Brian Banner
Co-Founder of MVK of Greater Atlanta. Brian has lived in Atlanta since enrolling at Georgia Tech in 1987. With his degree in Electrical Engineering Brian has worked in commercial electrical construction and design for the past 30 years. In addition to MVK, Brian is an active volunteer with JELF. Brian lives in Atlanta with his wife Susan, three children and dog. For fun, Brian likes to exercise, play softball, snowboard and travel to Colorado and Wisconsin to visit his kids in college.
Russ Belin
Russ Belin is the Vice President, South Region for Broadway Across America, the foremost market leader for live touring theater in North America. A veteran in the entertainment field, Belin has more than 20 years of experience in entertainment sales and marketing. He oversees all aspects of the Broadway in Atlanta series at the Fox Theatre, bringing the best musicals direct from New York to Peachtree Street. Before joining Broadway Across America, he spent 14 years at Feld Entertainment, most recently as a regional Vice President for Feld, where he worked with premier touring productions, such as Disney On Ice, Monster Jam and Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey in the Southeast region. A Baltimore-area native, Belin earned a bachelor's degree from Towson University, where he studied sports management. He and his wife, Kelly, reside in Peachtree Corners with their two sons. Belin is honored to serve on the Board of Directors for Most Valuable Kids in Atlanta, as he is passionate about introducing the next generation to the magic of live entertainment.
Harold Berger
Harold Berger is a practicing CPA, and has operated his own practice since 2003. Prior to that, Harold was an equity partner for over 11 years at a large Public Accounting firm in Atlanta. Harold holds his B.S. in Business Administration with a concentration in Accounting from The University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, and a Masters in Professional Accounting degree with an emphasis in Taxation from the University of Texas in Austin. His professional affiliations include the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Georgia Society of Certified Public Accountants. Harold's involvement in the community currently includes serving as a Board Member of the Atlanta Group Home Foundation, Inc., a member of the Finance Committee of the Jewish Educational Loan Fund, Inc. (JELF) as well as Secretary of the Holly Lane Foundation, Inc. In the past three decades, Harold has served as a Board Member and Treasurer for JELF, a Board Member and Treasury for Positive Impact, Inc. as well as a volunteer positions with Hands on Atlanta, Inc., American Red Cross and various other organizations. Harold and his wife, Sally, live with their three children, in Sandy Springs.
Allen Graber
Allen Graber has been instrumental in starting, growing, and working with growth stage technology and software companies for over two decades. He has worked in various business development, sales and lead generation/marketing roles during his career. He has worked at various SaaS and Platform companies in the ecommerce, Internet marketing, and security software space. He enjoys the challenge of setting and exceeding sales and business development goals.
In addition to the tech world, Allen has more recently branched out to become involved in non-bank small business lending (Upperline Capital) and caffeinated ventures (Brash Coffee Roasters), 4 stores and a roastery in Atlanta).
Allen grew up in Memphis, TN and attended college at Tulane University where he graduated in 1991 with a BA in Economics. Atlanta GA has been home since 1993. Allen resides in Chastain Park with wife Laura and kids Finn (16 y.o.) and Eloise ( 14 y.o). Graber served on the board of directors for the Atlanta Task Force for the Homeless and has been a big brother in the Big Brothers/Big Sisters program.
Dana Hudepohl
Dana Hudepohl graduated from Stanford University with a Bachelor's in Communication and Master's in Sociology. Over the last 30 years, she has built a robust freelance writing career, publishing upwards of 500 articles in more than 40 national magazines, newspapers and websites including O the Oprah Magazine, Sports Illustrated for Women and the Wall Street Journal. She's interviewed athletic greats including Serena Williams, Hope Solo, Kerri Walsh Jennings and Rebecca Lobo, served as a ghostwriter for a book by a #1 New York Times bestselling author and co-authored MORE Magazine’s “287 Secrets of Reinventing Your Life: Big and Small Ways to Embrace New Possibilities.” Dana's introduction to Atlanta was through the 1996 Olympic Games where her husband, Joe, won a gold medal with the U.S. Men's Swim Team and she served as a Media Volunteer covering Synchronized Swimming. Nearly 20 years later, they relocated to Atlanta to raise their two kids. They are avid fans of both college and pro sports and count favorite family memories in stadiums or theaters. She is also the proud aunt of a pro soccer player, pro baseball player, Broadway performer and two D1 athletes! Dana has served as the co-director of the Tampa Bay Chapter of the nonprofit Flashes of Hope and as a volunteer with Stanford University's Outreach Volunteer Alumni Link, Solidarity Sandy Springs, Breakthrough Atlanta, Covenant House, and Atlanta Youth Tennis & Education Foundation (AYTEF). She has also served as a board member of the parent associations at the Lovett School and the Atlanta Girls' School, where she oversaw the newsletters.
Michael Luscher
Michael has two decades of sports marketing, licensing, sponsorship and media sales experience at the NFL, Major League Baseball and most recently, leading a sports technology start-up to profitability. He is a third-generation "garmento" whose founding and leadership of POINT 3 has been featured in Forbes, Entrepreneur, Men’s Fitness and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Michael still takes charges in his Monday night rec league games. Michael lives in Atlanta with his wife and two daughters.
Henraya McGruder
Henraya McGruder is a former senior research scientist in the Office on Smoking and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and a recently retired Lieutenant Commander in the United States Public Health Services. During her 20 year career, she has served in many roles, from epidemiologist to public health advisor, across various divisions at CDC. She is a subject matter expert in tobacco cessation and health disparities among persons with chronic diseases. Henraya also has over a decade of teaching experience as a professor of psychology, serving at Spelman College and Johnson C. Smith University. She is a native Atlantan, holds a Bachelor’s degree in psychology from Hampton University (Hampton, Virginia) and Master’s and Ph.D in neuropsychology from Howard University (Washington, DC). In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family, traveling, and listening to live music.
Cecile Prager
Cecile Prager has worked in the field of education for over forty years. She taught school in Atlanta and Memphis for eighteen years. She then worked as a program developer for Memphis Partners, a nonprofit started by Holiday Inn. She developed and ran programs for at risk middle school and high school students. Since moving to Atlanta 12 years ago, Cecile has taught in the La Amistad program for Hispanic students at Peachtree Presbyterian Church. She has also worked as a reading instructor at Sarah Smith Elementary and as religious school teacher at The Temple.
Elaine Rosenblum
Founder and Chief Articulation Officer of ProForm U®, Elaine Rosenblum is an entrepreneur and visionary at heart. Foreseeing the impact of technology on communication skills, in 2001 she founded Courageous Conversation. As part of a second entrepreneurial adventure, five years later, she co-founded Access Test Prep & Tutoring. Elaine now teaches collaborative communication and negotiation skills not only to professionals at all levels but also to budding professionals, including students preparing for college and job interviews. Across careers as an entrepreneur, attorney, teacher and marketer, Elaine acquired deep experience working at and consulting for corporate organizations from start-ups to Wall Street.Elaine is a graduate of The University of Texas at Austin, where she earned a B.S. in Advertising in the College of Communications, and of Cardozo School of Law in New York City; she also completed Harvard Law School’s Advanced Negotiation Program for Lawyers. Elaine is a member of the New York State bar and is an expert in collaborative negotiation and alternative dispute resolution in the corporate environment.Elaine is a trustee for The Jewish Women’s Fund of Atlanta and on the Board of Most Valuable Kids of Greater Atlanta. Elaine lives in Atlanta with her husband, Charles, and their son.
Jennifer Rosenfeld
Jennifer Rosenfeld is originally from Connecticut and graduated from Emory University with a BA in mathematics and economics. Jennifer spent 15 years as a software consultant in the utility industry. She and her husband are founding board members of the Appalachian Children’s Emergency Shelter in North Georgia. She currently serves as a Board of Director for the Ahava preschool in Atlanta. She is also an outreach coordinator for providing meals bi-monthly to the Zaban Couples Shelter. Jennifer lives in Atlanta with her husband Joel and their two daughters. They spend some of their free time watching their daughter play soccer on weekends, and are fans of USA Women and Atlanta United Soccer teams, as well as Georgia Tech basketball and football teams.
Michael Schiff
A resident of Atlanta since 1996, Michael Schiff is with Atlanta Fine Homes Sotheby's International Realty. He experienced immediate success as a Realtor and was honored as the 2005 Rookie of the Year for the Southeast Region when he was with Keller Williams. Michael’s role on the team is to represent all of the Buyer clients. Building upon his sales background in minor league baseball and textiles, he earned a reputation as an expert negotiator, bringing numerous transactions to successful completion. In addition to securing desirable homes at excellent prices, Michael provides long-term strategic planning services to his clients. In addition to spending time with Leigh and his daughters, Eden and Alexandra, Michael enjoys playing golf and ice hockey. Michael graduated from the University of Michigan (B.A. 1990) and is an avid supporter of Michigan athletics.
Sharon Silverminz
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sharon-silvermintz/
Denise Smith
A PMP certified Senior Project Management professional, whose experience and expertise spans over 16 years with a focus on all project stages, including business development, project estimating, requirements determination, gap analysis, business process reengineering, issue resolution, configuration, custom code specifications, testing, training and post implementation support. Denise graduated from Spelman College with Bachelor of Science in Chemistry. She also earned her MBA from the Georgia Institute of Technology (Information Technology). Denise serves as a Young Professional Leader (YPL) for United Way of Greater Atlanta.
Patricia Townsend
Patsy Townsend, an Atlanta-native, has been involved with nonprofits from a very young age. She started amping up her volunteering efforts with United Way of Greater Atlanta back in 2011, and has since served on multiple boards centered around the arts, education, and community outreach. Outside her volunteer work, she is the Vice President & Senior Financial Advisor for The Garrett Group at Merrill, where she works with families to help simplify their financial lives, and allow them to focus on what’s most important to them. Patsy currently lives in Cobb County, with her husband Danny and their dog, Hattie.
Brian Williams
A Detroit native, is an experienced social impact professional with a demonstrated history of management in social services, education, and the sports industry for over 23 years. Brian is skilled in Coaching, Team Building, Leadership development, Sports Management, and Public Speaking. Brian offers a strong education background with a bachelor's degree from Tennessee State University and a Master's degree focused in Sports Administration from Central Michigan University.
Brian served as Student Engagement Coach for the DeKalb County district and partnering organization Communities in Schools of Atlanta(CIS) for 15 years working to reduce the school drop rate. Formerly, Brian served in leadership capacities for several prominent Non-profit organizations both in Georgia and Michigan; Covenant House of Georgia, Chris 180, Black Family Development(MI) and Wolverine Human Service(MI).
Currently, Brian is the founder and basketball director of Hoop Supreme LLC.
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