2017-2018

Advisory Board

ALTON ADAMS

Principal and US Lead, Customer Strategy and Growth

KPMG LLP (US)

Alton Adams is the Consumer Insights Lead Partner for the Customer and

Operations Group within KPMG’s Advisory Consulting Practice. He is KPMG’s

Global Lead Partner for The Coca-Cola Company, Advisory Lead Partner for

Procter and Gamble, and the Management Consulting lead partner for Wal-Mart/

Sam’s Club. He has more than 20 years of management and consulting experience

specializing in the use of data, analytics and technology to help companies

accelerate organic growth. Alton has served in executive sales, marketing, and

general management roles for a number of leading information service providers

with clients in a number of industries including financial services,

communications, and retail. He spent 15 years in the Credit and Marketing

Services industry leading the marketing and analytics offerings to major consumer

and business-to-business companies. Alton has served on numerous not-for-profit

boards including Jobs For Youth Boston, the Georgetown University Board of

Regents, Chairman of Georgetown University’s African American Advisory Board

and Board Vice Chairman of TechBridge Atlanta. He currently serves on the

Board of the Atlanta Chapter of the Boy Scouts of America and on it’s executive

committee as the Vice President of Marketing, on the Board of the Atlanta

Humane Society and on the Board of the Woodruff Center High Museum of Art.

Alton is Co-lead of Diversity for KPMG Advisory and the Advisory partner for

Howard University. Alton has a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Georgetown

University and an MBA in Marketing/Finance from the Wharton School at the

University of Pennsylvania.

M. KHURRAM BAIG, ESQ. ‘00C

Founding Member

The Baig Firm

Khurram Baig, Esq. is the founding member of The Baig Firm. He has a

decade of trial experience in the State and Federal courts of Georgia. He

has vast and varied experiences in the area of Corporate, Commercial,

Small Business, Real Estate and Employment Litigation. Additionally,

Atty. Baig's practice includes Criminal litigation and Tort litigation on a

select basis. He has routinely represented individuals who have been

discriminated against by companies and governing authorities. Atty. Baig

also frequently represents individuals in national security sweep

interviews conducted by both Federal and Local agencies. He has been

selected as a Rising Star by Georgia Super Lawyers for three consecutive

years (2012, 2013, 2014) and is a "Barrister" with the Lamar American Inn

of Court. Additionally, Atty. Baig currently serves on the board of

directors for the State Bar of Georgia's Young Lawyers Division and the

Georgia Association of Muslim Lawyers. He is a past president of the

South Asian Bar Association of Georgia and also serves on the Georgia

Supreme Court's Commission on Interpreters. Atty. Baig is an alumnus of

Emory University and Howard University School of Law.

SHARON BYERS

Chief Development & Marketing Officer

American Cancer Society

Sharon Byers joined the American Cancer Society in November 2015 as the

new chief development officer. She oversees all of the American Cancer

Society’s income properties, including Relay For Life and Making Strides

Against Breast Cancer, major gifts, distinguished partners, and other revenue-

generating functions such as sports and corporate partnerships. Byers most

recently worked for The Coca-Cola Company, where she was the senior vice

president of sports, entertainment, and community marketing partnerships

for North America. In this role, her team managed more than 500

strategic partnerships, including premier properties such as the Olympics, the

NCAA, NBA, NASCAR. She has a degree in finance from Auburn University

and is a certified public accountant. Byers has been recognized as one of the 50

Most Important People in Sports; number one of the Most Influential Women

in Sports by Sports Illustrated; Marketer of the Year by Cynopsis Sports

Media in both 2014 and 2015; Woman of the Year by the Women in Sports and

Events Organization; and as one of the 50 Most Powerful People in Sports and

Sports Industry Game Changers by Sports Business Journal. Byers also serves

on the boards of Special Olympics of Atlanta, the Atlanta Opera, and the

Atlanta Zoo.

PAUL BECKHAM

Chairman & Co-Founder

Hope-Beckham, Inc.

