chairman of the Board and CEO
Gray Television, Assembly Atlanta, and Atlantic American Corporation

Hilton Howell Jr. serves as chairman of the board and CEO of Gray Television and is the founder, chairman, and CEO of Assembly Atlanta. He also serves as chairman of the board, president, and CEO of Atlantic American Corporation. Hilton brings over 30 years of experience in both the broadcast and insurance industries. Under Hilton’s leadership, Gray Television has developed from a small, regional broadcaster based in Albany, Georgia to be an owner of top-rated local television stations and digital assets throughout the United States. Through strategic acquisitions and mergers following the purchase of Gray Communication Systems in 1992, its television stations now serve 114 television markets that collectively reach approximately 36 percent of U.S. television households.  Now headquartered in Atlanta, Gray Television has been a trailblazer in the broadcasting space. In 2021, Hilton’s visionary leadership led Gray to begin construction on a state-of-the-art studio production development known as Assembly Atlanta, which opened in 2023.


Atlanta 500 Bert Wesley HuffmanBert Wesley Huffman
President and CEO
Georgia Public Broadcasting

Bert Wesley Huffman was named CEO of Georgia Public Broadcasting in 2023. Huffman joined GPB in 2014 as the company’s first vice president for development and marketing. In 2016, he was promoted to the senior vice president of external affairs, and in 2021 was named president of GPB. Prior to joining GPB, Huffman held top roles in development operations for arts and educational institutions, including The Atlanta Opera and Emory University. He has used his experience in the arts and educational worlds to create a culture of philanthropy at GPB and elevated the organization’s foremost role to being a partner in the community that serves its viewers and listeners in ways that commercial broadcasting does not. In 2016, Huffman was awarded the Public Radio Association of Development Officers’ Development Professional of the Year award. In 2017, under his leadership, GPB was honored with the PBS Development Special Achievement Award.

EDUCATION Tennessee Wesleyan University, Kennesaw State University (MPA)



Atlanta 500 Tharon JohnsonTharon Johnson

Founder and CEO
Paramount Consulting Group LLC

Tharon Johnson is the founder and CEO of Paramount Consulting Group, a bipartisan government affairs and communications firm based in Atlanta. A nationally recognized political strategist, Johnson appears each week on Fox 5 Atlanta’s longest-running public affairs program, The Georgia Gang, and on WABE 90.1FM’s popular Political Breakfast podcast. Most recently, he served as a senior advisor to the Biden-Harris campaign in the battleground state of Georgia. Additionally, he has served on campaigns for President Barack Obama, Congressman John Lewis, and Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms. He appears regularly as a contributor on CNN, MSNBC, and WSB-TV and is frequently quoted in The Washington Post, The New York Times, and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Johnson is married to Dr. Chynna Johnson and the father of Tyeson Johnson.

EDUCATION Clark Atlanta University
HOMETOWN Athens, Georgia


Atlanta 500: Payne Lindsey

Payne Lindsey
Cofounder
Tenderfoot TV

Payne Lindsey is a director and documentary filmmaker who cofounded the content-creation company Tenderfoot TV with his friend and business partner Donald Albright. The company has launched several hit podcast series including Up and Vanished, Atlanta Monster, and Radio Rental, all of which Lindsey hosts; he’s also an executive producer of Monster The Zodiac Killer, Insomniac, and others. In 2020 he brought Up and Vanished to the small screen as a docuseries for Oxygen. Most recently Lindsey partnered with Disgraceland host Jake Brennan on the podcast Dead and Gone, which investigates the cases of Grateful Dead fans who have died or gone missing.

NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENT iHeartRadio Best True Crime Podcast for Up and Vanished (2019)
FAVORITE TV SHOW Breaking Bad
FAVORITE TRAVEL DESTINATION Maine
BUCKET LIST Direct a film or TV series


Atlanta 500: Mike Luckovich

Photograph courtesy of individual

Mike Luckovich
Editorial Cartoonist
Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Following stints at South Carolina’s Greenville News and The Times-Picayune of New Orleans, Seattle native Mike Luckovich became an editorial cartoonist for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in 1989. His work has garnered him two Pulitzer Prizes as well as a Reuben Award, the highest honor bestowed by the National Cartoonists Society. Luckovich’s cartoons are syndicated in 150 newspapers, and his latest collection, The Twisted History of the GOP, was published in 2022.

