Fana Abay
Grant Writer and Research Assistant at Fulton County Health and Human Service Co-founders and Fund Specialists at Your Grant Solutions
Fana Abay is an expert in fund development for non-profits and public agencies. She currently works for Fulton County Health and Human Service as a grant writer and research assistant. She has assisted Fulton County Health Department, and Housing and Community Development Department secure over $10 million in grant funding for Ryan White Program, Neighborhood Stabilization Program, Foster Grand Parent Program, etc. Fana is also the co-founder of Your Grant Solutions (YGS). Fana earned a Bachelor of Science with Psychology and Sociology and graduated Cum Laude from Georgia State University in May 2008.
Matthew Arnold
Sierra Club
Matthew “Mudcat” Arnold has developed sophisticated voter contact and volunteer engagement programs for Democratic candidates and progressive advocacy groups from coast to coast. In 2008, he designed and implemented the field program for Darcy Burner’s congressional campaign that made over half a million voter-contact attempts. Prior to the Burner campaign he worked with the MoveOn.org election team to design the organization’s 2008 GOTV plan and innovative persuasion modeling program. He is currently a member of the core team at the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, a national field trainer for Democracy for America, and directs the online outreach efforts for wilderness and public lands protection at the Sierra Club.
Kyle Bailey
Pro-Georgia
Kyle Bailey has held professional administrative, development, communications, strategy and outreach positions with national, state and local political campaigns and non-profits, including National Stonewall Democrats (interim Executive Director, Chief Operations Officer, Development Director), Georgia Equality (Political Director), YouthPride (Community Relations Director) and Jim Martin’s 2006 bid for Georgia Lt. Governor (Deputy Finance Director). Currently, Kyle is launching a new initiative, Pro-Georgia, that leverages the financial and human capital of multiple progressive constituencies in Georgia for strategic elections work. Kyle hails from Towns County in the northeast Georgia mountains. He has been active in politics and in the communities where he has lived his entire life. He attended Young Harris College and graduated from the University of Georgia in 2005 with a bachelor’s degree in political science. Kyle resides in the Old Fourth Ward neighborhood of Atlanta.
Shemirah Butts
Public Relations Professional
Shemariah is a native of Georgia and a graduate of the University of Georgia. During her years in college her leadership experiences combined her love of service with her academic interests in Public Relations and Child/Family Development. Her positions included Public Relations Chair for both the Black Theatrical Ensemble and The Educational Support Team. Additionally Shemariah enjoyed 4 years of service with the state conference and the UGA chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. During her time with the NAACP, Shemariah established an after-school tutorial program for children at risk of failing standardize tests. As the State Youth & College Education Chair, Shemariah coordinated the youth and college state convention in Augusta, Georgia. Shemariah has represented UGA on behalf of the College of Family and Consumer Sciences and the Georgia Daze program for African American recruitment. Since graduation Shemariah has worked with the League of Women Voters as an intern and active member. Shemariah has also worked with the Atterbury for the Georgia Senate Campaign, and Snowden & King marketing firm.
Carlissa Carson
Attorney & Army Officer
Carlissa Carson is currently a Judge Advocate in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps and a Captain in the U.S. Army Reserves. She is also a member of the State Bar of Georgia and the American Bar Association. At age twenty, Ms. Carson was the youngest in the class of 2005 to receive a Bachelor’s degree from Oglethorpe University where she majored in Political Science and minored in French. Ms. Carson later graduated from Emory Law. While in law school, she traveled to Guantanamo, Bay and worked on United States v. Hamdan. Her dedication to this case and to human rights was highlighted by the Emory University Wheel, the Syracuse University Daily Orange, CBS News, and CagedPrisoners of the United Kingdom. Ms. Carson graduated from Emory Law in 2008 with a J.D., in the top thirty-five percent of her class. In 2009, Ms. Carson also graduated from Georgetown Law, in the top fifteen percent of her class, with an LL.M (master of laws) and Certificate in International Human Rights.
Stacey Chavis
The White House Project
Stacey Chavis is the Southern Regional Director for the White House Project. She is responsible for implementing the Vote, Run, Lead training program for the entire Southern region. She is active in many local political organizations including Georgia WIN List, League of Women Voters of Georgia and the Women’s Policy Group. Stacey received a B.A. in Psychology with a Political Science minor from Oglethorpe University. She completed the White House Project’s first Georgia Go Run training in 2005. Stacey graduated from the Women’s Campaign School at Yale University in 2007. She also participated in the Emily’s List training . She recently completed the United Way V.I.P. (Volunteer Involvement Program) and the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials Institute for Leadership. She was also recently selected to participate in the Truman National Security Fellowship and the New Leaders Council. Stacey is a native of Mauldin, South Carolina and currently resides in Atlanta, Georgia.
Howard Franklin
The Influence Factory
At only 30 years old, Howard Franklin has established himself as one of Georgia’s most innovative and effective political strategists and campaign managers. His public sector career began in 2003 when former Atlanta mayor Maynard Jackson appointed him CEO of the American Voters League. Howard went on to work for two years as a communications consultant to Mayor Shirley Franklin, before becoming director of public affairs and e-Communications for a national firm and leading campaigns for several prominent citywide, statewide and international campaigns. He currently serves as President of Influence Factory, where he’s managed campaigns for Amir Farokhi for Atlanta City Council (2009); Dawn Randolph for Public Service Commission (2006); Kwanza Hall for Atlanta City Council (2005); and the United Democratic Party of the Cayman Islands (2009). Howard also serves as President of the Red Clay Democrats and Vice President of the Georgia League of Women Voters.
Kevin Grimes
CFO Leasing, Inc.
Kevin Grimes is a veteran of the elite United States Navy Nuclear Submarine Force. He currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer of CFO Leasing, Inc, where his team consults with small to midsize businesses to provide government services such as 8(a)/HUBZone certifications, DCAA Audit support, GSA schedules, and general accounting services. CFO Leasing is one of the Southeast’s leading government contract accounting firms. Kevin is also the Founder of the CFO Leasing Education Foundation (CLEF) which is a not–for-profit organization that has pledged $50,000 in laptop computers to help reduce the Digital Divide over the next 5 years. Kevin earned a Master’s Degree in Accounting and graduated Magna Cum Laude from Florida Metropolitan University. He has also pursued doctoral studies in the field of business leadership. Kevin is a Certified Management Accountant (CMA) and a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR). Mr. Grimes is also a QuickBooks Certified Pro Advisor.
Casey Lamb
Special Educator / Director of Federal Programs, Ivy Preparatory Academy
Casey was born and raised in Boston, MA where she received a high-quality education at one of the top public schools in Massachusetts, one of the best states educationally in the nation. She always dreamed of going to college in California and so, after graduating, packed up and headed out west to Pomona College in Claremont, California. At Pomona, she studied Public Policy Analysis and Psychology, and focused all of her energy on education policy. She worked with Jumpstart, an Americorps program that partners college students with low-income preschoolers to help develop early literacy skills. Lamb’s senior thesis analyzed Montessori and Waldorf educational models, and she also worked at a policy consulting firm, evaluating the policies of the Los Angeles and Pasadena Unified School Districts. Lamb was struck by the failure of so many public schools in the LA area, which was in sharp contrast to her educational experiences in Massachusetts and she committed to making her life’s aim to level out that inequality and improve educational options for children unlucky enough to be zoned for a failing school. This commitment and passion brought her first to Teach For America in Atlanta, where she spent two years teaching special education to 7th graders in a South Fulton middle school. She completed her two-year commitment to TFA in May and since the summer, has been working at an all-girls charter school in Norcross. At Ivy Preparatory Academy, she wears many hats: Director of Title I, Title II-A, Title IV, ESOL, and Special Education, as well as teacher of Humanities and Special Education.
Lauren Brown-Jarvis
Media Professional
Lauren Brown Jarvis is a writer and producer of digital media for web. With ten years experience as a broadcast media professional including time spent with The Weather Channel, Georgia Public Broadcasting, and All The Hits Q100, Lauren was able to combine her knack for storytelling and media production to form LBMedia a new media creative firm. As the head of LBMedia, Lauren implemented new media campaigns for Atlanta Public Schools, The International Society of Africans in Wine, Adrene Boutique, Upscale Magazine, and many, many more. Looking to the future Lauren is very focused on the incorporation of social media and higher education. Her most recent client, Spelman College, has implemented a social media policy committed to taking the message of the college to their core constituents as well as potential students, friends and donors. This approach was crafted by LBMedia during the summer of 2009 and to date has doubled their communication rate with groups aged 35-44. To date she has aided in the training of professionals associated with the Atlanta Chapter of American Women in Radio and Television, Cascade United Methodist Church and was also selected as a 2009 new media fellow by the National Black Programming Consortium.
