ANNUAL
Conference

Tuere K. Butler grew up in Washington,DC  but now calls Atlanta, GA home and resides in Poncey Highlands with her husband Nate and their bernedoodle, Jettson.  She is a proud alumna of Spelman College where she received her BA in English.  For 22 years Tuere’s professional career was in the world of politics, serving Congressman John Lewis as his District Director for his Atlanta office. Tuere was his longest serving employee and her portfolio included Homeland Security, Immigration, Military & Veterans Affairs.  Currently, she is the Director of Operations for a nonprofit based in Atlanta, Plywood People located in the Historic West End.  Plywood is a nonprofit in Atlanta supporting a global community of Social Impact Leaders.  Her skillset in building teams and fostering healthy and efficient work cultures has resulted in several podcast interviews and speaking opportunities sharing her best practices.  When she is not working, Tuere fills her time mentoring young adults, traveling and photography.  Tuere is a strong believer in empowering others, she is continually inspired by the question Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. asked "Life's most urgent question is, What are you doing for others?"

Jeanette began her affiliation with Junior Achievement as a high school student in the JA Company Program in the St Louis area, and in 2009 she joined JA Worldwide as Director of Development. Jeanette now serves Junior Achievement USA in the role of Vice President, Development, overseeing national partners, as well as generating new corporate and foundation relationships on a national and international basis.

Jeanette’s passion is to equip youth to be successful in life. In her role at JA, she loves to learn about the strategic priorities of potential partners so she can align those with JA to help in meeting goals while creating opportunities to serve JA youth together.

Jeanette’s professional journey in the nonprofit sector included over 20 years with Easter Seals, serving both at their national office in Chicago and at local affiliations, with responsibilities in the corporate development role. She is a graduate of the University of Missouri – Columbia and still roots for the Mizzou Tigers as well as the Chicago Cubs and Kansas City Chiefs. She enjoys exploring creative experiences, as well as Colorado adventures and family time with her husband, Ron, and daughter Jessi with her family, husband Brian and two stepsons.

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Melanie Upshaw, Procurement Director at Convoy of Hope has always been passionate about making a difference in the world and helping those in need. Melanie has the privilege of connecting with donors and partners who share Convoy of Hope's vision of bringing hope and help to those who need it most. Melanie seeks new and innovative ways to secure the resources needed to impact the lives of individuals and families around the world as the vision and reach of Convoy of Hope continues to grow. She graduated from Missouri State University with a degree in Marketing Management with an emphasis in Quantitative Business Analysis.  Her career experience has included operational and community engagement positions at Phoenix Home Care and Hospice, Integrity Pharmacy and Hospice Compassus. Melanie helped develop and start the In Time of Need Foundation, a foundation created to assist individuals who have been impacted by a significant medical event and she currently serves on the Board of Directors for Stained Glass Theatre, a non-profit Christian theatre whose mission is to serve Christ through the arts.

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As President and CEO of the Atlanta Community Food Bank, Kyle Waide leads one of the largest hunger relief organizations in the U.S. Working with a network of 700 community-based nonprofit organizations across 29 Georgia counties, Kyle and his team facilitate the distribution of $250 million in food and resources each year to approximately 700,000 neighbors facing food insecurity. During his tenure, Kyle has led the Food Bank through a decade of dramatic growth and expansion, quadrupling its annual output while launching multiple innovative initiatives to expand food access and increase food security.

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Jackie Suggitt serves as Director of Capital, Innovation and Engagement at ReFED, a nonprofit committed to reducing the $444 Billion of food waste in the U.S. In her position, she leads ReFED’s Food Business Initiatives program to tackle complex food waste solutions at scale; this includes the Pacific Coast Collaborative Food Waste Commitment – a regional public-private partnership committed to halving food waste by 2030. Building on the success of the PCFWC, Jackie also led the development and launch of the U.S. Food Waste Pact, the nation’s first data-driven and action-oriented platform for the private sector to collaborate on food waste reduction efforts. She also leads planning for the annual Food Waste Solutions Summit. Before joining ReFED, Jackie worked as Senior Manager of Sustainability at Walmart where she led a number of sustainable food and nutrition programs for Walmart’s global and private brand business.

Kitti Murray and her late husband, Bill, moved 12 years ago to a refugee community on the edge of Atlanta that has been called the most diverse square mile in the country. They considered this the most intense and inviting neighborhood in their experience, and it taught them to dream big and love even bigger. One expression of that love has been Refuge Coffee Co., a non-profit Kitti founded as a way to join hands with neighbors near and far to create opportunity and true refuge through coffee and community service. Refuge Coffee’s flagship shop is in Clarkston, Georgia, with shops in the Woodruff Arts Center in Midtown and in historic downtown Norcross. Refuge has been featured on CNN, NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt, Senator Bill Bradley’s radio show, American Voices, Food & Wine magazine, NPR’s The Salt, and The Kelly Clarkson Show. Kitti has spoken about Refuge at Creative Mornings, the Q Commons, Leadercast Women, Google Atlanta, the Center for Civil and Human Rights, and at other venues where people come to hear stories about justice and mercy. Connect with Kitti and Refuge at www.refugecoffeeco.com or on social media @refugecoffeeco.

Gloria Umanah is the Founder and CEO of mental health tech nonprofit, The Hope Booth. Through a challenging upbringing, Gloria overcame, fatherlessness, depression, and suicide. Gloria is alive today because of one four-lettered word: hope and she’s on mission to leverage her life for the good of others, that they too would choose hope and choose to live.

