What’s Going on in South Downtown Atlanta?
We are excited to welcome you to South Downtown Atlanta on May 6, 2026, for an immersive walking tour. The tour takes a hard look at one of Atlanta's most complex and historic neighborhoods, through the lens of economic mobility, capital, displacement, and community prosperity. After hearing from expert panelists, visionaries and nonprofit leaders, grantmakers will have a chance to design ideas for how philanthropy can support place-based revitalization.
Participants will walk a total of 2.5 miles during this tour, through areas of active construction (your safety will be prioritized!) and on uneven sidewalks. Please plan on wearing comfortable walking shoes.
Program Overview; Our full agenda is below!
Additional Resources from Georgia Social Impact Collaborative
See pictures from the Tour! Credit: Raftermen
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A pre-tour webinar with Tommy Pearce, Neighborhood Nexus
South Downtown Atlanta is changing faster than the data can follow. And that gap is worth talking about.
In this short webinar, Tommy Pearce will walk through what community data tells us about the South Downtown corridor, and more importantly, what it can't. He'll make the case that for communities in rapid transition, Census-based snapshots aren’t nearly enough, and that funders and practitioners need better tools, including community voice, community assets, and timely insights to make decisions that don't lag five years behind reality.
This session sets the data foundation for the May 6th Place-Based Philanthropy Tour and frames a question we'll carry through the day: How do we fund places we don't fully understand yet?
Tommy Pearce, Neighborhood Nexus
As executive director of Neighborhood Nexus, Tommy Pearce is working to provide actionable insights to community organizations and leaders. With a background in research, strategic planning, and nonprofit management, he has worked with hundreds of Georgia organizations to maximize their impact with data.
Prior to Nexus, Tommy was a strategy consultant for the Georgia Center for Nonprofits, taught ESL at the International Rescue Committee, conducted public health research at the University of Pittsburgh, and was an intake and street outreach coordinator at a Pittsburgh emergency shelter.
Tommy serves on advisory boards for the Ahmaud Arbery Foundation, Junior League – Atlanta, Learn4Life, Emory University’s Department of Quantitative Theory & Methods, Resilient Gwinnett, and Matt Ryan’s ATL: Advance the Lives.
A lifelong Gwinnettian, Tommy has an MSW from University of Pittsburgh and a BA in History from Georgia Southern.
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Grab a cup of coffee and connect with colleagues across Georgia!
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Brittany Collins, Chair of the 2026 Place-Based Philanthropy Tour and Executive Director of the Betty & Davis Fitzgerald Foundation, welcomes attendees and sets the context for the day’s activities.
Brittany Collins, Executive Director of the Betty & Davis Fitzgerald Foundation
A strategic advisor with nearly 20 years in community development, place-based investment, and education policy, Collins leads the Fitzgerald Foundation's work expanding access to education and mental health services for families and communities across Georgia.
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Megan Sparks, Senior Advisor to the Mayor, City of Atlanta
Megan Sparks
Megan Sparks is a senior leader in the City of Atlanta Mayor's Office, where Mayor Andre Dickens appointed her in 2022 as Senior Advisor for strategic partnerships and philanthropic initiatives. She currently leads the Neighborhood Reinvestment Initiative, a cross-sector effort to catalyze hundreds of millions in public, private, and philanthropic investment into Atlanta's most disinvested communities. Megan first joined the Mayor's Office in 2018 under Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms to build the City's first Office of Equity and Resilience, and has since led more than $12 million in new public programs, including the City's first guaranteed income, child savings, and community violence intervention programs.
Before her tenure at City Hall, Megan built her career across the nonprofit, corporate, and public sectors, including founding her own consulting firm and starting at Leadership Atlanta in 2008. She has represented North America on the Resilient Cities Network's Global Steering Committee and co-created its Racial Equity Community of Practice, speaking internationally on racial equity, urban philanthropy, and violence intervention.
