Thought Leader. Convener. CEO. Disruptive Change Agent.

Kim Anderson has spent her career leading dialogue, advancing change and convening partners who are committed to the empowerment of the most marginalized within our communities. Building paths not bridges, Kim’s leadership has impacted countless women, men, children and families.

As CEO of Families First, a $10 million nonprofit with over 20 programs and 130 employees impacting over 35,000 annually, Kim pioneered leading edge work and raised record revenues, including a $13 million capital campaign. During her tenure as CEO, Families First received a $5 million Innovation Grant for its COACHES program, partnered with social service providers in New Zealand to develop best practices in outcomes measurement and evaluation and launched significant digital initiatives including Volunteer Hub and the Families First Advocacy App.

Prior to Families First, Kim served as Senior Director for BoardWalk Consulting, a leading non-profit consulting firm, where she partnered with a variety of organizations serving multiple missions and constituencies. She also served as Executive Director of AID Atlanta, the southeast’s largest AIDS service organization. Kim began her career as an attorney with Alston & Bird. She was subsequently appointed as the first General Counsel of Grady Health System and was Vice President & Assistant General Counsel for Magellan Health Systems, a publicly traded behavioral healthcare company. She also served as senior legal counsel for the Atlanta Housing Authority, the nation’s fourth largest public housing agency.

A tireless advocate, Kim augments her professional service with volunteer leadership. She currently serves on the board of redefinED Atlanta, Georgia Appleseed, Partners for Home and the Supreme Court of Georgia’s Committee on Justice for Children. She was an International Women’s Forum Fellow and,the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Culture of Health Advisory Group and is a member of the IWF of Georgia and The Rotary Club of Atlanta. Kim has led as President of the Georgia Association of Black Women Attorneys, the Atlanta Legal Aid Society, the Georgia Bar Foundation and the Georgia Legal Clinic for the Homeless.

Rooted firmly in the belief that disruptive leadership equals effective, long term systemic change, Kim aims to launch forums that engage dynamic partners and develop sustainable ideas. “We can, and should, bequeath a better community to our children and our children’s children. All of us, despite our pasts, who our parents are, or where we live, deserve an opportunity to achieve any dream our minds can conceive.”

Kim is married to Gregory LeePow, an information technology manager. They are the parents of two adult children, Danielle and Mario. When time permits Kim enjoys traveling with friends, walks in the mountains, reading, and the arts. She holds a B.A. in Psychology and Sociology from Oberlin College and a J.D. from Columbia University.

Joy Dyess serves as President of The Junior League of Atlanta, Inc. (JLA) during its 105th year of service in the Atlanta community. In her role, Joy leads and serves with the JLA Board of Directors and members to achieve the League’s collective vision of serving Atlanta’s women and children through focused and impactful advocacy, training and direct service opportunities.Joy has been a member of JLA for 12 years and has served in a variety of roles and leadership opportunities that span the organization. She is especially excited to step in to the role of President during this important year of transition and lead as we take hopeful steps towards the end of the COVID-19 pandemic. Joy is committed to continuing intentional and purposeful assessment of JLA’s service and impact in our community and will work to further the organization’s collective reach through advocacy, donor stewardship and a re-energized focus on service. She believes that the foundation of JLA’s community work is its members, who are dedicated to supporting the League’s mission, and who work tirelessly to be a force for good and creating meaningful change in the Atlanta community.

Joy’s leadership experience on the JLA Board of Directors includes Vice President, Community Impact, Vice President, Membership, and most recently, Vice President, Advocacy & Initiatives. Prior to her board roles, she worked in several community placements, including Atlanta Botanical Gardens, Ronald McDonald House, Journey to Literacy and others. Her favorite JLA experience is helping to plan the first-ever JLA Serves, and she is amazed year-after-year to see how the event has grown.

Joy has her Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from Florida State University. She lives in Marietta with her husband, David, and their two dogs. In her spare time, Joy enjoys bike rides, planning trips, cooking, reading and swinging in her hammock at the end of a productive day.