Paul Beckham, chairman and co-founder, has a diversified professional

background that includes senior financial and administrative experience,

television operations, event and sports marketing and cable television

marketing and sales. As chairman, Beckham provides strategic business

and financial leadership to Hope-Beckham and its clients. Beckham was

employed by Turner Broadcasting System Inc., Atlanta, and retired as

president of the company’s cable sales and marketing company. In 1990

Beckham was selected by Ted Turner to manage the Goodwill Games in

Seattle, Washington. Hope-Beckham was formed when Beckham and Bob

Hope purchased the events division of Whittle Communication LP of

Knoxville, Tennessee. Beckham is a member of the Young Harris College

board of trustees and served as its chairman from 2000 to 2008. He is

chairman of the board of the Technical College System of Georgia

Foundation, on the board of advisors for the Emory Center for Ethics, a

member of the board of directors for Northside Bank in Adairsville, Ga.

and a member of Investments Unlimited LLC.

NORMAN BELLINGHAM

Principal

NDB Consulting

Former Olympian, Norman Bellingham is a consultant with NDB

Consulting. He also continues to provide consulting services to select

sport and media entities. From 2006 to 2011, Norman served as the chief

operating officer for the United States Olympic Committee (USOC). Prior

to the USOC, Norman served as corporate senior vice president for

Turner Broadcasting where he oversaw Turner’s Strategic Planning

Group for four years, providing council for the CEO and Executive

Committee while also managing all merger and divestiture activities.

Norman’s U.S. Olympic Team career includes participating in the 1984,

1988 and 1992 Olympic Games in the sport of kayaking. At the 1988

Olympic Games in Seoul, Korea, Norman teamed with Greg Barton to

take Gold in the two-man 1,000 meter sprint. Norman received his

bachelor’s degree, cum laude in Economics, from Harvard College and

an MBA from the Harvard University Graduate School of Business

Administration. He resides in Colorado Springs with his wife Lori and

their two girls, Eloise and Nicole.

JOSEPH O. BLANCO, ESQ. ‘99L

Partner

Dentons US, LLP

Joseph Blanco, Esq. is the Atlanta managing partner for Dentons US, LLP,

recently merged with McKenna Long & Aldridge, LLP. He focuses on

general corporate counseling with an emphasis on mergers and

acquisitions. A member of the Georgia State Bar, Atty. Blanco received his

bachelor of arts from the University of Notre Dame and his juris doctor

with high honors from the Emory University School of Law. His

recognitions include Atlanta Magazine’s lists of Georgia Super Lawyers

Rising Stars (2005, 2006, 2007, 2009), Georgia Super Lawyer (2010, 2011,

2012), Leadership Atlanta's Class of 2012, and The Legal 500. Prior to

joining MLA, Atty. Blanco clerked for the Honorable Frank M. Hull of the

United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, served as editor-

in-chief of the Emory Law Journal and was elected to membership in the

Order of the Coif, and served as a naval officer aboard the USS Nicholson

and on the staff of the Commander of Destroyer Squadron Four. His

professional activities include board of advisors, Emory Law Journal;

steering committee, Randolph Thrower Symposium; and member,

American Legion Post 140.

J. BRADFORD BRANCH

Managing Partner

Deloitte, LLP

Brad Branch is currently the senior advisor in the Office of the CEO and had

been national managing partner of Deloitte LLP since August 2011. Branch

serves as Head of Atlanta Practice of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu. Branch has

nearly 30 years of experience with Deloitte. He served as the office managing

partner for Atlanta and Birmingham, Ala., at Deloitte LLP since January

2008. Most recently, he served as regional managing director for Deloitte

Consulting in the Southeast region and the managing director of the Atlanta

office of Deloitte Consulting. Branch joined Deloitte's Atlanta office in 1978

and was admitted as an audit and accounting services partner in 1988,

serving some of its most significant telecommunications and utility accounts.