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South Downtown is being written about, invested in, and debated. The people who live and work here have been navigating this reality for decades. This panel grounds the day in that tension: who is here, what they need, and what it will take for the benefits of development to actually reach them.
This conversation spans the full spectrum of housing need, from homelessness to workforce housing, and traces how housing stability, job access, and public safety are connected. It also examines how infrastructure determines who can participate in a neighborhood's economy. MARTA access, sidewalk safety, and bike infrastructure are not amenities. For low-income residents, they are the difference between reaching a job and not.
The session closes on a practical question for funders: What can it look like when funders, developers, housing providers, and transit advocates actually work together, and what breaks down when they don't?
Moderator:
Frank Fernandez, CEO of Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta
Frank Fernandez is President and CEO of the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta, one of the top 20 community foundations in the country. A Florida native and son of Cuban immigrants, he graduated magna cum laude from Harvard and later earned a master's degree from the LBJ School of Public Affairs at UT Austin. Before joining the Community Foundation, he led Westside redevelopment efforts for the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation and previously ran Green Doors, an Austin-based affordable housing nonprofit. His career spans community lending, housing advocacy, and place-based philanthropy.
Panelists:
Ashani O'Mard, President of Atlanta Neighborhood Development Partnership
A 20-year veteran in community development, Ashani O’Mard combines her passions and talents for connecting people to pathways of prosperity and addressing Atlanta’s housing affordability crisis. On January 1, 2026, Ashani was promoted to President of Atlanta Neighborhood Development Partnership, Inc. In this capacity, Ashani focuses on growing strategic partnerships needed to enhance ANDP’s ability to buy, hold, acquire, and develop land to achieve its mission and sustainability. She previously served as ANDP’s Senior Director of Capital Development for 7 years, overseeing charitable contributions and capital investments.
Paul Supawanich, Director of Programs at Global Designing Cities Initiative
Paul Supawanich is the Director of Programs, helping oversee efforts to promote safe, equitable, and sustainable public space and street designs around the world. He brings more than a decade of experience working with cities and transit agencies across North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Australia/New Zealand to improve transportation outcomes around livability, jobs access, and safety.
Prior to joining the Global Designing Cities Initiative, Paul worked as a national transportation consultant and then was on the executive team at Remix, a transportation technology company focused on empowering cities with technology to plan their transportation networks. There, he helped grow the company’s impact to over 300 cities worldwide. Paul also helped craft the NACTO Urban Street Design Guidelines, pioneering guidance to formalize street design across the United States, reflecting priorities in transit, biking, and walking. Paul most recently served as the transportation advisor to the Mayor of San Francisco, California.
Cathryn Vassell, CEO of Partners for Home
Cathryn Vassell has dedicated her career to working with individuals experiencing homelessness and individuals living in marginalized communities for over 25 years. She currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Partners for HOME, where she creates and executes the strategy and vision for ending homelessness in the City of Atlanta. Prior to joining Partners for HOME, Cathryn served concurrently as the Legal, Policy and Compliance Officer for St. Joseph’s Health System, and the Behavioral Health Coordinator for Mercy Care, Inc. There, she was instrumental in the development and management of a holistically integrated medical and behavioral health care program across 13 clinic sites. Cathryn has also served as the Program Director for City of Refuge, a shelter for women and children experiencing homelessness.
Cathryn was admitted to the Georgia Bar in 2012 and is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) as well as an Advisory Board member for HouseATL and the Justice Policy Board.
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From rail terminus to banking hub, South Downtown was the engine of early Atlanta's economy, and this guided tour traces what's rising in its place, from affordable housing to transit access.
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For decades, disinvestment shaped South Downtown, but that's changing, and not by accident. Projects in this neighborhood involved layered financing, public incentives, and private investors willing to take early risk in a community many had written off. This panel unpacks how those capital stacks actually work, and where foundation capital fits, both grantmaking and financial return-generating investment.