Ron Frieson is Chief Operating Officer of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. In this role, Frieson leads all clinical operations of the healthcare system. He joined Children’s in June 2008 and has served as COO since July 2020.Frieson previously served as President, Foundation and External Affairs leading the philanthropic efforts of the Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Foundation. Prior to joining Children’s, Frieson served as Interim President and CEO of the Atlanta Urban League, where he provided leadership during a difficult period in the organization’s history. Most of Frieson’s professional career was spent in the telecommunications arena as President of Georgia Operations for the BellSouth/AT&T Corporation where he was responsible for the regulatory, legislative, public policy and external affairs areas for the company. Additionally, Frieson was the first Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer for BellSouth. Frieson serves as an advisory board member for Truist Bank Atlanta and on the boards of Colorado Technical University, The University of Tennessee Foundation, Children’s Miracle Network and Zoo Atlanta. His prior board leadership includes Hands on Atlanta, the Atlanta Urban League, the Georgia Chamber of Commerce and the American Kidney Fund.

Frieson holds a bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Tennessee and an MBA in Information Systems from Georgia State
University.

Leveraging more than 25 years of public relations and marketing communications experience, Elyse Hammett joined the Junior League of Atlanta’s Community Advisory Board in 2016. Leading the Community Foundation’s marketing and communications since 2015, Elyse honed her skills in positions of increasing responsibility and scope at Emory Healthcare and BellSouth until changing her seat to the agency side of the desk in 2005. From the agency side, Elyse served Fortune firms including her former employers as well as AT&T, Centex Homes, Disney On Ice, Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey and HD Supply. She’s won numerous awards from the American Hospital Marketing Association, Public Relations Society of America and the National Telecom Marketing Association. Elyse successfully sold her firm, Eos, in 2012, and completed the buy-out agreement in the summer of 2015, when she got the offer of a lifetime —- to go to work for her beloved client, the Community Foundation.

Elyse is an accredited public relations professional (APR) in Georgia (similar to a CPA for communications pros), and co-chairs the accreditation committee of the Public Relations Society of America’s board, after serving as the Georgia chapter’s 2017 president. She also serves on the board of COMMA, the community foundation industry’s association and leads marketing for CFON – the organization founded by community foundations across the country to eliminate income inequality. She and her husband Marc, have an adult daughter, Leah, and a marvelously mischievous spaniel, Rascal.

Milton J. Little, Jr. became the first African American president of United Way of Greater Atlanta, the largest in the national system, in July 2007. Altogether, Little has helped raise more than a billion dollars for local community needs and priorities. Before joining United Way, he served as chief operating officer and interim president and CEO of the National Urban League. He graduated magna cum laude from Morehouse College with a B.A. in sociology and earned an M.A. in urban sociology and social policy from Columbia University.In March of 2020, Little led the launch – in partnership with the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta – of the Greater Atlanta COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund. To date, the Fund has raised more than $30 million and provided 320 nonprofits across Greater Atlanta with resources they need to help the most vulnerable populations affected by the Coronavirus pandemic.

He is a member of many boards and advisory committees. Notable among them are the Center for Assessment and Policy Development, past chair of the Southern Education Foundation, and past vice chair of the board of directors for Ways to Work. He is a member of the Atlanta Mayoral Board of Service, the Commerce Club Operating Board, 100 Black Men of Atlanta, Leadership Atlanta Class of 2010 and the Rotary Club of Atlanta. He also serves on the Junior League of Atlanta Community Advisory Board, University of Georgia Advisory Board for the J.W. Fanning Institute for Leadership Development, Atlanta Speech School Board of Advisors, Woodruff Arts Center Board of Trustees, Central Atlanta Progress, Georgia Chamber of Commerce, Georgia Early Education Alliance for Ready Students, Georgia’s Older Adults Cabinet, Georgia’s Children’s Cabinet, Hope Atlanta Advisory Council, Get Georgia Ready Reading Cabinet and Susan G. Komen of Greater Atlanta. He was selected to serve on Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms’ 2018 Transition Team and, most recently, MDRC and the Roundtable on Population Health Improvement for the National Academies of Sciences Engineering Medicine.

Little is a native New Yorker and has two sons: Milton and Taylor, and three grandchildren: Joi, Miles, and Langston.

As President and CEO of the Atlanta Community Food Bank, Kyle Waide oversees the distribution of nearly 80 million pounds of food and grocery products each year through a network of 700 local and regional partner non-profit organizations that feed those in need across 29 Georgia counties. Prior to being named CEO in June of 2015, Kyle served for three years as the Food Bank’s Vice President of Partner Operations, leading the organization to record-breaking years of food distribution to the hungry.Prior to joining the Food Bank, Kyle held several management roles at The Home Depot Inc. in disaster relief, corporate responsibility, community affairs and store operations. He also previously served as part of the management team that created and launched Charity Navigator, the nation’s premier charity evaluation service. Kyle is a graduate of Harvard University. He currently serves as the Chair of the Southeast Regional Cooperative and the Vice Chair of the Georgia Food Bank Association. Kyle also is a member of the National Affiliate Council for Feeding America, for which he also chairs both the Food Sourcing Advisory Committee and the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Committee. He serves on the boards of the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce and Goodwill of North Georgia. He is a member of the Leadership Atlanta Class of 2015, the Rotary Club of Atlanta, the Community Advisory Board for The Junior League of Atlanta, Inc., the Super Bowl LIII Host Committee Advisory Board, and the Committee For A Better Atlanta.

Kyle resides in Atlanta, GA with his wife, Christina, and their three children.

Rachel Ezrine Wasserman was driven to her role as the Executive Director of the Jewish Women’s Fund of Atlanta (JWFA) by her passion for gender equity and social justice. Rachel joined JWFA in August 2012 when it was still in its infancy, and she has used her vast non-profit expertise to propel JWFA to unforeseen heights, including overseeing its first community study and subsequent signature grant dedicated to lifting up Jewish women and girls in Atlanta. Under her leadership, JWFA has developed an international reputation for being a funder of innovative programs promoting social change and gender justice.Since working with JWFA, Rachel has received the Pinnacle Award from Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta, was twice selected by Atlanta Jewish Times as one of its “40 Under 40,” and was honored as one of the top 25 nonprofit innovators in Atlanta. She is a sought-after speaker and writer about philanthropy, women’s leadership, women in the workforce, and giving circles. Rachel serves on the Community Advisory Board for the Junior League of Atlanta and was profiled in VoyageATL in 2020 and ShoutoutAtlanta in 2021.

Rachel received her bachelor’s from Brown University in Psychology and Judaic Studies, her master’s in Social Work from Columbia University, and her master’s in Jewish Studies from The Jewish Theological Seminary of America, where she specialized in Jewish Communal Service. She is a proud alumna of AVODAH: The Jewish Service Corps, which was the official launch of her career as a Jewish communal professional (although her passion for social justice can be traced back to age 12). Though she’s lived in Atlanta since 2012, a horse farm in Lexington, Kentucky will always be her true home.

Kim Wright is the Senior Vice President and Executive Director for Metro Atlanta’s American Heart Association. Kim is an experienced leader with a track record of success in developing structural alignment, leading change initiatives, and delivering innovative strategic solutions for both profit and non-profit organizations.

As the daughter of an Air Force intelligence specialist, she spent her childhood overseas living in Madagascar, Peru and Honduras. Her proficiency in Spanish later led her to serve as a translator for the Argentinian swim team during the 1996 Paralympic Games. She also performed as a stepper in the Welcome to the World segment during the opening ceremonies for the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games in Atlanta under the direction of
Kenny Ortega.

Kimberly graduated with honors from North Carolina A&T State University in 1992 with a degree in Banking & Finance. Upon graduating she accepted a job with McMaster-Carr Supply Co. in Atlanta, GA.

In 1999, Kimberly left McMaster-Carr to launch her own company, Castleberry On-Site Massage Inc., which provided chair massage and mobile spa services to corporations. Kimberly secured major contracts with high-profile clients such as Bell South, Jameson Hospitality and CNN.
Kimberly joined the American Cancer Society in the fight against cancer following her mother’s diagnosis with colorectal cancer in 2001. As the director of mission solutions, she was responsible for the development and delivery of constituent education program materials and mission-based tools. She was also the National Strategic Lead for African American Collaborations/Partnerships and a spokesperson for the American Cancer Society’s Choose You initiative.

In late 2012, Kim joined Pitney Bowes Management Services as a Business Development Executive where she worked with both profit and non-profit organizations improving their data analytics and integration, communication intelligence, messaging via multi channels and print outsourcing.
Kimberly is an active member of several volunteer organizations including Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc., the Junior League of Atlanta, and the National Black College Alumni Hall of Fame. She also serves on the Visitors board at her alma mater, and the advisory board for the Allen Etiquette Institute.