Sydney England
GSIC welcomed Sydney England as Executive Director in July 2024. Sydney’s work in the impact investing field includes a role at the Jessie Ball duPont Fund – a private, place-based foundation located in Jacksonville, Florida. Following her time at the Fund, Sydney joined an innovative consulting practice started by Locus – a community development financial institution headquartered in Richmond, Virginia. While at Locus, Sydney worked with dozens of place-based foundations and blended finance funds across the country as they developed new impact investing programs and investment vehicles. Her work at Locus helped foundations bring nearly $100M back to local communities in the form of new impact investing programs. Sydney also worked to establish innovative financing funds like Invest Appalachia, LLC and the Partners for Rural Transformation’s Persistent Opportunities Fund.
Board of Directors
Ashani O’Mard
Ashani O’Mard serves as Senior Vice President of Strategic Housing Investments for the Atlanta Neighborhood Development Partnership, Inc (ANDP). In this capacity, she focuses on growing strategic partnerships needed to enhance ANDP’s ability to buy, hold, acquire, and develop land to achieve its mission and sustainability. Ashani previously served as ANDP’s Senior Director of Capital Development for 7 years, with oversight of charitable contributions and capital investments. Prior to joining ANDP, Ashani served as the Founding Executive Director of the Atlanta Affordable Housing Fund for two years, leading the charge in raising $15MM for a closed-end social impact fund and identifying opportunities to invest flexible, low-cost capital into transformative affordable housing solutions for metro Atlantans. Ashani’s professional background also includes extensive experience in affordable housing development while working as a Project Manager for private developers in Cincinnati and Boston.
Brian Goebel
Brian Goebel serves as the Managing Director of the Business & Society Institute, an academic research center with a mission to transform business to build a more equitable and climate-smart world.Brian oversees the institute’s collection of innovative fieldwork programs and student activities that boost neighborhood vitality in Atlanta through microbusiness development (Start:ME Accelerator), strengthen coffee grower communities in Latin America through women’s empowerment (Grounds for Empowerment), and develop the next generation of principled social enterprise leaders through experiential learning (Social Enterprise Fellows). He also serves as a course instructor for both Nonprofit Management (graduate) and Philanthropy Lab (undergraduate).
Jeff Woodward
Jeff Woodward is a corporate lawyer with Taylor English in Atlanta, Georgia where he represents small to medium businesses (SMB’s) in a variety of corporate matters, including formation, capital raising, mergers and acquisitions, strategic partnerships, and commercial contracting. Jeff has developed a practice representing social entrepreneurs and impact investors, and is involved in the passage of B-corporation legislation in Georgia. Additionally, Jeff has more than 20 years of experience advising private foundations and public charities on a variety of matters, including PRI/MRI investments, and developing sustainable for-profit subsidiaries of tax-exempt organizations. He has founded three nonprofit companies, Attest Capital Resources, a third-party fiscal sponsor facilitating blended capital flow into social enterprises and disaster relief funds, Community Redevelopment Inc., a community-based housing redevelopment company, and the Atlanta Community Toolbank, a national distributor of tools and materials to nonprofits and disaster areas. He currently serves as the Chairman of the Board of the Georgia Center for Nonprofits and is a founding board member of Village Capital and the Georgia Social Impact Collaborative.
John Hardman
John Hardman is the Managing Director of WoodLeaf Partners, a purpose driven investment and business advisory and management group. Prior to his work with WoodLeaf, John served in various leadership and executive positions across industries, including working within family offices, running a venture capital fund with investments across 5 continents, managing operations for early stage and growth companies, practicing corporate and real estate law, participating in management training within the financial management services vertical of a large regional bank, and teaching school in the Dominican Republic. In addition to his GSIC board service, John serves on the Trust for Public Land’s Georgia Advisory Board. Georgia Cities Foundation Board of Directors, the Deans Council for the Rollins School of Public Health, The Carter Center Ambassador Circle, Chattahoochee Now Board of Directors, Drawdown Georgia Leadership Council.
Jonny Newburgh
Jonny works on the investment team at Primary Care Development Corporation (PCDC), a nonprofit that provides capital financing, expertise, and advocacy to expand primary care access and advance health equity in communities that need it most. Prior to joining PCDC, Jonny worked as a Loan Officer, Community Facilities with Low Income Investment Fund, Associate Director, Impact Investments for Habitat for Humanity International, and as Impact Investment Associate with the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta’s GoATL Fund. Jonny started his career in the public sector and spent time working with the Brookings Institution and the US Department of Agriculture. In addition to his board position with GSIC, Jonny also serves as the Loan Committee Co-Chair for Jewish Interest-Free Loan Association of Georgia.
Latresa McLawhorn Ryan
Prior to founding Blackbird Strategy Group, LaTresa served as the founding Executive Director of the Atlanta Wealth Building Initiative (AWBI). Under her leadership, AWBI developed as an ecosystem hub serving as a think tank, data engine, community convener, funder, and philanthropic and community development advisor launching its signature Advancing Enterprise Prosperity: 1,000 Black Businesses in 1,000 Days campaign to empower businesses with assets and tools to grow and scale while paying employees a living wage. Before joining AWBI, Latresa was a Vice President within SunTrust Bank’s Foundations and Endowments Specialty Practice. Her expertise helped families, nonprofits, and foundation clients maximize the impact of their assets to support and align with their missions and personal goals. Prior to joining SunTrust in 2014, Latresa was the Director of the Office of Partnerships and Global Vice President of Strategic Partnerships & Development at Operation HOPE.
Mandy Eidson
Mandy Eidson is the Director of Business Development and Community Engagement at Self-Help Federal Credit Union. Prior to joining Self-Help, Eidson worked for nearly ten years at the Atlanta Neighborhood Development Partnership (ANDP) – first as a Development and Loan Fund Associate and then as the Director of ANDP’s Loan Fund. Mandy is a graduate of the University of North Carolina and the 4CITIES Erasmus Mundus Master’s in Urban Studies program. Mandy is active in Georgia’s nonprofit sector. She is Chair of HOPE Atlanta’s Young Professionals Board as well as the Service Committee Chair for the Atlanta chapter of the Women’s Affordable Housing Network.
Mark Crosswell
Mark is a social entrepreneur with experience in working with social enterprises and philanthropic organizations to develop impact investment strategies designed to achieve an organization’s social impact goals. Mark is the Founder of Converge Capital, a social impact and impact investing advisory practice. Previously, Mark served as Managing Director of the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta’s social impact strategy and the GoATL Evolution initiative, a series of impact-focused funds that invest debt and equity capital to address social outcomes across a diverse range of impact areas. Prior to joining CFGA, Mark ran venture development for the Civic Accelerator, a program of Points of Light, a national nonprofit. He also serves or has served in various leadership roles on the boards of GSIC, Georgia Grantmakers Alliance, RH Dobbs, Jr. Foundation and is often a speaker, or advisor, for various regional and national impact investment initiatives.
Ron Alston
Ron Alston has worked in various leadership positions with Truist Bank (formerly SunTrust) for over 35 years. Today, Ron is the Senior Vice President of not-for-profit and government banking for the Georgia Region of Truist Financial Corp. Prior to his current role, Ron served as Atlanta Market President, Senior Vice President, Credit Risk Manager, and Vice President of the Credit Department. Beyond his professional work, Ron is active in both the Georgia community and the broader impact investing field. He serves on the boards of the Community Foundation of Greater Atlanta, Harmonia Atlanta, Partners for Home, and the YMCA of Metro Atlanta. Ron previously served as the Board Chair for RSF Social Finance.
Sam Moss
Sam is a retired banking, finance, and investments professional. His previous professional roles include Senior Director of Finance for the East Lake Foundation and Cousins Foundation, President of Gray Matters Capital, Managing Director of Gray Ghost Ventures, and Managing Director of Wachovia Bank. Since retiring, Sam has continued to support philanthropic, nonprofit, entrepreneurs, and innovative investment vehicles through his consulting practice, Impact Advisory Services. Sam also serves as Executive in Residence for Emory University’s Goizueta Business School. Sam is a founding GSIC board member.
Suzanna Stribling
Suzanna Stribling has served the Foundation since 2010. Suzanna’s career in philanthropy and nonprofits extends beyond her time at Glenn. Prior to joining Glenn, Suzanna held several positions at Philanthropy Southeast and served as the founding director of the Georgia Center for Nonprofits. In addition to her board role with Georgia Social Impact Collaborative, Suzanna has served on numerous boards and is a member of Leadership Atlanta and Leadership Georgia.
Sydney Hulebak
Sydney Hulebak is the Senior Impact Investment Manager at the Community Foundation, where she manages the GoATL Community Capacity Fund – a fund investing in the region’s most innovative and impactful intermediaries. Prior to the Foundation, Sydney worked in operations for an impact-oriented family office, ran a grassroots organization focused on building an impact investing ecosystem and spent time working in the fields of social enterprise and philanthropy. Active in the Atlanta community, Sydney is the Vice-Chair of the Dad’s Garage board.