On Leadership

As president and CEO of CHRIS 180, Kathy Colbenson has been on a mission, “to try to make the world a better place and help people to be their best selves.” That’s been her North Star since she took the helm of the non-profit in 1987. Since then, CHRIS 180 has had many accomplishments including creating the first program in the state for youth aging out of foster care, and launching the first school-based mental health program. It provides trauma-informed counseling in more than 82 schools in metro Atlanta.

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From policing to politics to protests, Jill Savitt has a unique ability to put current events in historical context. She is president and CEO of the National Center for Civil and Human Rights, an organization that aims to inspire and empower people to change the world. This year marks its 10th anniversary, and the launch of a $56 million expansion project. 

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Adam Noyes leads Atlanta’s largest catering company. He’s CEO of Proof of the Pudding. It provides food services for a variety of venues from the Atlanta Botanical Garden to the University of Georgia’s athletics stadiums, overseeing more than 20,000 events a year. And after 45 years in business, it is not slowing down. With Bruin Capital signing on last year as a majority investor, Noyes and his team are cooking up fresh ideas to help the business grow.

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As Christine Whitaker sees it, she’s at the center of “technology and innovation powering the global economy.” She is the president of Comcast’s Central Division based in Atlanta. That division spans 12 states, has 21 million customers and about 17,000 employees. While it is massive, Whitaker says she aims to connect with the community through efforts to bridge the digital divide and support small businesses.

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When Milton Little Jr.’s mother told him as a child to “make sure you help people,” he had no idea how much those words would prove to illuminate his career path. As president and CEO of United Way of Greater Atlanta, Little leads one of the largest United Way chapters in the world. Its focus is helping residents reach their highest potential including the nearly 500,000 youth in metro Atlanta who have been found to have low or declining measures of well-being. 

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When Jeff Call joined Bennett Thrasher in 2002, the company had about 50 employees. Today, that number has increased to 500 nationwide. Call is Managing Partner at the financial services firm. Bennett Thrasher reached a milestone in 2023 of $100 million in revenue. Call credits the company’s taking a “people first” approach to its employees and clients as one reason for the growth. Another factor is the expansion of practice areas to stay ahead in the competitive market.

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Mentoring helped Helene Lollis move from developing plastics to people. For more than two decades, the former BP engineer has been president and CEO of Pathbuilders, a firm that uses mentorship to transform top female talent “to change people and companies everyday.” Since its founding in 1995, the company has helped to develop 6,000 women from hundreds of organizations including Fortune 500 firms.

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From age 11, Jay Bailey knew he wanted to be an entrepreneur. Now as CEO of the Russell Innovation Center for Entrepreneurs (RICE), he leads the nation’s largest hub for developing and scaling Black-owned businesses. Since launching in 2019, RICE has served more than 350 small business owners, which have driven $450 million in economic activity.

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It’s not lost on Morgan Shaw Parker that Atlanta’s WNBA franchise is named after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous “I Have a Dream" speech. When she joined the Atlanta Dream as its president and COO in 2021, she sought to incorporate Dr. King’s values of respect, integrity, and diversity into the franchise. The Atlanta Dream’s staff is the most diverse of all WNBA’s teams. In 2023, the Atlanta Dream led the league with 12 sold-out games.

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