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2024 South & Appalachia Summit Host Committee

Co-Chairs

Laura Moody
Founder - Purpose Possible

Laura's experience at the intersection of purpose and people has placed her at the forefront of mission-focused communication and community engagement strategies. Her company, Purpose Possible transforms communities by empowering mission-driven organizations by providing capacity building fundraising, strategy, communications, and community engagement and planning consulting and implementation. 

Prior co-founding the firm, Laura held Development and Community Engagement positions with the Midtown Alliance, Savannah College of Art & Design, and the City of Atlanta’s Office of Cultural Affairs. Her recent clients include City of Clarkston, Atlanta Downtown Improvement District, Gwinnett Place Community Improvement District, Truist Foundation, and Warner Brothers Discovery CSR among others. 

Laura was elected Communications Co-Chair of the Corporate Volunteer Council of Atlanta in 2023 and was named a Fellow of the Georgia Women’s Policy Institute for 2021-2022. She is also a graduate of the Urban Land Institute's Center for Leadership Class of 2016 and was honored by Outstanding Atlanta in 2018.

Neda Abghari
Founder - The Creatives Project

Abghari, is a curator, consultant and cultural advocate native to Atlanta. For over two decades she has leveraged her experience in the arts, non profit and real estate sectors to engage and inform audiences through the cultivation of strategic partnerships locally and nationally. 

Neda is an Arts & Culture architect who builds exemplary community based programs, cultural activations and programmatic systems. Her Southern roots and cross-sector relationships enable collaborations poised for proven impact and success within the region. Her partners include the City of Atlanta, Emory University, Goat Farm Arts Center, The Alliance Theater, Portman Holdings, Stream Realty, Tribridge Residential, Afropunk, and Hulu.

Abghari is the founder of The Creatives Project and a founding board member of ACT/ART where she worked in partnership with The Obama White House to bring contemporary art to the forefront of public policy. Abghari is the principal art advisor for Midtown Alliance’s Heart of the Arts Program, currently serves as a volunteer coach for the ULI’s Art in Place program and is on Invest Atlanta’s Creative Industries Advisory Board. She has participated in multiple panels and lectures for The Georgia Department of Education, High Museum of Art, The Atlanta Regional Commission and The White House.

Members
Melania Armenta - Gallery Residential
Daphne Bond-Godfrey -
Executive Director, Urban Land Institute
Davis Butner - Associate AIA, Institute of Classical Architecture & Art
Kyle Danley Taylor Memorial Fellow, Southeast Chapter
Katherine Dirga - Director | Art in Transit, MARTA
Amir R. Farokhi - Representative District 2, Atlanta City Council
Lindsey Flax - Community Engagement Manager, Full Radius Dance
Laura Flusche - Executive Director, MODA
Fredalyn Frasier - Project Director: Planning and Urban Design, Central Atlanta Progress/ADID
Ariel Fristoe - Founder and Artistic Director, Out of Hand Theater
Jo Ann Haden Miller - Director, Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau
Jessyca Holland - Director of Org & Community Initiatives, South Arts
Kara Keene Cooper - Director of Economic Development, Atlanta Beltline Inc.
Andrew Kohr - Principal, Pond & Company
Sadie Krawczyk - Managing Director, GeorgiaForward & Placemaking, Georgia Municipal Association

Shantras Lakes - Contracts for Services Program Manager, Fulton County Arts & Culture
Marian Liou - Director of Arts & Culture, Smart Growth America
Tina Lilly - Executive Director, Georgia Council for the Arts
Alice Lovelace - Executive Director, Arts Xchange
Sarah McColley - Urban Designer, Perkins + Will
Dorian McDuffie - Atlanta City Studio Public Art Manager, City of Atlanta
Dalyla McGee - Development Officer, South Arts
Camille Russel Love - Executive Director, Atlanta Mayors Office of Cultural Affairs 
Allison Stewart-Harris - Senior Associate Planner, TSW Design
Roshani Thakore - Head of Community Engagement and Culture, Atlanta Regional Commision
Angela Threadgill - Planning and Economic Development Director, City of Decatur
Tyrone Webb - Rural and Community Program Manager, Georgia Council for the Arts

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