The cost of capital drives the affordability equation in community development. The market won't bring cheap enough money on its own. Public tools like New Markets Tax Credits, historic tax credits, and LIHTC can close some of the gap. But philanthropy has a role too, and most Georgia foundations haven't fully used it yet.
Each panelist played a different role in South Downtown’s changing outlook and economic development landscape. Moderator Sydney England of the Georgia Social Impact Collaborative will connect their experience to an important question facing Georgia’s foundations. What could your foundation be doing with your financial assets that you haven’t yet?
Moderator:
Sydney England, Executive Director of Georgia Social Impact Collaborative (GSIC)
Georgia Social Impact Collaborative (GSIC) welcomed Sydney England as Executive Director in July 2024. For more than a decade, Sydney has sought professional opportunities at the intersection of place‐based philanthropy, community development finance, and local impact investing. Early in her career, Sydney supported grantmaking, impact investing, research, and convening functions at the Jessie Ball duPont Fund, a $300M private, place-based foundation located in Jacksonville, Florida. Following this experience, Sydney moved to Richmond, Virginia, to work at Locus, a CDFI loan fund and CDFI Bank. At Locus, Sydney delivered strategy consulting support to a diverse array of place-based foundations across the country. Through individualized and cohort consulting, Sydney helped numerous foundations develop local impact investing policy statements, operational guidelines, and deal evaluation frameworks. Collectively, Locus helped foundation clients allocate $175M to local impact investing. Beyond her work with foundations, Sydney also worked to establish innovative financing funds like Invest Appalachia, LLC and the Partners for Rural Transformation’s Persistent Opportunities Fund. Beyond her role with GSIC, Sydney serves on the Community Advisory Board for Self Help Credit Union, West End Atlanta.
Panelists:
Jon Birdsong, CEO of the development in South Downtown
Jon Birdsong is a Partner at Atlanta Ventures and the CEO of the development in South Downtown, Atlanta. Born and raised in Atlanta, Jon has spent the majority of his career co-founding and investing in companies through Atlanta Ventures including Greenzie (autonomous commercial lawn mowers), Intown Golf Club, Grayscale, AdPipe and several others. Now Jon is learning real-estate on the fly by revitalizing 50+ buildings across 16 acres in the original Heart of Atlanta. Jon is a proud graduate of the University of Georgia.
Dr. Eloisa Klementich, CEcD, President and CEO of Invest Atlanta
Dr. Eloisa Klementich is President and CEO of Invest Atlanta. Previously, Eloisa served as managing director of business development at Invest Atlanta. In this position, she worked to attract new businesses and create initiatives that promoted job growth in Atlanta. Before coming to Invest Atlanta, Eloisa served as special assistant for economic development at the U.S. Economic Development Administration in the Office of the Secretary. She served as California’s assistant deputy secretary for economic development and commerce and has held various roles with city governments, including the consultant for Mexico’s President Vicente Fox, working on best practices for addressing constituent issues and requests. Eloisa holds a bachelor’s degree from Pitzer College and a master’s degree in business administration from el Instituto Tecnologico de Monterrey. She holds two master’s degrees in urban planning and Latin American affairs from the University of California, Los Angeles. She received her doctorate degree in public administration from the University of LaVerne. Eloisa is also active in various business, civic, and community organizations. She serves as a board member for the International Economic Development Council, the Women’s Entrepreneurship Initiative, Atlanta Technical College, the Westside Future Fund, and Atlanta Emerging Markets, Inc.
Councilmember Matt Westmoreland, Atlanta City Council
Councilmember Matt Westmoreland holds the Post 2 At-Large seat on the Atlanta City Council, where his work has focused on housing affordability, inclusive economic growth, and investments in infrastructure and greenspace. Prior to City Council, Matt was the District 3 Representative on the Atlanta Board of Education, serving as chair of its Budget Commission and legislative liaison to the Georgia General Assembly.
An Atlanta native and proud product of its public school system, Matt received his bachelor’s degree in history from Princeton University, where he served as editor-in-chief of The Daily Princetonian. After graduation, Matt returned to Atlanta as a Teach for America Corps Member and taught history at Carver Early College High School in Southeast Atlanta.