David provides leadership for Innovation at Chick-fil-A, Inc., a privately held quick-dining restaurant chain with 2021 revenues exceeding $19 billion.  His teams innovate the enterprise for generations of stakeholders.

After working as a marketing intern with Chick-fil-A while attending Georgia Tech, David joined the organization full-time in 1991 as a Marketing Consultant.  Prior to assuming his current role in November 2023, he led Restaurant Experience Teams that create and improve menu items, design kitchen capabilities, develop packaging, and innovate around service and hospitality solutions.

An Atlanta native, David received a degree in Industrial and Systems Engineering from Georgia Tech.  He has also completed executive programs at the Goizuetta Business School of Emory University and the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

David helped establish North Metro Church in Marietta, GA over 20 years ago, and has served on the board of Eagle Ranch - a home in north Georgia for 66 boys and girls in need of a stronger family support system. David currently serves on the board of Plywood – an organization fostering social entrepreneurship and Untold – a nonprofit working toward a future where every single person living with HIV/AIDS receives life-saving care, gains hope, and lives a flourishing life without stigma in Sub-Saharan Africa communities.

David and his wife, Mallory, have three adult children.  When away from Chick-fil-A, he loves family trips, reading stacks of magazines and early morning workouts.  He dreams of becoming a single-digit handicap golfer, but for now, it remains only a dream.

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Stan serves as Partner and Professional Practice Leader – Consulting at CapinCrouse, a national full-service CPA and consulting firm devoted to serving nonprofit organizations. Stan’s professional experience includes over 35 years in ministry operations, public accounting, government accounting, and international missions. He has a unique ability to balance strategic thinking with a deep knowledge of and hands-on experience in the day-to-day operations of many types of organizations. Stan provides strategic leadership of the firm’s professional advisory and consulting services, including research on emerging issues in the faith-based nonprofit sector and the development and implementation of products and services in response to those needs.

Cindy is a disruptor when it comes to evaluation in the social sector and applies more than 20 years of international experience in guiding nonprofit organizations to build their capacity for using data. She graduated from the University of Denver with a Master’s Degree in Sociology in applied research, and her career experience has included leadership and advisory roles with organizations such as the Nurse-Family Partnership, Grantmakers for Effective Organizations, Mile High United Way, and the Center for Health Policy Research.

Consultant, speaker, writer, and founder of Imago Consulting, Dave works with leaders who recognize the importance of innovation as a path to profitable growth. Over the past 20 years, Dave has worked with, spoken to, and inspired hundreds of nonprofits to grow, develop strategies, and launch new products and initiatives. He’s the author of The Wave Report, a weekly report on waves to watch – trends and lessons leaders can learn from and apply to their leadership. He’s also the co-founder and host of the Purpose & Profit Podcast – a show about the intersection of nonprofit causes and for-profit businesses.

Laura Moody, Founding Partner - Marketing + Business Development. Laura's experience at the intersection of purpose and people has placed her at the forefront of mission-focused communication and community engagement strategies. Before co-founding Purpose Possible, she held Development and Community Engagement positions with the Midtown Alliance, Savannah College of Art & Design, and the City of Atlanta’s Office of Cultural Affairs. Laura was elected Communications Co-Chair of the Corporate Volunteer Council of Atlanta for 2023/2024 and was named a Fellow of the Georgia Women’s Policy Institute for 2021-2022. She is also a graduate of the Urban Land Institute's Center for Leadership Class of 2016. Laura's recent clients include Atlanta BeltLine, Inc., the Atlanta Downtown Improvement District, Truist Foundation, the City of Clarkston, and Warner Bros Discovery's CSR department. Laura is a recovering theatre kid who performs with the Oakhurst Community Choir and the Summer Singers of Atlanta and frequents Fam Fam Karaoke.

Founding Partner - Vision + Strategy. Susannah has worked with mission-based organizations across the Southeast for over 15 years to support organizational strategy, program development, and fundraising for nonprofit and for-profit companies across sectors. Prior to launching her own consulting agency in 2017 (now known as Purpose Possible), she spent a decade working in arts and culture, supporting hundreds of artists and arts organizations to increase the presence of the arts in communities around the country. Susannah serves on the Board of Directors for the Atlanta Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (Sponsorship Chair), Kiwanis Club of Atlanta (Annual Fund Chair), CreateATL, and the University of Georgia Lamar Dodd School of Art Advisory Board. Since 2017, Susannah has worked with Councilmember Amir Farokhi as the Arts and Culture Advisor for Atlanta City Council District 2. Susannah's clients include 100 Miles, Wholesome Wave of Georgia, Emory University Rose Library, and the Georgia Leadership Institute for School Improvement.

Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith is a Board-Certified internal medicine physician, speaker, and award-winning author. She is an international well-being thought-leader featured in numerous media outlets including Prevention, MSNBC, Women’s Day, FOX, Fast Company, Psychology Today, INC, CNN Health, and TED.com. She is the author of numerous books including her bestseller Sacred Rest: Recover Your Life, Renew Your Energy, Restore Your Sanity, including insight on the seven types of rest needed to optimize your productivity, increase your overall happiness, overcome burnout, and live your best life. Over 250,000 people have discovered their personal rest deficits using her free assessment at RestQuiz.com. Learn more about Dr. Saundra at DrDaltonSmith.com.