EDUCATION University of Washington
NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENTS Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award (1994), Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning (1995, 2006)
HIDDEN TALENT I’m a pretty good dancer.
FAVORITE BOOK Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass
LESSON LEARNED Some people you can’t change.


Atlanta 500 Darian Morgan (Big Tigger)Darian Morgan (Big Tigger)
Television/radio producer

Currently host of The Big Tigger Morning Show With Jazzy McBee on V-103 (WVEE-FM), Tigger is well known as host of the longest running, nationally televised hip-hop show on BET, Rap City. In 2003, he created Live in the Den with Big Tigger, a three-hour, syndicated show that aired for more than 10 years in 67 markets and three countries. His television show, Direct Access with Big Tigger, won an Emmy Award in 2013. He’s also hosted BET Awards and Soul Train Awards and has appeared on the Dave Chappelle Show. He’s worked with both the Atlanta Hawks and the Atlanta Dream.

EDUCATION University of Maryland
NONPROFIT Big Tigger Foundation, which targets HIV/AIDS and illiteracy


Atlanta 500: Wes Moss

Wes Moss
Managing Partner
Capital Investment Advisors
Host
Money Matters

Wes Moss is the managing partner of Capital Investment Advisors, a $4 billion registered investment adviser in Sandy Springs. He’s also the host of the podcast Retire Sooner, the host of the weekly call-in show Money Matters on 95.5 WSB, the editor of WesMoss.com, and the author of two books, including What the Happiest Retirees Know: 10 Habits for a Healthy, Secure, and Joyful Life. Barron’s has named him one of its top 1,200 independent financial advisers every year since 2014, and in 2021 the magazine listed him as one of the country’s top 100 advisers.

EDUCATION University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
HOMETOWN Coatesville, Pennsylvania
WHY I CHOSE THIS WORK When I was growing up, my dad was a large-animal vet. After going with him on a 5 a.m. farm call, I decided there was no way I wanted to do that for a living. So I picked up a copy of the Wall Street Journal, and I was hooked.


Atlanta 500 Bill NigutBill Nigut
Co-host of the Politically Georgia podcast and on WABE 90.1
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Bill Nigut joined the staff of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in August 2023 and is a co-host of the AJC podcast Politically Georgia, which became a daily radio program on WABE 90.1. He has covered local, state, and national politics in Georgia for over five decades, including coverage of five presidential elections, 19 sessions of the Georgia General Assembly and more for WSB-TV. He was inducted into the Georgia Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 2021. He has announced he will retire in January 2025.

HOMETOWN Skokie, Illinois
MOST INSPIRING PERSON I’m deeply inspired by Tony Award-winning Broadway director Kenny Leon, who continues to make his home in Atlanta. I inherited a friendship with Kenny thanks to his close friendship with my wife, Janece Shaffer. Kenny believes in the power of theater to bring us together across racial, religious, and other lines that may separate us.


Atlanta 500: Tom O’Brien

Tom O’Brien
President
Weather Group

Tom O’Brien is president of Weather Group, the parent company of both The Weather Channel and the over-the-top streaming service Local Now, Pattrn (TWC’s brand dedicated to climate and the environment), and The Weather Channel en Español (the nation’s first 24/7 Spanish-language free-streaming weather news network). As network president, O’Brien works to ensure that The Weather Channel remains the top-rated and most widely distributed weather network in the U.S. A longtime television and digital business executive, O’Brien was previously a corporate officer for Nexstar Media Group, where he led digital and revenue growth efforts. Prior to that he spent 14 years at NBCUniversal, including stints as president and general manager of NBC’s flagship station, WNBC, and executive vice president and chief revenue officer of CNBC.