Dwayne Marshall
The Hope Institute
Dwayne Marshall currently serves as the Founder of The Hope Institute. Mr. Marshall works as an Organizer in Residence with the Southern Partners Fund and helped to develop their recent Young Leaders for Social Change (YLSC) Conference as well as the launching of their Social Justice Institute (SJI). Dwayne is a recent graduate of the Georgia Stand Up Policy Institute for Civic Leadership and the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials (GALEO) Leadership Development Program. Mr. Marshall is a graduate of the Goizueta Business School at Emory University with a Bachelor of Business Administration (B.B.A.) degree in Organization Management and Marketing. As a result of his service to the community, Dwayne has been featured in TIME Magazine, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the “Movement of the People” documentary, which profiles the 2008 presidential general election campaign season in the state of Georgia.
Daniel Moskowitz
Phaseout Now
Daniel Moskowitz, an Atlanta native, graduated from the University of Georgia in December, 2008 with a BA degree in Journalism. After graduating, Daniel traveled to South Africa and participated in the University of Pretoria’s Ecology Program where he obtained a Certificate in Wildlife Management. His work experience includes two political campaigns and legislative monitor for Georgia Conservation Voters. In 2009, Daniel founded Phaseout Now, a nonprofit that aims to provide environmental outreach to high schools in Georgia. Daniel is a diehard film buff and Bob Dylan devotee. He ran his first half marathon in November, 2009. In his spare time he enjoys traveling, writing, and playing music. Daniel will continue to serve as Georgia Conservation Voters legislative monitor during the 2010 legislative session at the Georgia General Assembly.
Darius Patillo
Dekalb County Asst. District Attorney
My name is Darius Pattillo and I am a life-long resident of Atlanta, Georgia. I currently serve as an Assistant District Attorney in DeKalb County where I prosecute criminal defendants charged with committing felony crimes such as murder, rape, armed robbery, aggravated assault, and drug trafficking. I also serve as an adjunct instructor at Westwood College (Northlake Campus) where I teach various criminal justice courses. I received my Education (1999) and Law (2002) degrees from the University of Georgia.
Shakir J. Ramsey
Digital Marketing Professional
J. Shakir Ramsey has a B.A from Columbia University and ten years experience in internet businesses from multimedia development, to enterprise software, to senior marketing at a rich media company. He is in the process of getting an MBA, primarily focusing on fusing traditional brand marketing with emerging technologies. Outside of this pursuit, he works with numerous non-profits as a volunteer math teacher and mentor for teenagers. He is VP of Education for Toastmasters Voices of Aaron Club.
Menyuan Smith
Fulton County Early Intervention Program Coordinator
Ms. Menyuan L. Smith is dedicated to improving the well-being of children, families, and communities. She accomplishes this mission through her public service and non-profit work. Menyuan served as the 2008 Board of Education Democratic Candidate, Douglas County, GA. She is also a White House Project, Go, Run, Lead Alumni. In 2009, Menyuan volunteered for the mayoral campaign for Atlanta’s 59th Mayor, Kasim Reed. Currently, Menyuan serves on Project Karma’s Board (Vice Chairperson), Georgia Leadership Council, Junior Leagues of Georgia (Legislative Liaison), and Georgia Women’s Action for New Directions (WAND) Board Member.
Jahnisa Tate
Alston & Bird LLP
Jahnisa Tate is an attorney licensed to practice in Georgia. In January she will join Alston & Bird LLP’s ERISA Litigation Practice Group. Jahnisa is a member of the Young Lawyers Division of the American Bar Association as well as the Stone Mountain-Lithonia Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated. She will serve on the Georgia Association of Black Women Attorneys’ Executive Board for 2010. Jahnisa earned her bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Clark Atlanta University and her Juris Doctor from the University of Georgia School of Law. During her 3rd year of law school, Jahnisa studied abroad at Oxford University where she completed coursework in international and comparative law.
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Travis Townsend
Attorney, Townsend Lockett & Milfort LLC
Travis T. Townsend, Jr. is the Managing Member of the law firm of Townsend Lockett & Milfort LLC and a corporate and securities attorney who balances a commitment to helping his clients grow with providing dedicated service to a number of Atlanta-area community organizations. Travis is the Vice President and Board Member of M.E.N.S. Wear, Inc., a nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide life skills and employment training to urban men and male youths in the greater Atlanta metro area. Travis also provides pro bono work for the Georgia Innocence Project. Born in Muskegon Heights, Michigan, Travis attended the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and earned his B.A. in Psychology in April 2000. In college, Travis served as the Chapter Secretary and Director of Chapter Intake for Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., Epsilon Chapter, Travis is a 2003 graduate of the University of Michigan School of Law, where he served as Executive Notes Editor of the Michigan Journal of Race & Law. Travis is a co-author of When The Cops Come Knockin’: An Illustrated Guide to Criminal Law, a reference guide to understanding criminal law and procedure for the layperson.