Matt previously served as program director for the educational nonprofit Horizons Atlanta. He serves on the Board of Directors for the Atlanta Regional Commission, HOPE Atlanta, and the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library Foundation. He is a member of the Leadership Atlanta Class of 2025 and is a graduate of the Regional Leadership Institute, LEAD Atlanta, NLC-Atlanta, and the Senior Executives in State and Local Government Program at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government.
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Walk the streets where Atlanta's Civil Rights generation demanded equity, and families boarded the Rich’s Pink Pig for an annual holiday tradition.
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A.J. Robinson, President of Downtown Atlanta welcomes attendees and gives an overview of the planning work in South Downtown.
A.J. Robinson, President of Downtown Atlanta Inc.
A.J. Robinson is President of Downtown Atlanta Inc., which includes Central Atlanta Progress (CAP) and the Atlanta Downtown Improvement District (ADID). Downtown Atlanta Inc. is involved in the redevelopment of Downtown Atlanta landmarks such as Underground Atlanta, the Civic Center and other major urban initiatives. Before joining Central Atlanta Progress, Robinson was President of the multi-dimensional real estate company Portman Holdings, where he managed all aspects of the firm’s real estate development processes, including development, property management and asset management. In recent years, Robinson has had a hand in the creation of The Center, the College Football Hall of Fame and the Atlanta Streetcar.
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Atlanta ranks last among the 50 largest U.S. cities in economic mobility for children born into poverty. That's not background context. That's the frame.
This session asks the hardest version of the question: when a city prospers, who actually benefits? South Downtown is in motion. Investment is arriving. The question is whether the people already here build wealth from it, or watch it happen to them.
No stage, no talking heads. This is a cafe-style conversation. Bring your assumptions and your skepticism.
What does it look like when anchor institutions act as developers and stewards, not just service providers? What can civic infrastructure do that government and philanthropy cannot? What does street-level small business survival tell us about displacement? And what capital structures, land trusts, community ownership models, CDCs, are actually replicable beyond Atlanta?
Speakers will push on all of it, with one question underneath everything: how do the people already here actually benefit?
Speakers:
Dr. Alex Camardelle-Floyd, Ph.D., VP of Policy & Research at Kindred Futures
Dr. Alex Camardelle-Floyd is the Vice President of Policy and Research at Kindred Futures, where he leads efforts to build Black wealth and promote shared prosperity. He is also a Co-Investigator for anti-poverty research at the National African American Child and Family Research Center and serves as a social policy instructor at Georgia State University. Dr. Camardelle-Floyd’s previous roles include serving as the Director of Workforce Policy at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, where he focused on centering Black workers in policy debates concerning workforce development, good jobs, and the future of work. His expertise in economic mobility and racial equity has made him a sought-after strategic advisor for nonprofits, foundations, and businesses. Through his work, Dr. Camardelle-Floyd is committed to advancing research, evaluation, and advocacy efforts that drive systemic change and improve economic outcomes for marginalized communities.
Saba Long, Executive Director of Atlanta Civic Circle
Saba has provided communications expertise to numerous political campaigns and ballot initiatives, counseled tech startups, and served as a liaison for a White House advisory panel on infrastructure and cybersecurity. Saba has worked on nearly every major transit referenda in metro Atlanta since 2010, bringing transit back to Clayton County and expanding MARTA service in the city of Atlanta. She transitioned from the Atlanta Civic Circle board of directors to lead the organization. While she does not come from a traditional media background, Saba brings a fresh perspective to how local media can meet the needs of everyday residents. She’ll never turn down a hot yoga class or tickets to a good concert.
