Kimberly Sellars-Bates is a native of Atlanta, Georgia. She was born at Grady Memorial Hospital and is a product of the Atlanta Public and Fulton County School systems. Upon graduating from Alabama State University with a B.A. in Psychology in 1990, she returned to her hometown and began working at Spelman College.  It was there where she was introduced to the world of development.

A research and grant writing professional, Kimberly is president of her own development consulting firm, KSTB Enterprises, LLC.  Founded in 2007, KSTB analyzes and implements action plans for all ongoing fundraising initiatives including: individual, corporate, and foundation prospect research, annual fund appeals, grant proposal writing and Board solicitation and training. KSTB also works with the organization’s Program Managers and Board of Directors to ensure successful fundraising efforts including signature fundraisers.  Her company is currently responsible for over $13mill in grants and contracts.

Kimberly is certified by NeighborWorks America, a national nonprofit organization created by Congress to provide financial support, technical assistance, and training for community-based revitalization efforts. She is also a grant reviewer for The Educational Foundation of America and Georgia Department of Education Federal Charter Schools.

Her organizational affiliations include active membership in the Pi Alpha Omega Graduate Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., Order of the Eastern Star (Peace Chapter #146), the Metro Atlanta Alabama State University Alumni Association (Secretary), Board Member of the Atlanta Nonprofit Professionals, Association for Professional Researchers in Advancement (APRA), and the Fulton County Task Force for the Aging.  She is President of the PTSA and Communications Chair for Sandtown Middle School.

Realizing the importance of philanthropy, Mrs. Sellars-Bates is the Advisor for her children’s foundation- The T&T Project. Their foundation helps all children who have been affected by tragedy and/or misfortune.

Mrs. Sellars-Bates is married to her college sweetheart, TaDarol Bates, and they have two children – Taylor Cimone, age 19, and TaDarol Christopher II, age 14. The Bates family are active members of Zion Hill Baptist Church in Atlanta, GA.

Rachael Bregman is the Rabbi for Open Jewish Project which strives to enrich and invigorate young Jewish Atlanta one relationship at a time.  She is also one of the rabbis at The Temple, Atlanta’s oldest and largest Synagogue.  When not developing community engagement models for Jewish Atlanta and beyond, she is ardently working to add the Jewish voice to the outcry against human trafficking and other issues concerning basic human rights.  Originally a Boston native, she currently lives in Virginia Highlands in a converted factory loft condo on the beltline, an urban revitalization project with her partner, Dan, his daughter Alyssa and their puppy, Safi.

Open Jewish Project is the next generation of Jewish Americans.

Vision
We envision a world where younger/youngish Jews in Atlanta identify with Judaism as meaningful and relevant.

Mission
Housed within The Temple, Atlanta’s oldest and largest congregation, yet serving the whole Atlanta younger/youngish Jewish adult community, we are driven to enrich and invigorate the lives of post college-pre-preschool Jews in Atlanta by cultivating a deeper self-knowledge and a stronger relationship to Judaism, Jews, the Divine and the larger world resulting in meaningful Jewish living one relationship at a time.

We aspire to function as a concierge service to young Jewish Atlantans in partnership with other organizations which serve them through personal, one on one attention, peer to peer connection, community creation and skills/tools building in order to DO and BE Jewish.

We are not membership drivers, we are Jewish life validators.  If you are looking to find a synagogue, we will help you find the right match even if it is not at the Temple, Open Jewish Project's base of operations.  They know that not everyone does Jewish the same way-they merely care that your Jewish life is rich and meaningful wherever you choose to express it.

Values
We value growth and evolution through open conversation, feedback, shared ownership, respect for the opinions of others, non-coercive learning and inclusion, equality, and struggle (We are after all, the children of Israel which means one who wrestles with the Jewish stuff).

Russell Holcombe is CEO of Atlanta-based investment firm, Holcombe Financial, and author of the book “You Should Only Have to Get Rich Once.” Holcombe earned his MTX (Masters in Taxation) from Georgia State University, his BBA in Finance from Southern Methodist University, and is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™.

Holcombe challenges the conventional wisdom of the current financial planning model that has left so many disappointed.  Holcombe helps clients make decisions that increase their chance of achieving their point of financial independence.  An avid reader, writer, and outdoorsman, Holcombe welcomes the opportunity to expose clients to a better way of looking at money.

Holcombe Financial delivers a creative financial planning process to clients ready to think differently about their wealth. Holcombe Financial anticipates the challenges clients will encounter, and develops innovative, tailor-made solutions to maintain their Independence forever. For more information, please visit www.holcombefinancial.com

Clark Harris is the founder and owner of Innovative Construction. Originally from Cincinnati Ohio, Clark later moved with his family to Higham, MA. While growing up in Massachusetts, Clark was initially exposed to the construction industry by working on job sites in the summers and holidays while going to college.

