Sports Journalist at the New York Times

• Professional sports journalist for more than four decades, based in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Atlanta, most recently as a Senior Writer and Columnist for The Athletic, a New York Times company. Has reported on and written about some of the world’s biggest sports stories, including championship events and Summer and Winter Olympics

• Winner of numerous local and national awards, including being named one of the nation’s top 10 sports columnists by the Associated Press Sports Editors (APSE), the Atlanta Press Club’s Award of Excellence and five-time winner of the Georgia Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association (NSMA).

• Has been immersed in the addiction recovery community and driven to destigmatize and educate people on addiction and related mental health issues. Widely honored and recognized for his story. “Personal Journey: Lost and Found,” on the struggles of addiction in his own family and the parallel roads of recovery for a parent and their child.

• Board member for Families Anonymous, a parallel recovery group for relatives and loved ones of those living with substance use disorder.

Associate Principal at Cooper Carry

• Douglas began his career at Cooper Carry in 1994 and returned in 2022 as an Associate Principal and Director of Design. In this new position, he facilitates design excellence across studios. With 25 years of experience, Douglas has a blended portfolio of mixed-use, residential, higher education, and corporate interiors projects, which gives him a unique perspective when designing creative, functional spaces for clients. His cross-pollination approach allows critical thinking to transcend conventional thought by introducing different ideas and experiences from one project type to another.

• Plans many of the philanthropic efforts within the firm for organizations such as Habitat for Humanity, United Way, Atlanta Community Food Bank, ASPCA, The Giving Kitchen and, of course, William’s House.

• Douglas has a Bachelor of Architecture degree, cum laude, from Auburn University. He is a member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB), and a Fitwel Ambassador.

Workers’ Compensation Attorney at Montlick Injury Attorneys

• Paula is a native from Colombia who immigrated to the U.S. at the age of 16 to pursue a college education. She has a B.B.A. in International Business with a Concentration in Management from Kennesaw State University (2010).

• She has her J.D. from Florida Coastal School of Law (2014). While in law school, she contributed over 400 hours of pro bono work with the Immigrant Rights Clinic.

• She started her legal career as an immigration attorney for a non profit (Catholic Charities Atlanta) representing unaccompanied minors in removal proceedings. Most recently, Paula has worked at a non profit (Ser Familia) representing immigrant victims of domestic violence, violent crimes, and trafficking.

• She lives with her husband, Paul, and her dog, Estelle, in Marietta, GA and loves reading, watching history documentaries, and traveling the world (she has visited 15 countries).

Senior Consultant at Jensen Hughes

• Serving as our Government Relations SME, Sydney is a Senior Consultant at Jensen Hughes, where she helps communities, police executives, elected officials and universities transform policing strategies to deliver constitutional and procedurally just policing practices.

• Undergraduate degree (B.S.) in Criminal Justice from University of Delaware in 1986, J.D. from Rutgers Law School in 1996, and a MSc in Criminal Justice & Criminology, from University of Oxford (UK), Wolfson Collegein 2002.

• A former Chief Executive for the Chicago Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA), Sydney also served as Director for the IL Secretary State of Police, and First Deputy Inspector General/COO in the Office of Executive Inspector General for Illinois.

Founder and CEO at Solid Society

• Rachel Gilreath Richards founded Solid Society in 2013, a digital marketing and e-commerce platform. Within three years from its start, Rachel solely generated over 20,000 product sales and accumulated over 900,000 total Instagram followers, all through organic social media marketing.

• Rachel played a pivotal role as one of the first influencers to leverage Instagram as a brand building and community engagement tool between 2012 and 2018. In 2014, Rachel was voted as the “Instagram Account of the Year." In 2015, she was an invited entrepreneurial speaker at YPO (Young President’s Organization).

• Rachel graduated from the University of Georgia in 2020, where she received a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics. She currently serves as a marketing consultant for her clients and lives with her husband, Taylor, in the Atlanta area.

Commercial Real Estate Associate at Brown Realty Group

• Dan is a native of Atlanta, GA. and received a BBA in Marketing and an MBA, both from the University of Georgia. He is also a proud Eagle Scout.

• Dan worked for several years at top advertising and marketing firms in Atlanta until he transitioned to The Home Depot, where he spent nearly a decade with in-store environment and then product development.

• Dan’s entrepreneurial spirit led him to start an automotive import business in 2020 and then a separate consulting company specializing in capital sourcing, operations and project management. Currently, he is focused on his role as Managing Parter at Wolfe Development, a Commercial Real Estate Development firm his partner founded in 2023.

• Dan has also spent several years in the non-profit world where he collaborated with organizations such as the Community Foundation for Northeast Georgia, National Monuments Foundation, and Andrew Young Foundation. His dedicated efforts played a key role in the successful erection of multiple statues in Atlanta, GA, including those of Ambassador Andrew Young and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., prominently featured at Rodney Cook Sr. Park.