EDUCATION Syracuse University


Atlanta 500: Michael Ouweleen

Michael Ouweleen
President
Adult Swim, Cartoon Network, Discovery Family, and TCM

Michael Ouweleen is president of Adult Swim, Cartoon Network, Discovery Family, and TCM. He is responsible for all aspects of Adult Swim, Cartoon Network, and Discovery Family, including content development and production and franchise management, alongside operational management of TCM. His oversight includes programming, creative, digital, and live events related to these brands and their properties globally across all company-owned platforms and third-party partners. He also works collaboratively with the US Networks Group, a consolidated organization comprising Warner Bros. Discovery’s close to 30 US networks. Ouweleen was a key member of the small team that championed and launched Adult Swim. While serving as creative director for the block, he also co-created, co-executive produced, and co-wrote one of the first Adult Swim shows, Harvey Birdman, Attorney-at-Law, starring Gary Cole and Stephen Colbert. He and his wife have three grown sons.

EDUCATION Georgetown University


Atlanta 500: Lisa Respers France

Lisa Respers France
Reporter
CNN

Lisa Respers France is a reporter for CNN in Atlanta. A veteran of CNN’s entertainment team and with a sharp instinct for where culture and news intersect, she interviews and reports on celebrities and trendsetters, from Oprah to Taylor Swift; and she contributed to the timely 2023 CNN FlashDocs Taking On Taylor Swift with her insights. She is the former host of the Lisa’s Desk franchise, founding author of the Pop Life Chronicles newsletter and co-host of the CNN podcast Lisa, Sandra and Kristin Go to the Movies, which ran in 2019. France previously served as an editor of the alumni magazine for Saint John’s University and, before that, as a journalist for The Baltimore Sun. She got her start in journalism in 1994 at The Los Angeles Times. Her short stories have appeared in two anthologies.

EDUCATION University of Maryland, Baltimore County


Atlanta 500: Rashad Richey

Rashad Richey
Radio and Television Personality
Rolling Out, TYT Network, Agents & Strategies LLC

The youngest inductee into the National Black Radio Hall of Fame as of 2022, Rashad Richey is also an Emmy-nominated political analyst, a political commentator, and a professor at Morris Brown College. Formerly the host of the Rashad Richey Morning Show on News & Talk 1380 WAOK for nearly a decade, in 2024, Richey signed a multimillion-dollar national syndication deal with Agents & Strategies LLC to broadcast his morning show The Dr. Rashad Richey Morning Show on radio stations throughout America and Canada. He’s also the host of Indisputable with Dr. Rashad Richey on the TYT Network and a regular commentator on MSNBC and Fox News. Additionally, he is president of Rolling Out and serves on Piedmont Atlanta Hospital’s board of directors. Previously Richey was the political director and chief strategist for the Democratic Party of Georgia.

EDUCATION Beulah Heights University (MBA), Clark Atlanta University (EdD), Scofield Graduate School & Theological Seminary (PhD)


Atlanta 500: Maria Saporta

Maria Saporta
Founder
SaportaReport

An Atlanta native who began her full-time journalism career in 1980 with the Macon Telegraph, Maria Saporta is a former Atlanta Business Chronicle columnist and reporter and the founder of SaportaReport, where a stable of veteran contributors provide updates on business, urban, and civic issues in metro Atlanta and beyond. In 2008 she wrapped up a 27-year career with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, during which she was a business and civic columnist for more than 17 years. In 2024, Saporta announced that the SaportaReport, in celebration of its 15th anniversary, is partnering with nonprofit Atlanta Way 2.0 to create an initiative tasked with developing the next generation of civic journalists.

EDUCATION Boston University, Georgia State University (MA)
FEW PEOPLE KNOW My first language was French, and I didn’t know English when I entered kindergarten.


Atlanta 500 Rose ScottRose Scott
Journalist and Executive Producer
WABE 90.1FM

Rose Scott is a journalist, host, and executive producer of midday news program Closer Look heard on Atlanta’s NPR station WABE 90.1 FM. In her role, Scott has interviewed foreign heads of states, cabinet members, U.S. ambassadors, numerous consul generals, state, and local elected officials as well as civic and social leaders. Closer Look has become a signature broadcast for the community and brings together viewpoints from all sectors of society. Scott leads the Closer Look team in presenting discussions mostly centered around quality-of-life topics and segments. Topics include affordable housing, education, mobility and transit, health and wellness, and workforce development. Scott has been honored with several awards including a Southeast Emmy Award, an Edward R. Murrow Award, an Atlanta Association of Black Journalists award, and numerous awards from the Georgia Association of Broadcasters.