Danny Shoy, Jr., Managing Director, Youth Development & Atlanta’s Westside at Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation
Daniel Shoy, Jr. “Danny”, joined the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation staff in February 2022 and serves as Managing Director for Youth Development and Westside Atlanta. Danny leads two of the foundation’s giving areas – Atlanta’s Westside, aimed to increase economic mobility for legacy residents in the English Avenue and Vine City neighborhoods through affordable housing and financial inclusion, and Youth Development, aimed to increase economic mobility for young people primarily in rural communities in Georgia and Montana.
This role marks Danny’s return to the Blank Family Foundation after spending 12 years with the East Lake Foundation in Atlanta, where he most recently served as president and CEO. At the East Lake Foundation, he was responsible for its progress toward its mission, strategic goal setting, fiscal wellbeing, partnerships and serving as the external spokesperson on behalf of the board, staff and collaborative partners. Since 1995, Danny has worked in the nonprofit sector with organizations focused on youth and community development. Prior to joining the East Lake Foundation, he was with the Blank Family Foundation for ten years and was responsible for $28 million in grantmaking, primarily focused on youth development through education and arts and culture.
Danny has completed several leadership programs through United Way of Greater Atlanta, Southeast Council of Foundations, LEAD Atlanta, Association of Black Foundation Executives, Grantmakers for Education, Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education and Leadership Atlanta. Nationally, Danny previously served as Chair-Elect of the Grantmakers for Education board. Regionally, he served on Georgia’s 2008 Race to the Top Taskforce – a collaboration between the Governor’s Office, the Georgia Department of Education, and the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement – helping to develop Georgia’s application for this competitive economic federal award.
Locally, Danny serves on the boards of Leadership Atlanta and Westside Future Fund. He has been recognized by Emory University as an Emory College Distinguished Alumni (2013), by Atlanta Tribune as a Man of Distinction (2016), Georgia Trend Magazine as a Notable Georgian (2018) and by the Atlanta Business League as a Man of Excellence (2019).
Danny is a first-generation American from New York City. He enjoys international travel and community service with his fraternity brothers of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. He received his bachelor’s degree in History from Emory University and holds a certificate of Nonprofit Senior Leadership from Columbia University.
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Speaker: Shirley Franklin, Former Mayor of Atlanta (2002-2010); Senior Fellow, Georgia Tech Center for Urban Research
The first woman elected mayor of Atlanta and the first African American woman to lead a major Southern city, Franklin oversaw major downtown infrastructure investment during her two terms and now brings that long-arc perspective to urban research and civic leadership.
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A facilitated small-group exercise where grantmakers test the day's ideas against their own portfolios, wrestle with hard questions, and decide: will you show up as the architect or the observer?
Speakers:
Brittany Collins, Executive Director of the Betty & Davis Fitzgerald Foundation
Debra Lam, Founding Executive Director of the Partnership for Innovation
Debra Lam is the Founding Executive Director of the Partnership for Innovation, a regional public-private partnership that strengthens communities by advancing innovation, expanding economic opportunity, and supporting workforce development.
Previously, she served as the City of Pittsburgh’s first Chief of Innovation & Performance, leading efforts to make government more efficient, transparent, and responsive through smart technology, sustainability, and data-driven decision-making. Earlier in her career, she worked globally as a management consultant with Arup, advising cities on infrastructure, resilience, and long-term strategic planning.
Debra has been named one of Apolitical’s Top 100 Most Influential People in Digital Government and has lived and worked in the UK, China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong—bringing a global perspective to local challenges. She is a graduate of Georgetown University and the University of California, Berkeley, and serves on the boards of the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta and the Fitzgerald Family Foundation.
She has written for publications such as Newsweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and The Conversation, and is the co-author of Empowering Smart Cities through Community-Centered Public-Private Partnerships—a book that highlights how collaboration between government, business, and communities can deliver practical solutions that work.
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The gathering concludes with reflections from program hosts and participants, connecting themes across economic development, mobility and prosperity.
Enjoy a beer from LaGrange-based Wild Leap Brew Co.!
Speaker:
Tripp Penn, President of Callaway Foundation, Inc.
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.
We are grateful for the sponsorship support provided by:
