GGA Annual Meeting - Rural Georgia: Land, Livelihoods, and the Next Generation
We are excited to welcome you to Tifton! The 2026 Annual Meeting brings philanthropic leaders face to face with the people and forces shaping rural Georgia today.
Location: Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College (ABAC), Georgia Museum of Agriculture, 1392 Whiddon Mill Rd. Tifton, GA
Our full agenda is below!
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Reconnect with colleagues, meet new friends and walk through Destination Ag, an interactive, educational experience for children and all guests focused on modern agriculture and natural resources.
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Kathryn Dennis, Community Foundation of Central Georgia
Kathryn Dennis serves as President of the Community Foundation of Central Georgia which she joined in June 2002. A native Georgian, she is a graduate of the University of Georgia. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Peyton Anderson Foundation, Community Health Services, Inc., and the South Georgia United Methodist Conference. She is a past president of the Rotary Club of Macon, the Junior League of Macon and the Macon Estate Planning Council, and a past chair of OneMacon and the Stratford Academy Board of Trustees.
Michael Smith, United Way of Valdosta
Michael Smith serves as Chief Executive Officer of Greater Valdosta United Way, where he is committed to improving lives by mobilizing the caring power of communities across South Georgia. A lifelong Valdosta resident, Michael is passionate about building partnerships, strengthening nonprofits, and advancing initiatives focused on health, education, financial stability, and community resilience.
A graduate of Valdosta High School and Valdosta State University, where he earned a BBA in Finance, Michael has demonstrated a strong commitment to servant leadership across the nonprofit and private sectors.
Under his leadership, Greater Valdosta United Way expanded its service area from 5 to 17 counties, increasing access to resources and strengthening regional partnerships.
Michael also serves as Lowndes County Commissioner for District 5. Outside of work, he enjoys spending time with his family, running, traveling, and kayaking.
April Sorrow, Jackson EMC
April Sorrow is Vice President of Communication for Jackson Electric Membership Corporation, where she leads strategic communications, community relations, and the Jackson EMC Foundation. With more than 24 years of experience spanning journalism, higher education, and the electric cooperative industry, she works at the intersection of philanthropy, community engagement, and rural development. Sorrow oversees the Jackson EMC Foundation's grantmaking initiatives that strengthen education, nonprofits, and quality of life across Northeast Georgia's communities. She also played a leadership role in developing the Empower College & Career Center, serving as a founding board member, board chair, and chair of its Steering and Marketing committees. She holds bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Georgia in agricultural communications, public relations and public administration. Sorrow lives on her family's farm in Nicholson, Georgia, where she remains deeply connected to the communities she serves.
WELCOME FROM THE CITY
Mayor Julie Smith, City of Tifton
WELCOME FROM ABAC
Dr. Tracy L. Brundage, President, Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College
Dr. Tracy Brundage is the president of Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College in Tifton, Georgia, serving in that capacity since 2022.
During her time as ABAC’s 11th president, Dr. Brundage has made an impact with her mission-focused, student-centered priorities. She led the development of a new strategic plan that frames institutional priorities with a specific emphasis on enrollment, academic excellence, student success, institutional effectiveness, and viability.
The plan has produced measurable results, including three consecutive years of enrollment growth, culminating in a record-breaking 4,000+ students in Fall 2025. Retention, graduation and placement rates are trending upward, reflecting ABAC’s commitment to student success.
Under her leadership, ABAC has added new academic programs, launched a Career Center, and expanded resources to meet regional workforce needs.
Dr. Brundage’s vision has strengthened ABAC’s resources, heightened brand awareness, and positioned the college competitively in the higher education landscape.
She and her husband, John, live in Tifton with their two daughters.
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Before philanthropy can invest well in rural Georgia, it must first understand the people, places, and systems that shape rural life across the state. This opening session offers a grounded portrait of rural Georgia, including its varied regional identities, relational strengths, and economic realities, while exploring how agriculture, healthcare access, population change, and infrastructure trends shape community life and opportunity. Framed by data and lived experience, the session sets the stage for the conversations ahead.
Nick Bradley, UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences
Nick Bradley is an Economic Impact Specialist for UGA Extension in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. His research measures the economic impacts of natural resource use and rural development across Georgia, and he teaches rural economic development and growth, natural resource economics, and statistics for agribusiness. Before joining the University of Georgia, Bradley spent more than 10 years as a senior consultant at STAGG Resource Consultants, Inc. in Cross Lanes, West Virginia, focusing on mining, minerals, and oil and gas. A first-generation college graduate, he earned his master's degree in agricultural and resource economics from West Virginia University and his bachelor's degree in economics from West Virginia State University, and is currently pursuing his Ph.D. in applied economics at the University of Georgia. Outside of work, Bradley spends time with his family and playing music around Athens.
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Commissioner Tyler Harper, Georgia Department of Agriculture
Commissioner Tyler Harper offers a state-level view of Georgia agriculture: the current landscape, emerging challenges, and where state government is focused.
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This panel steps into the fields of rural Georgia to hear what data alone can't capture, what it actually feels like to farm, and to work the land. Growers who have carried a legacy for generations join the voices of workers whose hands bring in that harvest, part of a rich mix of cultures that shape daily life across Georgia's farm country. Together, they carry what farming demands and what it gives back: the financial and physical toll, the pride of Vidalia onions, the worry of another Hurricane Helene, and the opportunities to thrive. This is a session about honoring everyone who touches Georgia's food.
April Sorrow, Jackson EMC - Moderator
Josh Dawson, UGA Extension
Brad Hardy, Hardy Farms
Olga Contreras Martinez - ABAC Access Programs
Aries Haygood — A&M Farms, Second generation Vidalia onion farmer
Aries Haygood is a commercial specialty crop grower and regenerative agriculture practitioner based in Lyons, Georgia. Operating at the intersection of production agriculture and soil biology, Aries produces Vidalia sweet onions, watermelons, and cabbage while implementing scalable, data-driven soil health practices. His operation focuses on improving soil biological function and nutrient efficiency through biochar integration, compost extracts, and targeted biological inputs.
Beyond field production, Aries manages integrated packing operations and works on modernizing supply chain logistics to enhance regional farm-to-market distribution. Dedicated to agricultural leadership and practical innovation, he actively bridges the gap between cutting-edge agronomic research and real-world farm economics. On today’s panel, Aries brings the essential on-the-ground producer perspective, highlighting how targeted grant funding, measurable soil metrics, and research partnerships can drive lasting economic and ecological resilience across Southeastern agriculture.
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Refreshments available in the atrium.
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Philanthropy does not operate in a vacuum. Decisions made in the State Capitol shape what's possible in rural Georgia, and understanding that landscape helps grantmakers invest where it counts. This session brings together the legislators who partner with philanthropy at the intersection of agriculture, rural development, and public investment, including the chairs of the state House and Senate agriculture committees. Together they explore where public policy and philanthropic investment can work hand in hand, turning shared understanding into smarter, more strategic grantmaking.
Tiffany Holmes, Georgia Chamber of Commerce - Moderator
Tiffany Holmes serves as Deputy Director of the Georgia Chamber Foundation, where she oversees rural initiatives, statewide programming, and the Georgia Chamber Federation. Based in the Chamber’s Tifton regional office, she works closely with local chambers and community leaders to advance economic growth and prosperity across Georgia through collaborative leadership and strategic partnerships.
Rep. Robert Dickey, Georgia House Agriculture Committee
Representative Robert Dickey is currently serving his ninth term in the Georgia House of Representatives for District 134, which includes Crawford, Lamar, Peach and Upson counties. He was first elected in 2011 and currently serves as Chairman of the Agriculture & Consumer Affairs Committee.