Upon Graduating from St. Lawrence University with a degree in history /education, Clark moved south to Atlanta, GA. He continued his career in construction by working for a company that specialized in finishing and restoration. After working in this genre of construction for four years, Clark decided to start his own business that specialized in renovation and restoration. In 2000, Innovative Construction was established.

Innovative construction operates strictly on the following ideals:

» We treat our customers and subcontractors as we like to be treated

» We don’t pick and choose when to have morals

» We are only as good as our subcontractors

» All of our subcontractors are educated in remodeling NOT new construction

» We would not put a person in someone’s home that we would not put it our own

» We believe in making each job and customer experience the best it can be and let the business grow organically; we are not motivated by the bottom line.

» When you are a customer, you are a customer for life. We stand behind all our projects and guarantee the quality of work

» We grow our business through client relationships, not through advertising.

» We appreciate every job, whether it is a three hour job or a 5 month project.

» We stress cleanliness on our job sites

When not at work, Clark likes to be with his family playing sports, camping, fishing,and watching the Braves.

CEO Chonchol Gupta, earned his M.B.A. and Master of Global Management at Tulane University, where he researched international banking for the World Trade Center of New Orleans. Chonchol is excited about the enthusiasm the Rebirth Financial platform has received. "When I started out I thought that it would be people in California lending to people in Texas, but it’s not that at all," says Gupta. "It’s people looking for positive community impact and a good investments in their own backyard."

Rebirth Financial was founded in February 2010. With origins in New Orleans, the Rebirth Financial team understands the importance of small business in a community. The team has also witnessed the economic support individual lenders can provide a small business. Rebirth Financial streamlines the loan review process allowing individual and institutional lenders to easily and securely take investments off of Wall Street and invest them in profitable community businesses. Rebirth Financial’s platform and JAS rating system allow lenders to diversify their portfolio and contribute to their community.

Tara Roberts co-founded Girltank, a social enterprise designed to connect, inspire and fund female social entrepreneurs and innovators from around the world. Tara served as the Senior Editor for CosmoGirl magazine and the Lifestyle Editor for Ebony, Essence and Heart & Soul magazines. She published her own internationally distributed magazine, Fierce, which was nominated as best new independent magazine in 2003 by Utne magazine. And she has edited critically-acclaimed books for girls: Am I the last Virgin? Ten African American Reflections on Sex & Love and What Your Mama Never Told You: True Stories About Sex & Love. Tara is a graduate of Mount Holyoke College and the Founder Institute Santiago.

Girltank is a community hub and crowdfunding platform designed to help women and girl changemakers grow and scale their bold and daring social enterprises.

Girltank's vision is a world in which powerful women with disruptive ideas - hailing from every region of the planet - are challenging the status quo, pushing forward transformative ideas and inspiring a new understanding of women and girls as leaders, as entrepreneurs, as innovators. We see this empowered generation of female changemakers working together to usher in a dynamic world leadership that is nurtured on principles of collaboration, compassion, empathy and bold action.

We aim to inspire, connect and fund female social entrepreneurs and changemakers.

Girltank won a $15K grant from Free Range Studios in 2011 to start Girltank, a $40K fellowship from Start-Up Chile in 2011 to grow our community and the Mothers of Invention award from Newsweek, the Daily Beast and Toyota in 2013 to launch our courses and workshops. Currently, Girltank has a network of approximately 1,500 women and girl changemakers from over 100 countries.

Girltank showcases the stories of female changemakers in our dynamic multimedia library; we offer a capacity-building course and local funding workshops in our think tank; and we provide a crowdfunding platform for women social entrepreneurs and changemakers to share their inspiring work with the world and for donors and investors to easily find and support their projects.

Scott Bianculli is one of the Partners at BAKED and RED SKY TAPAS -  www.bakeithappen.com and www.redskytapas.com

These are two “mom and pop” restaurant concepts that have originated in the East Cobb portion of Marietta, Georgia.

Baked is “comfort food” and Red Sky is a tapas concept and entertainment venue.

As a small town boy gone city, Scott hopes that Baked will remind you of good-ole fashioned living, while meeting the challenges of today’s hectic schedules.

Russell Holcombe is CEO of Atlanta-based investment firm, Holcombe Financial, and author of the book “You Should Only Have to Get Rich Once.” Holcombe earned his MTX (Masters in Taxation) from Georgia State University, his BBA in Finance from Southern Methodist University, and is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™.

Holcombe challenges the conventional wisdom of the current financial planning model that has left so many disappointed.  Holcombe helps clients make decisions that increase their chance of achieving their point of financial independence.  An avid reader, writer, and outdoorsman, Holcombe welcomes the opportunity to expose clients to a better way of looking at money.

Holcombe Financial delivers a creative financial planning process to clients ready to think differently about their wealth. Holcombe Financial anticipates the challenges clients will encounter, and develops innovative, tailor-made solutions to maintain their Independence forever. For more information, please visit www.holcombefinancial.com