EDUCATION Indiana State University
HOMETOWN St. Louis, Missouri
BEST ADVICE RECEIVED From Robin Roberts: “Atlanta is a place where a lot of people can help you. The key is to surround yourself with people willing to help you.”


Atlanta 500: Kim Severson

Photograph courtesy of individual

Kim Severson
National Food Correspondent
New York Times

Kim Severson is a national food correspondent for the New York Times, and previously the paper’s Southern bureau chief and a staff writer in the dining section. Severson has won several awards for news and feature writing, including the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for her contributions to the team that investigated workplace sexual harassment and abuse against women, four James Beard Foundation awards, and the Casey Medal for Meritorious Journalism for her work on childhood obesity in 2002.

EDUCATION Michigan State University
FIRST JOB Cleaning cages in a vet’s office
HOBBIES Softball—playing and coaching my kid’s team
FEW PEOPLE KNOW I secretly want to be a stand-up comedian.
FAVORITE ATLANTA PLACE TO VISIT Any farmers market


Atlanta 500: Ivan Shammas

Ivan Shammas
President and CEO
Hispanic Plug

Ivan Shammas is president and CEO of Hispanic Plug, a multimedia marketing agency dedicated to integrating businesses into the fast-growing and dynamic Hispanic market. Having witnessed Georgia’s Hispanic population boom since his family moved to the state in 1987, Shammas has been a part of the Spanish media growth of Atlanta for the past 25 years starting with his first job out of college selling television advertising on Spanish cable networks. Most recently, Shammas was TelevisaUnivision’s chief revenue officer for Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, North Carolina, and South Carolina. In 2024, the Georgia General Assembly honored Shammas, who serves on the board of directors of the Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and Cristo Rey Atlanta Jesuit High School, with a resolution highlighting his impact in the Georgia Latinx community. Additionally, Shammas is on the board of directors of the Atlanta Community Food Bank, the YMCA of Metro Atlanta, and the Fox Theatre.

EDUCATION Georgia State University
NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENTS Atlanta Falcons Hispanic Heritage Leadership Award presented by the NFL and the Hispanic Heritage Foundation, Atlanta Business Chronicle Power 100


Susan Sim OhSusan Sim Oh
Vice President of Strategy and Operations
Gray Telemundo Station Group

Susan Sim Oh is the vice president of Strategy and Operations for Gray Telemundo Station Group. In this role, she strategizes, develops, and promotes overall strategy and best practices for news, programming, digital, marketing, and sales for Gray Telemundo Station Group, which is comprised of 43 markets across the United States. In 2022, Gray Media acquired Telemundo Atlanta. Oh, who established Telemundo Atlanta with her brother Coline Sim in 2009 after realizing one million Hispanic people in metro Atlanta had no credible source of news information, continues to oversee the strategic direction of the station. Under Oh’s leadership, Telemundo Atlanta has garnered 65 Southeast Emmy Awards since 2012, and in 2025, Oh was inducted into its Silver Circle, which honors 25 years of work in the television industry. A journalist by training, Oh worked at CNN in Atlanta in various news production and media relations capacities.

EDUCATION University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Georgia State University (MBA)
HOMETOWN Atlanta


Shelley WynterShelley Wynter
Host, The Shelley Wynter Show
WSB Radio

Shelley Wynter is the host of The Shelley Wynter Show which airs from 7 to 9 p.m. each weeknight. Neither a Republican nor a Democrat, Wynter is a staunch conservative who calls it like he sees it. A reformed sinner who goes to church on the big three days, his mother, Valerie G. Wynter, still loves and protects him from Heaven; however, she still does not know where his opinions come from, as she has said, “they certainly did not come from her.” Wynter’s heroes are Thomas Sowell, Walter Williams, Star Parker, Jack Kemp, and he has always admired Donald Trump, way before he became president. A member of the Georgia Black Republican Council, Wynter is also the founder of The Valerie G. Wynter Foundation, which hosts an annual Mother Son Dinner Dance around Mother’s Day.


LEGENDS

Joel Babbit
Babbit is CEO of Narrative Content Group, which he founded in 2009 with Rolling Stones keyboardist Chuck Leavell, and which launched the sustainability website Mother Nature Network (sold in 2020). Narrative has created and distributed content for many of the world’s leading brands, including Coca-Cola, Mercedes-Benz, and Subway.

Emmet Bondurant
A partner at Bondurant Mixson & Elmore, Bondurant has been recognized by the National Law Journal as one of the top 10 trial lawyers in the United States.

Amanda Brown Olmstead
Olmstead founded her eponymous agency in 1972, making it one of the longest-serving full-service public relations firms not only in metro Atlanta but also in the Southeast. Her firm has won more than 70 awards.

Xernona Clayton
Media pioneer Clayton worked with Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King, and launched the Trumpet Awards in 1993.

Bob Hope
President and cofounder of Hope-Beckham-Espinosa communications firm, Hope was public relations director for the Atlanta Braves in the Hank Aaron era.

Clark Howard
A leading consumer advocate for more than 30 years, Clark’s podcast boasts around 2 million downloads per month. Previously, he hosted a nationally syndicated radio show. He was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 2015 but retired from radio in 2020.

Glen Jackson
In 1995, Atlanta native Jackson cofounded the marketing communications agency Jackson Spalding with Bo Spalding, and he continues to provide leadership for many of its clients. He’s also the author of the book Preeminence: What It Means and How to Sustain It.

Valerie Jackson
The radio host was the wife of Mayor Maynard Jackson and helped prepare the city for the 1988 Democratic National Convention and the 1996 Olympic Games.

Tom Johnson
Under Johnson’s leadership, the Los Angeles Times won six Pulitzer Prizes. As CNN president, he worked with founder Ted Turner to pioneer the 24-hour news cycle.

Hank Klibanoff
The Pulitzer-winning author is now a professor in Emory’s Creative Writing Program. He coauthored The Race Beat.

Stephen E. Lewis
Lewis is chair of Troutman Pepper and has been a partner in the firm’s corporate law practice group since 1999. He serves as outside general counsel to several closely held companies and is particularly experienced in advising family-owned businesses. He served as firmwide chair of the corporate practice prior to becoming the managing partner of predecessor firm Troutman Sanders in 2011.

Monica Pearson
Pearson was the first woman and first minority to anchor the daily evening news in Atlanta, where she worked for 37 years at WSB-TV. She has won more than 33 Southern Regional and local Emmy Awards.

Lois Reitzes
Reitzes began working at WABE-FM 90.1, the National Public Radio affiliate in Atlanta, in 1979 as a music programmer and announcer, becoming program director in 1992. Now, she hosts City Lights, Second Cup, and other series.

Alexis Scott
Retired as publisher of the Atlanta Daily World, founded by her grandfather in 1928, Scott was a longtime member of FOX 5’s Georgia Gang.

Frank Ski
Described as a rainmaker of urban radio, Ski began his career as a disc jockey and recording artist and has evolved into a radio, film, and TV personality, motivational speaker, journalist, and philanthropist. Over twenty years ago he launched the Frank Ski Kids
Foundation, which exposes young people to science, technology, athletics, and the arts.

Georgianne Thomas
Dr. Thomas has worked with the City of Atlanta Municipal Court as a program manager assisting victims of domestic violence, as a trainer with the City of Atlanta, as a trainer with Delta Air Lines, and as an instructor in Atlanta Public Schools. Executive producer of the award-winning documentary, Footsoldiers: Class of 1964, she was recently honored at the National Center for Civil and Human Rights.

Ted Turner
Founder of CNN, TNT, Cartoon Network, and Turner Classic Movies, the avid environmentalist donated $1 billion to fund the United Nations Foundation.

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