A fourth-generation peach and timber grower, Rep. Dickey, along with his wife and son, owns Dickey Farms, Inc. He is very active in the agriculture industry serving as past president of the Georgia Peach Council and the National Peach Council, member of the Georgia Commodity Commission for Peaches as well as past president and current board member of the CC Farm Bureau. Rep. Dickey was named Georgia 2019 Farmer of the Year. A graduate of Leadership Georgia, he received his BA from UGA and his MBA from GCSU. Rep. Dickey is a member of Musella Baptist Church, where he is a Deacon and chair of the Finance Committee.
Sen. Russ Goodman, Georgia Senate Agriculture Committee
Senator Russ Goodman, a Republican, has served in the Georgia State Senate since 2020. He represents Senate District 8, which includes Atkinson, Clinch, Echols, Lanier, Lowndes and Pierce counties, as well as a portion of Ware County.
Sen. Goodman is the Chairman for the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Consumer Affairs and serves as a member for the Senate Committees on Natural Resources and the Environment, Public Safety, and Retirement.
Sen. Goodman is the Co-owner of Cogdell Berry Farm, Co-owner of Envirospec and Co-owner of the Great American Cobbler Company.
Sen. Goodman’s community involvement includes currently serving on the Clinch County Farm Bureau Board of Directors, the Georgia Blueberry Commission Board of Directors and the Georgia Berry Exchange Board of Directors. In addition, he serves as a Deacon at the First Baptist Church of Homerville.
Sen. Goodman attended the University of Georgia where he studied Agricultural Economics. Sen. Goodman lives in Cogdell with his wife, Carra Crumbley, and two sons, J.R. and Alec.
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Bryan Farmer, St Marys Foundation
Sarah McKinney, Athens Area Community Foundation
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Join us in the Lobby of Holiday Inn Express to gather before boarding a luxury bus to travel to Fancy Girl Farms for dinner.
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Dinner at Fancy Girl Farms in Hahira, GA.
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Be sure to check out of your hotel room. Please meet us back at ABAC’s Georgia Museum of Agriculture.
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Settle in for a day of learning and networking.
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Rural Georgia's healthcare gaps are structural: provider shortages, hospital closures, and a near-absence of mental health services have left families without the safety net most of the state takes for granted. The weight of farming, financial pressure, weather volatility, isolation, and the pull of a family legacy takes a toll that rarely gets named, let alone treated. This session brings together researchers, practitioners, and frontline providers already closing that gap, in maternal health, farm stress and opioid exposure, in farmworker wellness, and in sustaining rural mental health capacity against the odds, to map what's working, what's still breaking down, and where philanthropy's next dollar does the most good.
This session provides an overview of the policy and funding landscape for rural healthcare access in Georgia.
State of Rural Health Presentation
Kristy Klein Davis, President & CEO, Georgia Health Initiative
Kristy Klein Davis serves as President and CEO of Georgia Health Initiative, leading efforts to make positive change in communities across the state. Kristy collaborates with the Board of Directors to advance their vision of a Georgia where all people have the opportunity to attain their fullest potential for health.
Kristy previously served as Chief Strategy Officer for Missouri Foundation for Health where she fostered their shift to a systems change institution. She serves on the Grantmakers in Health National Board, the Georgia Chamber of Commerce Board, and the Steering Committee of Georgia Grantmakers Alliance.
Kristy earned her Master's in Social Work from The Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis and her Bachelor’s degree in Social Work from The University of Kansas. A nationally recognized thought leader, writer, and speaker, Kristy brings deep expertise designing and implementing complex philanthropic strategies in public health and social sectors.
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Dr. Jean Sumner, Dean of Mercer University School of Medicine and a third-generation Georgia physician, has spent her career building healthcare in the state's most underserved communities, not around them. Under her leadership, the Georgia Rural Health Innovation Center now reaches all 120 of Georgia's rural counties, and a $200 million partnership that has brought pediatric care to places that had none. Her model is simple: go where nobody else will, and stay. In this candid, café-style conversation, Dr. Sumner shares what's working, what isn't, and where philanthropy can make the biggest difference.