He served as European practice director of Deloitte Consulting's

telecommunications and media practice, based in London in 1998 and he

served as Deloitte Consulting's global practice director for

telecommunications and media in 2000. Branch also serves as a teaching

fellow on strategy, economy and public policy matters at the London

Business School, Regents Park, Great Britain. He received his undergraduate

degree from the University of North Carolina, and his MBA from the Keenan

-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina.

COLEMAN BRELAND

President

Turner Content Distribution

Coleman Breland is president of Turner Content Distribution (TCD), the

domestic distribution, sales and marketing arm of Turner and president of

Turner Classic Movies. Breland was most recently chief operating officer for

TCD, a role he assumed in 2009 after serving as executive vice president of

sales and marketing of the distribution unit since 2003. In 1999, Breland

joined the division as senior vice president of marketing and sales. He joined

Turner Broadcasting in 1994 as vice president of marketing for Turner Home

Satellite (THS). Promoted in 1995 to senior vice president, marketing and

sales, Breland was responsible for the strategic development and execution

of THS’ marketing and revenue efforts. Prior to joining TBS, Inc., Breland

served as director of marketing and communications for Arthur Andersen/

Andersen Consulting in Atlanta for more than six years. Breland currently

serves on the board for the Covenant House of Georgia and is a member of

the CTAM Educational Foundation Board of Directors and of the Piedmont

Park Conservancy. He holds a master of arts degree in journalism, radio,

television and film from the University of Georgia and a bachelor of arts

degree in English from Pfeiffer College in North Carolina. In addition, he

completed a graduate study program at Edinburgh University in Scotland.

RODNEY BULLARD

Vice President of Community Affairs & Executive Director

Chick-fil-A Foundation

Rodney Bullard is currently Vice President of Community Affairs at

Chick-fil-A, Inc. and Executive Director of the Chick-fil-A Foundation where

he leads the company’s corporate community and philanthropic strategy,

which is focused on fostering youth and furthering education. Before

coming to Chick-fil-A, Rodney served as an Assistant United States Attorney

prosecuting complex criminal cases. For his service, the United States

Attorney General presented him with the Department of Justice Director’s

Award. Prior to this role, Rodney was selected as a White House Fellow, the

nation’s most prestigious public service Fellowship. Rodney is an alumnus

of the United States Air Force Academy, Duke University School of Law, the

University of Georgia’s Terry School of Business and the Harvard Business

School’s Advanced Management Program. Rodney currently serves on

several national and local boards of directors to include: the Salvation Army

National Advisory Board of Directors, the University Of Georgia Terry

School Of Business Board of Directors, the Junior Achievement USA National

Board of Directors, the Professional Association of Georgia Educators

(PAGE) Foundation Board of Directors, and the Leadership Atlanta Board of

Directors. . A decorated veteran, Rodney also served in the United States Air

Force Judge Advocate General Corps eventually working at the Pentagon as

a Congressional Legislative Liaison in the Office of the Secretary of the Air

Force.

J. CANNON CARR, JR.

Chief Investment Officer

CornerCap Investment Counsel

J. Cannon Carr, Jr. is CornerCap's Chief Investment Officer. He leads the

firm's investment committee and oversees the investment strategies and

process, stock and asset class research, and portfolio management. He also

comanages the three CornerCap mutual funds (Small Cap Value, Large

Cap Value, and Balanced). He joined CornerCap in June 2007, after being

a client for over seven years and prior to that Cannon was a senior equity

analyst at CIBC World Markets (formerly Oppenheimer), covering IT

business services (2006-07), wireless services (2001-05), and emerging

telecom (1998-05). Cannon has provided commentary on CNBC, CNN, Lou

Dobbs MoneyLine, and Bloomberg News. He has also been quoted in the New

York Times, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, and Fortune, among other

publications. He was rated a five-star analyst by Zachs Research in 2006.

Cannon has an MBA from Columbia Business School and a BA from

Princeton University in Political Economy. Public service is important to

Cannon. He heads the investment committee for the Wesleyan College

endowment, serves as Treasurer and head of the investment committee for

the Technical College System of Georgia Foundation, is an officer at the

Atlanta Rotary Club, and serves as Chair of the Georgia Tennis

Foundation, among other nonprofit endeavors.

BEN CHESTNUT

CEO

MailChimp

Ben Chestnut is cofounder and chief executive officer of Atlanta-

based email marketing company MailChimp. Along with chief

customer officer Dan Kurzius, Chestnut founded MailChimp in 2001

and has built the business into a completely self-funded international

brand. Today, MailChimp sends billions of emails a month for

millions of customers around the world. Chestnut is a hands-on

leader who cares deeply about product design and the customer

experience. He is known for building a culture of innovation and

growth, and he often tells his employees to "listen hard, change fast."

Before founding MailChimp, Chestnut was a designer. He has a

bachelor's degree in industrial design from Georgia Tech. He lives in

Atlanta with his wife and two sons.

WALTER M. “SONNY” DERISO, JR. ‘68C ‘72L

Chairman

Atlantic Capital Bank

Sonny Deriso is the chairman of Atlantic Capital Bank and Atlantic

Capital Bancshares, Inc. He is a retired vice chairman of Synovus

Financial Corporation in Columbus, Georgia. Deriso began his

business career as a practicing attorney in Albany, Georgia in 1972, and

was a partner in the law firm of Divine, Wilkin, Deriso, Raulerson &

Fields until 1991, when he became president of Security Bank and Trust

Company of Albany, a Synovus bank. In 1997, he was elected vice

chairman of the board of Synovus, a position that he held until his

retirement on February 1, 2005. Deriso graduated from Emory

University College where he received the Marion Luther Brittain

Award. He received his J.D. with Distinction from Emory University

School of Law where he was a member of the Order of the Coif and

served on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Public Law (now the

Emory Law Journal). He also completed the Duke Advanced

Management Program of the Fuqua School of Business.

PAUL GENNARO

Senior Vice President

Voya Financial, Inc.

Paul Gennaro joined Voya Financial in 2015 as senior vice president,

corporate communications, and chief communications officer. He

oversees all internal and external communications and serves as a

strategic advisor to senior management. Most recently, Gennaro was

senior vice president, corporate communications, and chief

communications officer of AECOM, where he led all aspects of the

firm’s global corporate communications. During his tenure at AECOM,

which Gennaro joined in March 2006, he developed and executed

communications strategies in support of more than 40 acquisitions, the

company's initial public offering and its global rebrand. Prior to joining

AECOM, Gennaro managed all global corporate and marketing

communications for Johns Manville, a subsidiary of Berkshire

Hathaway, Inc. He has also held communications leadership roles for

global brands such as Ingersoll-Rand, Dell, and American Express.

Gennaro began his career as a print/broadcast journalist and public

affairs officer for the U.S. Navy. Gennaro received a bachelor of science

degree in aeronautics from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.

JACK HARRIS

President & CEO

Junior Achievement of GA

Jack Harris has been with JA since 2002, beginning with the

International organization, and was promoted to VP-International

Operations for JA Worldwide following the merger of Junior

Achievement Inc (U.S.) and Junior Achievement International in 2004.

Jack moved to JA of Georgia in 2005 where he served in progressing

roles until 2008, at which time he was named President. Prior to JA,

Jack worked with Smith Barney and also taught for two years at the

Wesleyan School in Norcross, Georgia. Jack holds a degree in Politics

and a certificate in Political Economy from Princeton University. Within

the community, Jack was recognized for his work with JA as one of the

Atlanta Business Chronicle’s 40 under 40 award recipients in 2009, and

serves on the Boards of the Metro Atlanta Chamber, the Georgia

Chamber of Commerce and the Emory University Board of Visitors. He

is a member of the Rotary Club of Atlanta, and a 2010 graduate of

Leadership Atlanta.

J. RAWSON HAVERTY, JR.

Senior Vice President,

Havertys Furniture Companies, Inc.

Rawson Haverty has been senior vice president of real estate and

development at Havertys Furniture Companies, Inc. since 1998.

Haverty served as vice president of real estate and insurance divisions

at Havertys Furniture Companies, Inc. from 1992 to 1998 and its

assistant vice president from 1987 to 1992. Haverty has over 20 years

of experience with Havertys Furniture. He joined Havertys Furniture

Companies Inc. in 1984 and has been its director since 1992. He serves

as a member of the board of directors of StarPound Technologies and

is a member of the board of trustees of the World Children’s Center.

DOUGLAS J. HERTZ

President & CEO

United Distributors, Inc.

Doug Hertz is the president and CEO of United Distributors, a

position he has held since 1984. Under his leadership, United, a

privately held beverage distribution business, has grown to be listed

as one of the top 25 private companies in Atlanta. Hertz began his

professional career with KPMG in New Orleans, working in the

accounting and consulting services area. In addition to his

responsibilities at United, Hertz is chairman of Camp Twin Lakes, a

camping facility designed for chronically ill and disadvantaged

children that he founded in 1989. He sits on the boards of The Marcus

Foundation, Inc., Atlantic Capital Bank, Georgia Research Alliance,

Westminster School and serves on the board and executive committee

of Tulane University. A native Atlantan, Doug graduated from

Westminster High School and went to Tulane University in New

Orleans where he earned a BA in history, did graduate work in

organizational psychology, and earned an MBA in marketing and

finance.

EVE HOFFMAN

Writer

Eve Hoffman is one of thirty alumna honored as

“Remarkable Women” by her alma mater, Smith College. She has been

identified as one of Georgia’s one hundred most influential leaders.

She is known as a strategic thinker, social entrepreneur, writer and

poet. Hoffman has been published by the Georgia Humanities Council,

Emory University Center for Ethics, New Southerner, Southern

Women’s Review and online. Her work is included in performances of

the Senior Ensemble of The Academy Theatre. Hoffman founded and

published three anthologies of Georgia K-12 public school student

writing. She has worked with Georgia’s Poet of the Year, North

Carolina’s Poet Laureate, as well as internationally honored poets in

Paris. She has been a part of numerous intensive poetry workshops

and participated in readings at Shakespeare & Co. in Paris. Hoffman

recently published Red Clay, her first book of poetry. Memory and

Complicity is forthcoming in 2018 from Mercer University Press.

JOEL KOBLENTZ

Senior Partner

The Koblentz Group

Joel Koblentz is nationally recognized for resolving the most sensitive, critical

and confidential client situations. Koblentz advises corporate boards on

succession and recruitment of new board members, the recruitment of CEOs

and executive leadership. Previously, Koblentz was a senior partner at Egon

Zehnder. During his tenure, he was the managing partner of its New York

and Atlanta practices as well as led its Service Sector Practice Group for the

Americas. Earlier, he held senior strategic management and financial positions

at Cox Cable Communications (Atlanta) and Tiger International (Atlanta and

Los Angeles) with previous experience in financial roles at Occidental

Petroleum and as a senior consultant at Ernst and Young. Currently, Koblentz

is a trustee of The Chick-Fil-A Bowl Foundation and a board member of

Junior Achievement. He also advises Triton Value Partners as well as sits on

several advisory boards of emerging companies. Koblentz is a CPA and holds

an MBA from the University of Southern California. He has lectured at

various educational institutions and societies and has authored numerous

articles on corporate governance and various aspects of corporate leadership.

DENNIS P. LOCKHART

President and CEO (Retired)

Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta

Dennis Lockhart is the president and chief executive officer of the

Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. In this role, Lockhart is responsible for

all the Bank's activities, including monetary policy, bank supervision and

regulation, and payment services. Previous positions include faculty of

Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service; adjunct professor at

Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies;

chairman of the Small Enterprise Assistance Funds; president of Heller

International Group at Heller Financial; and chairman of the advisory

committee of the U.S. Export-Import Bank. Lockhart served as an officer

in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve early in his career while earning a

bachelor of arts in political science and economics from Stanford

University, a master's in international economics and American foreign

policy from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced

International Studies, and an honorary doctoral degree by Georgia State

University. Community commitments include director of the Metro

Atlanta Chamber of Commerce and the Commerce Club; trustee of

Agnes Scott College, the Atlanta International School, and the Georgia

Research Alliance; and advisory board member of the Andrew Young

School of Policy Studies at Georgia State University.

ASHLEY PREISINGER ‘96B

President

Georgia Proton Treatment Center

Ashley Preisinger graduated Georgetown University (School of Foreign Service) majoring in international politics and minoring in Russian. She spent one college summer at the Gornyi Institute in St. Petersburg and three others working in business. It was an internship with Coca-Cola that persuaded her to go into business. Instead of taking the Foreign Service exam after Georgetown and then heading into the State Department, she headed into Emory’s MBA program.

Her first job after Emory was with investment giant Invesco. She spent the next eight years working on a successful product team within Invesco and helping them grow. Her tenure in this position at Invesco included a five-year period in which this product group went from $3 billion to $20 billion under management. In 2008, she joined Atlanta wealth management company Homrich Berg and, in 2012, she was recruited to become CEO of the WNBA Atlanta Dream.

Currently, she is the President of the Georgia Proton Treatment Center (GPTC), LLC. The GPTC will be the only facility of its kind in Georgia and one of only three in the Southeast. Staff from Emory Healthcare and the Winship Cancer Institute will handle the GPTC’s clinical responsibilities, which, at full capacity, will treat upwards of 1,200 patients per year. The facility is scheduled to open in late 2018.

A.J. ROBINSON ‘77B

President

Central Atlanta Progress &

Atlanta Downtown Improvement District

A.J. Robinson is the president of Central Atlanta Progress (CAP) and

the Atlanta Downtown Improvement District (ADID). Robinson was

formerly the president of Portman Holdings. During his 22-year

career with Portman, he managed the operations of the multi-

dimensional real estate company, which had offices in Atlanta,

Charlotte, Shanghai, and Warsaw. Earning a bachelor’s degree in

business administration in 1977 from Emory University, Robinson

furthered his education and, in 1980, graduated from the Harvard

School of Business with master’s degree in business administration.

A native of Knoxville, Tennessee, Robinson is married to Dr. Nicole

Ellerine, a pediatrician, and they reside in Atlanta with their three

children.

JEFFREY ROSENSWEIG, PH.D.

Professor

Emory University Goizueta Business School

Jeff Rosensweig is an associate professor of International Business

and Finance and the director of the Global Perspectives Program.

Previously, he served for six years as an associate dean. Dr.

Rosensweig specializes in global strategy, global economics, and

international finance. Prior to joining Emory in January 1988, he was

senior international economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.

Dr. Rosensweig has also taught at Massachusetts Institute of

Technology (MIT) and in the economics department and the School of

Management at Yale University. He received his M.A. and B.A. in

economics (summa cum laude) from Yale University and a Ph.D. in

economics from MIT. Further, he received a master's degree in

philosophy, politics, and economics as a result of two years of study at

Oxford University as a Marshall Scholar.

ROSS ROSSIN

Artist. President and CEO

Conrad Floyd Communication

Ross R. Rossin is a portrait artist known for his large-scale, realist portraits of modern and historical figures. His oil-on-canvas paintings can be found on the walls of the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC; The High Museum of Art, The Center for Civil and Human Rights and the Carter Presidential Library and Museum in Atlanta, Georgia; The Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York; as well as in the private collections of Andrew Young, Morgan Freeman, and Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, among others. In 2001, after multiple portrait commissions and exhibitions in Japan, France, England, Germany and Greece, Rossin relocated to the US . In 2014, the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery added Rossin's portrait of Dr. Maya Angelou to its permanent collection, his fourth painting in the prestigious institution. In 2015 the United States Postal Service chose Rossin's portrait of Dr. Angelou as the image for its Maya Angelou Forever Stamp. Heavily involved in Rotary, Rossin has made impactful contributions through both speaking engagements and fundraising. Rossin received his classical training in painting in his native Bulgaria. He has been privately tutored in the arts since the age of six. He attended the prestigious Sofia High School of Fine Arts and in 1990 he received his MA from The Sofia Academy of Fine Arts.

DAVID RUBINGER

Market President & Publisher

Atlanta Business Chronicle

David Rubinger is market president and publisher of Atlanta

Business Chronicle as of November 2015. He rejoined the Atlanta

Business Chronicle and parent company American City Business

Journals after 16 years in private business. He originally joined

Atlanta Business Chronicle in 1989 as a staff reporter, managing editor

and eventually editor from 1995 to 1998. He also served as a senior

vice president for the Atlanta office of public relations firm

Ketchum, was vice president of corporate communications for

Equifax Inc., and most recently ran Rubinger Inc., his own

marketing firm based in Atlanta.

JENNIFER SHERER, PH.D.

Vice President

Metro Atlanta Chamber

Jennifer Sherer is the vice president of innovation and

entrepreneurship for the Metro Atlanta Chamber (MAC). Prior to

joining MAC, Dr. Sherer served as the executive director of

Southeast BIO (SEBIO), a regional non-profit organization that

fosters the growth of the life sciences industry in the Southeastern

U.S. Before joining SEBIO, Dr. Sherer was a licensing associate in

the Office of Technology Transfer at Emory University. She is a

member and volunteer of the Association of University Technology

Managers (AUTM). She earned a Ph.D. in molecular physiology and

biological physics at the University of Virginia and a B.S. in

biochemistry at Lehigh University.

KIRBY A. THOMPSON

Senior Vice President

SunTrust Bank

Kirby Thompson is the senior vice president of government affairs

for the Central Group of SunTrust Bank. He is the owner of KAT

Consulting, Inc., a public affairs company. Thompson earned a

bachelor of business administration degree in marketing from the

University of Georgia. Previously, Thompson was the vice president

of community and legislative affairs for Equifax, and spent three

years as vice president of Georgia government relations and six years

as vice president of community relations for Citizens at Southern

National Bank (predecessor of NationsBank/Bank of America). He

was Senator Sam Nunn’s legislative assistant in Washington, D.C.,

from 1978 until 1981. Thompson is chair of the Georgia 4-H

Foundation Board of Trustees, board member for the Georgia Council

on Economic Education and Eagle Ranch, member of Rotary Club of

Decatur, and serves on various committees for both the Georgia

Chamber of Commerce and Metro Atlanta Chamber.

PAT UPSHAW-MONTEITH

President & CEO

Leadership Atlanta

Pat Upshaw-Monteith is the president and CEO of Leadership Atlanta.

Prior to Leadership Atlanta, Upshaw-Monteith served as an associate

general manager of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra for 13 years, where

she was one of the first African-Americans hired in management by a

major symphony orchestra. She serves as a member of Advisory Board

at Private Bank of Buckhead. She is also a member of the Rotary Club of

Atlanta, and serves on the board of Oglethorpe University. Her other

board appointments include: The Salvation Army, The Ron Clark

Academy, St. Pius X Catholic High School and Metro Atlanta Chamber

of Commerce’s Board of Advisors. On the national level, she served on

the board for the Community Leadership Association. She was a

recipient of the Business to Business 2008 Woman of Excellence award.

Upshaw-Monteith holds a bachelor’s degree from Albany State

University and a master’s degree from Bowling Green State University.

She is a Leadership Atlanta graduate (1984) and a graduate of the

Regional Leadership Institute (1998).