Kathryn Dennis, Community Foundation of Central Georgia
Jean Sumner, Georgia Rural Health Innovation Center
Dr. Jean Sumner, Dean of Mercer University School of Medicine and a third-generation Georgia physician, has spent her career building healthcare in the state's most underserved communities, not around them. Under her leadership, the Georgia Rural Health Innovation Center now reaches all 120 of Georgia's rural counties, and a $200 million partnership that has brought pediatric care to places that had none. Her model is simple: go where nobody else will, and stay. In this candid, café-style conversation, Dr. Sumner shares what's working, what isn't, and where philanthropy can make the biggest difference.
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Two models are closing rural Georgia's healthcare gaps in different ways: farmer mental health and suicide prevention through the Georgia Agricultural Wellness Alliance, community-based crisis services across ten south Georgia counties through Legacy Behavioral Health, and mobile clinics bringing free care to thousands of migrant farmworkers through the Emory Farmworker Project. Panelists discuss what's replicable, what's scalable, and where grantmakers can invest for impact.
Diane Bales, Human Development Specialist, UGA Cooperative Extension
Toni Quimby, BSN, RN, Interim Chief Operating Officer, Legacy Behavioral Health
Toni Quimby, RN, serves as Interim Chief Operating Officer and Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHC) Project Director at Legacy Behavioral Health. In these leadership roles, she oversees grants, contracts, and strategic initiatives that seek to expand access to behavioral healthcare across underserved and rural communities in South Georgia. Her work focuses on developing sustainable, community-centered programs that improve access to care, strengthen service delivery systems, and address barriers impacting vulnerable populations. Toni earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Valdosta State University in 1997 and is currently pursuing a Master of Legal Studies from Texas A&M University School of Law.
With nearly 30 years of healthcare experience, Toni has witnessed firsthand the significant healthcare disparities affecting rural communities. Drawing on both her clinical and operational expertise, she has been instrumental in securing funding for and leading the development and implementation of a mobile behavioral health clinic serving a multi-county region in Georgia.
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Check out the WAVE van from Legacy Behavioral Health!
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This segment sets the scene on rural Georgia's agricultural economy in transition, farm consolidation, an aging farmer population, and the ripple effects on a community when its agricultural base contracts. Two spotlights follow: one on the pipeline building young people into agricultural careers and rural leadership, the other on financing models opening land ownership to the next generation of farmers where traditional lending won't go. Together, they surface where philanthropy can intervene before consolidation and brain drain become irreversible.
Michael Smith, Greater Valdosta United Way - Moderator
Stacy Funderburke, Working Farms Fund / Conservation Fund
The Conservation Fund - Farms Fund Presentation
Ben Lastly, Executive Secretary, Georgia FFA Association
Ben is the Executive Secretary of the Georgia FFA Association. The Georgia FFA is made of more than 81,000 member in 410 local chapters across the state of Georgia. The FFA is a leadership organization for middle and high school students who are enrolled in agricultural education courses. Ben has served as the Executive Secretary for the Georgia FFA since 2006 and has made his career in agricultural education since 2001.
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In much of rural Georgia, there's no local nonprofit to fund, so real investment means partnering with the place itself. Since 2019, a community foundation affiliate has done exactly that in Douglas and Coffee County, working with the city on a shared vision for a century-old public park. A labor study by the local economic development authority surfaced a deeper need: without housing, the workforce had nowhere to live. That finding led to a retail study and a housing study now shaping how downtown Douglas grows. This is what nontraditional partnership looks like: no single leader, just a community and its funder finding a way together.
Julia Wood, Senior Vice President of Development and Donor Services, Community Foundation of Central Georgia - Moderator
Melissa Humphries, Chair, Community Foundation of Coffee County
Kevin Koeppler, General Manager, Sunbelt Greenhouses
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Two days of listening to farmers, researchers, legislators, and frontline providers point toward one question: what can we do now to show up for rural Georgia, not with a borrowed program model, not funding around the edges, but investing in the land, the agriculture, and the relationships that make these communities who they are? This session is the answer. Georgia funders already doing that work share what worked, what surprised them, and what they wish they'd known sooner. The conversation covers right-sizing philanthropy for rural communities and building the trust that makes local investment land well.
Meghan Pietrantonio, Georgia Grantmakers Alliance - Moderator
Donnie Warren, Harley Langdale, Jr. Foundation
Donnie Warren is a servant leader with a passion for strengthening communities, developing leaders, and encouraging others to live with purpose. Throughout his career, he has worked alongside nonprofit organizations, community leaders, and local partners to foster collaboration, inspire growth, and create lasting impact. His leadership is grounded in faith, practical wisdom, and a genuine desire to help people succeed both personally and professionally.
Donnie serves as the President/Executive Director of the Harley Langdale, Jr. Foundation, where he works to advance philanthropic initiatives and support organizations that strengthen communities across Georgia. He resides in Valdosta, Georgia, with his wife, Lisa, and their youngest daughter, Elizabeth, who is an incoming freshman at Valdosta State University. Their oldest daughter, Whitney, is a NICU nurse at Arthur M. Blank Children's Hospital in Atlanta. Donnie is passionate about investing in people, building meaningful partnerships, and leaving a legacy of service through leadership rooted in faith and integrity.
April Sorrow, Jackson EMC
Betsy Verner, J. Bulow Campbell Foundation
Betsy Verner joined the J. Bulow Campbell Foundation in 1996 following nearly a decade in fundraising. In 2023, she succeeded John Stephenson as executive director.
The J. Bulow Campbell Foundation was established in 1940 through the estate of J. Bulow Campbell, an Atlanta businessman, civic leader, and philanthropist. Mr. Campbell was modest and frugal and did not seek recognition for his good works. He was skilled in business and also a deeply committed Christian. The Foundation is guided by Mr. Campbell’s instructions and seeks to reflect his philosophy of giving, his legacy of careful stewardship, and his Christian faith. The Campbell Foundation began with $7 million in 1940 and, since then, has awarded nearly $900 million in grants, always without public recognition. The Foundation focuses on organizations in Georgia; it meets quarterly and awards most of its grants for capital purposes within the areas of education, agriculture, youth development, human services, and disaster relief. In rural Georgia as well as small-to-mid-sized Georgia communities outside of Atlanta, examples of grants awarded in response to capital needs include those for capital campaigns launched by Boys and Girls Clubs and other youth development programs, child advocacy centers, domestic abuse shelters, and some educational organizations.
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Tripp Penn, Chair of GGA and President of Callaway Foundation
Tripp Penn is President of Callaway Foundation, Inc., Fuller E. Callaway Foundation, and Charitable Services Company. Prior to this, he was a leader in healthcare for more than two decades. His early career in healthcare was focused on development, first serving as Director of Development at Roosevelt Warm Springs for Rehabilitation in 1997. He was recruited in 2003 to start the West Georgia Health Foundation and was promoted to Vice President of Support Services at West Georgia Health in 2009. In 2016, he was named Chief Executive Officer of Upson Regional Medical Center. Penn’s love for LaGrange, combined with his long-time admiration for Callaway Foundation, brought him back to the community at the end of 2018.
Penn has been active in the community and state, serving in a variety of service and leadership roles. These activities include serving on the Boards of Leadership Georgia and LaGrange College, where he currently serves as Vice Chair. In addition, he is currently the Chair of the Church Council for First United Methodist Church of LaGrange and previously served as President of the Epiphany Sunday School Class. He currently serves on the Boards of Wellstar West Georgia Medical Center, the Downtown LaGrange Development Authority, and the Development Authority of LaGrange. Penn is Chair of the Georgia Grantmakers Alliance and serves on both the Steering Committee and Public Policy Committee. In addition, he previously served as President of LaGrange Rotary Club and has been a member of Rotary since 1997.
Penn received undergraduate degrees in Economics and Psychology from the University of Georgia (UGA). He also received a master’s degree in Sport Management from UGA and an MBA from LaGrange College. He and his wife Megan live in LaGrange, and he has three children, Miller, Hannah and Riley, as well as a son-in-law Harrison Cowart.
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We are grateful for the sponsorship support provided by:
